By Mike Johnson
- Part 1: A masterpiece is born
- Part 2: 1966 – Darker hues.
- Part 3: Chasing Shadows
- Part 4: 1978-1986. Far From the Twisted Reach
[I read somewhere once that if you wanted the very best, the acme of Dylan’s pre-electric work, you couldn’t do better than listen to side B of Bringing It All Back Home, 1964. Four songs, ‘Mr Tambourine Man,’ ‘Gates of Eden,’ ‘It’s All Right Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’ and ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ represent the pinnacle of Dylan’s acoustic achievement. In this series I aim to chart how each of these foundation songs fared in performance over the years, the changing face of each song and its ultimate fate (at least to date). This is the fifth article about the first track, ‘Mr Tambourine Man.’]
————–
”I wanna dedicate this song to all the people with the courage to have faith in something that never falters and never fails ” (Dylan introducing the song on stage in Vancouver, 01July ’86)
————–
I finished the last article with the promise to proceed to 1987, however a 1986 performance from Tacoma, July 31st was accidentally missed, so I’ll start with it here. During the years 1978-1981 Dylan perfected the art of what we can call stadium rock, big band sounds for big stadium audiences, a far cry from his beginnings as a solo singer in small folk clubs. While he eschewed the big band sound for the 1984 tour, he returned to it with Tom Petty whose Southern rock or Heartland rock style could be pretty heavy and thumpy. That made these solo acoustic performances of ‘Mr T Man’ during the True Confession tours all the more interesting, throwbacks to that early folk club sound, a reassertion of the original Dylan.
1986 Tacoma 31st July
Dylan only performed the song once in 1987, in Anaheim, (CA), July 26th, playing with The Grateful Dead, and oh what a disaster it was! Dylan’s performances with the Dead are notoriously patchy, but this wooden, dumpty-dum performance does no justice to the song, to Dylan or the Dead. They struggle through a lifeless rendition. I would rather have ignored it, but my duty to provide an accurate history of the song in performance won out. Here it is. Don’t feel obliged to listen to all of it.
1987 Anaheim
‘Mr T Man’ was performed about a dozen times in 1988, the first year of the Never Ending Tour, performances which were pretty indifferent. We only have mediocre recordings of mediocre performances. Once more Dylan’s interest in the song seems to have ebbed. Nothing like the dynamic performances of ‘Gates of Eden’ in that year. This one’s from Santa Barbara, August 7th.
1988 Santa Barbara mp3
In 1989, after two years in which the song languished, we find reinvigorated performances, played regularly and featuring the very squeaky harmonica sound Dylan explored in that year with a new slow, bluesy ending. This acoustic performance (two guitars I believe) was rapturously received by a Boston audience (Oct 24th) and features some peppy guitar work from Dylan. My only complaint is that, with this speedy tempo, it sounds a little too rushed. I prefer it a little slower and with a bit of swing, but here it is. A great video too.
1989 Boston
In 1990 we have a performance with the Byrds (McGuinn, Hillman and Crosby), with Dylan once more happy to sing along with the Byrds’ pop version of the song. This is not a regular NET gig, but a Byrds’ performance featuring Dylan as a guest at the Roy Orbison tribute concert, Los Angeles Nov 24th, which aired on the Showtime network. A vigorous engaging performance and fun to watch.
1990 With Byrds
That was not however the best performance of the year for ‘Mr T Man.’ That distinction may well lie with this London performance on Feb 8th, the last of a four night residency at the Hammersmith Odeon, but with forty-eight performances of the song in 1990, I might well have missed a better one. The harp break is brief but cogent and, as with 1989, there’s a slow finish with a high, piercing harp.
