Expecting Rain

Love the voice on She Belongs. Keep that up for Europe, Bob. If you do, I don't care if Dave Hill is your guitarist.

I've seen him do the 'shaming' thing to various people in the band going back to 1999. It's bratty.

Sounds like a plan.

very very true.
now the timing of this thing and the fact that charlie was convinientely available,makes is not a musical move, Charlie probably called Bob and asked to come back since he was broke.
they probably gave Duke a payoff. if Charlie is in the band come next tour then i think this will be confirmed.


everybody else in that band been in there for many many years despite bob being such a bad person.

You're welcome!!

YES! That guys is superb. His licks on Impossible Germany.. Oh boy

You're asking this of a guy who handles 400 clients & is expected to do 15 things at once all day without making mistakes. It would be 16 if only I could learn how to type with my feet.

If you say an album can't be produced from a remote location, I'll take your word for it. Like I said, I have no idea what goes into producing an album. I'm not a professional musician either. I have no idea what it's like to go on a big-time tour, how much down-time one has for side projects, whether side projects affect that night's performance.

I had wondered how touring with Dylan would mesh with Duke's career. Duke puts out one album a year, fronts 2 bands of his own, & also plays in Sunny Crownover's band. The last NET member with such a thriving solo career was Elana, & she only lasted one tour.

I predicted it would blow over & he would stay on, but I was wrong about that. I should stick to prognosticating about baseball & let the rest of you make predictions about Bob. Altho' the language in Duke's FB post about needing to "uncomplicate his life" tells me he up & quit on his own, so maybe I got one thing right when I said that Duke felt that he was posting about his ex-boss, not his boss. Personally, many times I've used "I need to uncomplicate my life" as a euphemism for "I don't need this bullshit any more." Maybe he shouldn't have posted that stuff. But for one moment, Duke represented that part of all of us who ever wanted to defy authority & speak up but felt he couldn't for economic reasons. Good for him.

No doubt about it. Duke's own web site said he was on tour with Bob thru Aug. 4. (It's since been removed from the tour page, but not Duke's home page.)

Can't tell you. Never participated in that stuff & didn't follow the 2012 tour closely at all. Speaking of baseball, I've often said that being lead guitarist on the NET is like being a baseball manager---each gets too much credit when things go good & too much blame when things go bad. So from that standpoint, part of me is glad that Duke was part of a very good spring 2013 tour. To me, Duke will always own "Soon After Midnight," ""High Water," & "Tangled Up in Blue."

I'll doubt that I'll follow this tour & those to come very much. For now, I had 4 new CD's waiting for me in the mail when I got home today & I'll be enjoying those.

Thanks for your thoughts, BBZ, always a worthy sparring partner.

DukeWatch latest!

This just in via facebook: "Like a Dylan song itself, it's not intended that you know, until I finish my book anyway. And that may be a long wait! But I'm working on it......"

A book. Hmmm. Not sure I like the sound of that. I'm all for cryptic comments and cheeky nudges here and there, but this does have an aura of 'for-profit tell-all' shenanigans.

That's an interesting take on this. I guess we'll see. For now, Charlie was the only logical last-minute replacement under the circumstances. He knows the material & played on Tempest.

I like Duke.. Thought he was a great addition to the band. Charlie's always been my favorite but I'm really gonna miss Duke. Really glad that I got to see him with Dylan in the spring.

both are good but bob got a soft spot for Charlie more so than just about anybody. it Charlie was up to some extremely musical endeavor with even a medium expectation of sucess, he wouldnt be onstage. the man got that rock star soul in him from back in the day and when you gotta it never goes away.

same here. I miss Duke already. I like Charlie's playing, but the new direction was interesting as well.

That new version of She Belongs To Me is superb, the sustained bass and the drum beat are perfect. The first version I've heard that is anywhere close to as good as the original. About blummin' time Bob.

more Duke:


I will make one small non -cryptic post hear to clear up any confusion or misinterpretation. I left the Bob Dylan tour of my own accord. All I can say is it wasn't for musical reasons and please don't ask any more. I enjoyed my brief stay there and had a lot of fun with the band playing Bob's music. I have great respect for him as an artist. I will miss everyone in the organization as they are all wonderful people. I wish them continued success and I will miss them all. Case closed!

most definitely not for musical reasons. bob has had all manner of mediocre guitar players that carried on for years.

I don't buy it.

Why not? "I have great respect for him as an artist" says it all really.

The "All I can say is it wasn't for musical reasons" is what I'm not buying.

who cares about musical reasons when there is moola involved, or Charlie involved.

Whatever happened, it appears Duke is seeking to remain above or outside discussion. Very respectful and professional and I appreciate that.

I wish we could 'like' posts. I like this one.

I have great respect for him as an artist........


That about sums it up..

As a person.. maybe that is where the beef was..

SBTM sounds amazing. I'd love to hear what it sounded like with Duke, too.

What's with the stupid people who review Dylan? Geez...

Me either. This was just a way to take one last shot.