Author Archives: TonyAttwood

  Black Rider (2020) part 1: He must keep himself clean in speech Black Rider (2020) part 2: O where are you going? by Jochen Markhorst III         A Chance Is Gonna Come Black rider, black rider, you been living too … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Bob Dylan tried a dramatic re-write of Wicked Messager in 2001 (this recording from Seattle on 6 October that year) and made a few variations along the way.   It was a very similar approach to that used … Continue reading →

by Larry Fyffe Nothing To It   & tolstoy – all right then – what my work is – is merely picking up where they left off – nothing more (Bob Dylan: Tarantula) Apparently, it’s really nothing to carry on, … Continue reading →

  By Tony Attwood The great problems with doing a cover version of “Ring Them Bells” are a) the song itself is highly distinctive, and b) the use of the word “bells” invites the uninventive performer / arranger / producer … Continue reading →

By Aaron Galbraith and Tony Attwood Aaron: This article in which we look at Bob Dylan singing songs he didn’t compose, marks the one-year anniversary since the first piece in this series!! Tony: That first episode can still be found … Continue reading →

  Black Rider (2020) part 1: He must keep himself clean in speech by Jochen Markhorst II          O where are you going? Black rider, black rider, you been living too hard Been up all night, have to stay on your … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood “It ain’t me babe” is a complicated song to write about from the musical point of view because Dylan himself has changed the chordal accompaniment to the song in various performances, and so have those who have … Continue reading →

By Larry Fyffe Reverend Dylan simply would not be an ordained vicar were most of his music unaccompanied by words. He wouldn’t have been able to marry literature and popular music. There are still a number of analysts who promote … Continue reading →

By Aaron Galbraith and Tony Attwood Prelude from Tony: I took on this series following a suggestion by Aaron (with whom I’ve written a number of earlier series, Aaron himself providing the research and background, myself filling in some detail … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood, based on the research by  Mike Johnson (Kiwipoet) for the Never Ending Tour series on this site.  Links to previous articles in the “Absolute Highlights” series are given at the end. Dylan was trying out this new … Continue reading →

Black Rider (2020) part 1 by Jochen Markhorst I           He must keep himself clean in speech On 23 July 1950, when CBS airs the first of 91 episodes of The Gene Autry Show, Robert “Bobby” Zimmerman is nine years old … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood An unusual – perhaps unique – episode of this long running series which originated from a time when lock down ruled my part of England and I was spending day after day on my own, and really … Continue reading →

by Larry Fyffe Maldoror The exciting adventures of the Tarantula Tales continue: (Y)ou look like james arness? – i am writing to you to say that you are my son’s idol (Bob Dylan: Tarantula) Auto/biographical in that singer/songwriter/musician Bob Dylan … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood This series tries to look at Dylan’s songs from the point of view of the music and the lyrics in equal measure, rather than (as seems to me to be the normal approach in literature about Dylan) … Continue reading →

    Standing In The Doorway (1997) part 2 (final) by Jochen Markhorst II          All these songs are connected “I had to scramble around to find the right types of lyrics and basically moved lyrics around and put together the … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood In our list of Dylan’s favourite songs we come to the second John Prine song.  The first was Sam Stone – and as I quoted Dylan saying in that article, “Nobody but Prine could write like that.”  … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Seattle, (6th October 2001) In his review of this concert Mike Johnson, who continues to undertake the monumental task of tracking the Never Ending Tour through is decades-long existence says, “The crossroads of my doorstep is an … Continue reading →

by Larry Fyffe Mauricie and Paul Zimmerman be two of Bob Dylan’s uncles, brothers of his father Abe. So an analyser of Dylan’s technically-musicless book “Tarantula” might suggest that there’s some auto/biographical material therein: & men going outside with Maurice … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood The problem with Rainy Day is that the instrumental introduction is so distinctive, that as soon as someone starts to play it, we all know what is going on, and where it is going.  So a cover … Continue reading →

Standing In The Doorway (1997) part 1 by Jochen Markhorst I           He’ll Have To Go I’m walking through the summer nights Jukebox playing low It is a select club, the guitarists who played in both the band of Living Legend … Continue reading →