Author Archives: Tony Attwood

By Tony Attwood If only there had been a Nobel Prize for Music 1: We might have noted the musical innovations more If only there had been a Nobel Prize for Music 2: From Hattie Carroll to the incoming ship … Continue reading →

  It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (1965) part 7 by Jochen Markhorst VII        It Hurts Me Too Well, I wanna be your lover, baby I don’t wanna be your boss Don’t say I … Continue reading →

  By Tony Attwood If only there had been a Nobel Prize for Music 1: We might have noted the musical innovations more If only there had been a Nobel Prize for Music part 2: From Hattie Carroll to the … Continue reading →

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue – A History in Performance, Part 1: 1965 – Crying like a fire in the sun By Mike Johnson [I read somewhere that if you wanted the very best, the acme of Dylan’s pre-electric … Continue reading →

It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (1965) part 6 by Jochen Markhorst VI         Those old Baptist hymns I been into the baggage room where the engineer’s been tossed I stomped on a 100 compasses, … Continue reading →

  By Tony Attwood   (Preliminary note: I do know that I included this street performance of Hattie Carroll in an article under a week ago.   But I include it again because it is one of the most extraordinary cover … Continue reading →

Details of previous articles on this theme of Dylan the musician, and how he worked to change some of the very fundamentals of folk music that existed when he strarted writing are given at the end of this article. By … Continue reading →

    It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (1965) part 5 by Jochen Markhorst V          He smelled like cigarettes and Dixie Peach Don’t the brakeman look good, mama, Flagging down the “Double E”?  Robert … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood The full recording of one of Bob’s current series of concerts is now available on the internet, so I thought I would add it here, as part of our series reviewing Bob’s concerts across the ages.  The … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood My recent articles (see a few links at the end of this piece) concerning Bob Dylan’s early years of songwriting in the 1950s and 1960s have been, by my own admission, a ramble, because for once on … Continue reading →

  It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) – A History in Performance, Part 6: 2004 –  2013. It blows the mind most bitterly. Part 1 1964 – 74 – From the fool’s gold mouthpiece Part 2: 1975/81 – Stuffed graveyards … Continue reading →

by Jochen Markhorst IV         He knows all those songs Don’t the moon look good, mama, shinin’ through the trees? Don’t the brakeman look good, mama, flagging down the “Double E”? Don’t the sun look good, goin’ down over the sea? … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood I ended my last commentary The songs got longer the form started to bend; we needed patience with the question how on earth has Dylan…. “…managed to persuade so many of us to listen to (and one … Continue reading →

  by Jochen Markhorst III         La petite morte Well, I ride on a mailtrain, baby / Can’t buy a thrill Well, I’ve been up all night / Leanin’ on the windowsill Well, if I die / On top of the … Continue reading →

Breaking down the rigidity of the popular song. Dylan in 1963 Bob Dylan, truth and fiction from 1963 to 1995. The Restless Farewell. Details of some of our other recent articles and series can be found on the home page … Continue reading →

  Bob Dylan, truth and fiction from 1963 to 1995. The Restless Farewell. Breaking down the rigidity of the popular song. Dylan in 1963 Why does Bob Dylan so often re-write the music of his songs? The songs Bob wrote … Continue reading →

  by Jochen Markhorst II          The Ghost of Casey Jones I been into the baggage room Where the engineer’s been tossed Steel guitarist Bill Schlotter acknowledges that Rod Morris (1919-1980) may not have been as great a musician or as … Continue reading →

  Publisher’s note: “It’s alright ma” is the third song to be considered in the “History in Performance” series.  A full index of the articles relating to “Mr Tambourine Man” and “Gates of Eden” appears at the end of this … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Western societies seem to me to have a mixed, not to say utterly confused view of truth and fiction. Parents tell children not to lie, but at the same time watch fictional tales on TV and maybe … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Author’s note: through my own lack of focus, caused by the postman knocking at my door, I published this article before I had made  the final adjustments.  The corrected version was published at 1140 GMT on 21 … Continue reading →