Expecting Rain

seeing I did four . Two is certainly allowed.

The way he hypnotically stretches out the words on "But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues, you can tell by the way she smiles" and still manages to make it flow perfectly is incredible.

"Just Like a Woman" from that same concert is my favourite Dylan tune atm. I especially love the moment before the chorus when he softens his guitar playing and you can hear the crowd in silence, along with the echoey acoustics of the Free Trade Hall.

The version of 'A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall' which appears on the album, The Concert for Bangladesh (for those who may not know, this album was never a Dylan-released collection. It was put out by George Harrison, and probably goes under the name of "George Harrison and Friends", in case you would like to look it up some time).

Aside from a few or his more obvious songs (such as Like a Rolling Stone, Mr. Tambourine Man, The Times They Are A-Changin', Blowin' in the Wind, etc),
I'd have to say that this version of Hard Rain was really the first Dylan song that I really ever listened to very seriously. It was by listening to this track (over and over again) over a period of time that I really led to me becoming a full-fledged fan of his.

This happened while I was in HS, around 1982 (yes, nearly 10 or 11 years after the actual concert had taken place in NYC, I know).

The next step after this was receiving Biograph for Christmas the year it came out (84 or 85, I think). And I have been a fan of his pretty much ever since. It helped meeting someone in college who was one too!

But I really don't think there is a better version of Hard Rain out there. I certainly don't think the original version from Freewheelin' even comes close. And I KNOW that I am in the MINORITY with this very UNPOPULAR opinion of mine.

Oh well, go figure. . .I guess that was the purpose of this particular thread though, if I'm not mistaken. Pointing out that 1 version of a song regardless of how unpopular it might be to other people.

Am I right?

i have had a really similar experience with the same song, but a different version.
the performance of Hard Rain from Brixton in 2003 just blows me away completely every time I hear it. The band is incredible and bob's delivery is absolutely flawless. i like this one a lot more than the album one because of a sort of knowing, wise quality in bob's voice, as though he is singing it with more authority because he's an older man. particularly the way he says "my darling young one" and "my blue eyed son".

and he just uses timing and emphasis so spectacularly - by the last chorus he's somehow made the song so intense and powerful that it actually almost makes me cry. im just amazed by how fantastically he conveys the song.

i have had similar moments with a lot of bob's performances and that's what makes him so special to me, the way he sometimes gets inside his own songs so well and just blows me away. ive never really felt that about any other artist, maybe jimi hendrix sometimes.

Good choice!

Yes, I agree with you in every respect, and feel exactly the same way you describe here, about the Bangladesh version of the song. You have a gift for articulating all of these things much better than I do, and I envy you for this. I wish I could articulate all of these thoughts and opinions the way you do. Although I can definitely say I feel much the same way you do about this track (aside from the fact we are talking about 2 separate and different versions of the song), but I have a hard time communicating them like that. I wish I could the way you did, but you are so right about that. There is definitely something infinitely more mature about the delivery of the later version (versus the earlier 1963 version). And I also just like the sound of the music, the acoustic guitar and his voice ---- all much better on the Bangladesh version than the 63 version, as well). I can't really explain it, it just is what it is, you know.

By the way, I have been reading a lot of your comments about the original version of BOTT (in other threads here at ER). Can you please tell me how I can get my hands on this, or do you happen to know where I can download it safely, without risking getting a virus? I'd especially like to hear those other versions of the songs on that collection.

Thanks

thanks man, that's nice of you. i try to post in a considered way some of the time...haha.

ill pm ya with a link

This is easy. But I'm pickin' two.

Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

Bob Dylan's 115th Dream

Visions Of Johanna for The MEZ

To Ramona.

The BS4 version of Visions of Johanna. I've always had a soft spot for the line: the country music station plays soft; but this one just about breaks my heart!

When the Deal Goes Down, such a beautiful, simple song. Alternately, Pressing On. It always makes me feel inspired.

I've been falling in love with all the BD back pages I've got for the last 18 months. Never been to a live show. May I humbly suggest Ring Them Bells from TellTale Signs I think. It's as much the way the music strengthens at the end, prepared for earlier by the words and the voice. I get the feeling of courage in adversity, a true sort of pressing on, not happy but somehow confident. It's a real consolation to me when I'm worried or low. I have heard somewhere or other that this is a song that's easy to misread, and is much darker than I seem to feel. Maybe I'm not getting it or maybe that's just the complexity of art.

There's a nice version of this by Chris Hillman and the Flying Burrito Brothers!

It's All Over Now at the first 'Hands-free' show in Prague 11 March 95 with the best 4 minute harp solo His Bobness has ever blown (including 66). Starts off conventionally, and soon veers off into territory that you have to hear to understand.

Cheers, SLuggy

And you were allowed to live?

Any Spring 2004 performance of All Along the Watchtower... never a more majestic song there ever was. It will delight one's heart all the way to heaven!

Here's one for you, and it's an unreleased bootleg track that no one ever seems to talk about.

"To Fall In Love With You", an outtake from the "Hearts of Fire" soundtrack. How's that for obscure?

However, for my money, it's genius, and the only thing comparable to "I'm Not There" that I know of in Dylan's studio work, or anyone's work for that matter.

The track feels unfinished, with lyrics not formalised, just like "I'm Not There". However, just like "I'm Not There", its instantly grabs you and is perfect in its own spontaneous, half-realised way.

Also really love Kaatskill Serenade, even though the recording sounds screwed up.

careful, somebody who hates modern bob might come along and stab you while you're this vulnerable.

i concur though. i've never been moved, as i've been by certain NET performances, when he gives it all with that older, deeper, more authoritative voice.

seeing I did four . Two is certainly allowed.[/quote]
And you were allowed to live? [/quote]
I was threatened with excommunication

Ooooohhh, aren't you quite the rebel?

For me, it is Visions of Johanna, pretty much any version, but I am especially fond of the Bergin, 2001 performance.

Absolutely Sweet Marie (as performed in Bournemouth 1997) - all raw energy and Bob singing "Well, anybody can be just like you, obviously
But then, now again, not too many can be like me, fortunately"

a defining song (and concert) for my Dylan career

Shooting Star, the live version from MTV Unplugged.
Pure perfection! And his voice on that concert is unbelieveable!

For all practical purposes, I was introduced to the song thru the Dylan/Cash tapes. Heard it that way for years..When I finally went back to the song on The Times.. I was Floored. Mesmerized. Captivated.

i'll go with "Stuck inside of Mobile"....no matter how many times i hear it, i have to drop
everything when i hear these opening lines :

Oh, the ragman draws circles
Up and down the block
I’d ask him what the matter was
But I know that he don’t talk.....