1990 London, Hammersmith Odeon.
1991/92 were difficult years for the NET, the era of the Untouchables, as the band became known, a time when Dylan’s voice became scratchy with a loss of vocal timbre, while the performances had a ragged, amateurish feel to them. Interestingly, some Bobcats like this period, finding in the stripped-down, rough-edged, ‘garage band’ feel to the music a kind of authenticity that takes us back to pre-famous Dylan of the early acoustic years. What could be seen as a lack of professionalism could also be seen as the genuine article, the unadorned punky Dylan. The real thing. I’m not so sure. In the first verse Dylan, in this Milan (June 8th) performance, loses his way among the lyrics, blurring them over to cover up for forgetting them, and it all feels rushed to me.
But it is certainly a raw performance, with Dylan enjoying his acoustic guitar playing and a probing, gentle harp break, rather than wild and swinging.
‘You can sing all my songs for me. Wait till you hear the next,’ Dylan says to the enthusiastic audience before launching into the song.
1991 Milan
Readers who have followed my NET series will recall that a decisive shift took place in Dylan’s sound in 1992 when he expanded the band to include a steel guitar/dobro. Bucky Baxter was the first to take up this position. This allowed for softer, more orchestral sounds and signalled a shift away from the raw ‘garage band’ sound of 1990/91. Dylan was laying the foundation for the upswing in his performances I have called the rising curve which will take us to a peak in 1994/95.
Dylan performed ‘Mr T Man’ thirty times in 1992, firmly aligning the song with his new sound. With the full band in attendance, it no longer sounds like a solo performance but, with Tony Garnier on a double bass rather than electric bass, and the guitars all acoustic, the acoustic feel of the song is retained. This acoustic sound will be brought to perfection in 1994 with the MTV Unplugged concert.
I think it’s fair comment to say that Dylan seems more interested in his guitar and harp playing than in the lyrics of the song. He only sings two of the four verses but with an extended guitar break and long instrumental ending, which switches to a slow march. Add to that a peppy, still squeaky harp. It’s a reminder that this is the year Dylan will begin his switch to lead guitar in earnest, and that will take him right through to 2002 when he will turn to the keyboards.
Again, it feels a little too fast to me, he seems to be rushing through the song, the incomparable lyrics lost in the haste, but that’s certainly some deft guitar work. His voice is still pretty scratchy, but he makes up for it with the drive and verve of the performance. (Hamilton, August 21st)
1992: Hamilton
I think this recording from Meadville (PA), August 20th, in the same year is better than Hamilton, with the vocal more to the fore. It’s not just the recording that’s better but Dylan’s vocal performance is more enthusiastic. He’s pushing his voice and the song which is still a bit too fast for my ear. We barely get time to register those lyrics.
1992 Meadville
By 1993 you can feel Dylan pulling the band together and exploring some solid electric guitar work. Many of the performances of that year, such as ‘Tangled Up In Blue’ and ‘I and I’ are designed, it seems, to showcase both Dylan and his other lead guitarist, John Jackson. ‘Mr T Man,’ however, remains acoustic.
Dylan’s vocal is understated, to say the least, he hardly projects the song vocally at all, and his interest, as in 1992, seems to be in his guitar work, with an extended guitar break once more. Unlike 1992, however, he pushes that somewhat strained voice to lift the last verse to a climax. At the end of the song he repeats the chorus and does a slow wind up. This London, June 12th performance is pretty typical of the year, although there is no harp break at the end of the song.
He also modifies the breakneck pace of the 1992 performances, allowing a little more time for the lyrics to register and the more dreamy steel guitar to make its presence felt – a harbinger of things to come.
1993 London
The best performance from 1993, however, may well be this one from Wiesbaden (February 20th). Dylan is stretching his voice here, and the recording, despite the audience noise (a rowdy but enthusiastic audience), is better than London’s. We get a foretaste of how Dylan’s voice is going to develop in 1994/95, and how he will overcome the scratchiness of the previous three years. We also get another vigorous harp break.
1993 Wiesbaden
In the next article we will focus on those ace years of 1994/95 and find out what happens to the song.
Until then, stay with it.
Kia Ora