Author Archives: Tony Attwood

The concert series: a bit of a cheat for 1972, but better than nothing

The aim of this series is to provide one Dylan concert to listen to with reasonable acoustics for each year since Bob started performing regularly. And of course I have picked the easy ones first, but now we come to … Continue reading

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From Rock Band to Guitar Hero How Bob Dylan Conquered Rhythm Gaming

  There’s an adrenaline shot that will pop players once “The Tambourine Man” enters a modern gaming craze. On the singing surface, sultry ballads, and poetic lyrical work of Dylan do not by any means place him in the front … Continue reading

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Enhancing Metadata Quality in Digital Music Distribution

  Have you ever wondered why some Dylan recordings seem to sound so wonderful so that you hear them over and over again, while others fizzle out in the background noise? It’s not always to do with the undoubted writing … Continue reading

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The Philosophy of Modern Song: “Old violin” by Johnny Paycheck

By Tony Attwood Prelude:  I tried at first to write a set of reviews of Dylan’s book but I found I really couldn’t do it – so I have been asking regularly if anyone else would like to try.  But … Continue reading

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My Own Version Of You part 12: The dismalest tavern of them all

  by Jochen Markhorst XII        The dismalest tavern of them all I’ll see you baby on Judgement Day After midnight if you still want to meet I’ll be at the Black Horse Tavern on Armageddon Street Two doors down not … Continue reading

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No Nobel Prize for Music: Positively Fourth Street

  By Tony Attwood If ever Bob Dylan was giving us a message in consecutive songs it surely was in 1965 when he composed, one after the other, “Can you please crawl out your window” followed by “Positively Fourth Street” … Continue reading

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Dylan: The Concert Series. Los Angeles 3 September 1965

For details of some of our other series on this site please see the home page    The concerts for this series are selected by Tony Attwood, from those that are available on line in the UK.  If you have … Continue reading

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The Philosophy of Modern Song: Dirty Life and Times (and Lawyers Guns and Money)

By Tony Attwood I made an attempt to write about Dylan’s “Philosophy” book but had to stop very early because I couldn’t find a way to comment on it that said anything meaningful or entertaining.  (But if you feel you … Continue reading

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My Own Version Of You (2020) part 11: Just extending the line

by Jochen Markhorst XI         Just extending the line Play every number that I can play I’ll see you baby on Judgement Day In 2020, Robert Johnson’s stepsister Annye Anderson publishes her memoirs, Brother Robert: Growing Up with Robert Johnson, written … Continue reading

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No Nobel Prize for Music: Can you please crawl out your window

by Tony Attwood What did Bob Dylan write after completing the utter and total masterpiece that is “Desolation Row?”  The answer is “From a Buick 6,” a song which expresses the opposite vision of life from “Desolation Row” in the … Continue reading

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Dylan: The Concert Series. Number 31: Blackpool (UK) 24 November 2013

  Other series currently running on this site The Philosophy of Modern Song: My Generation and Desolation Row My Own Version Of You 10: And then see if you can make it make sense Desolation Row: perhaps the most amazing … Continue reading

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The Philosophy of Modern Song: My Generation and Desolation Row

Preface: this article includes a rather unusual recording of “Desolation Row”.  Even if you don’t feel like wandering through another of my meanders, you might care to skip the text and go to that recording.   If you’ve never come across … Continue reading

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My Own Version Of You 10: And then see if you can make it make sense

My Own Version Of You (2020) part 10 by Jochen Markhorst X          And then see if you can make it make sense I’m gonna make you play the piano like Leon Russell Like Liberace – like St. John the Apostle … Continue reading

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Desolation Row: perhaps the most amazing piece of popular music ever written

By Tony Attwood Two themes dominated Bob Dylan’s song writing in 1965, a disdain for the world he saw around him, and a desire to be moving on physically and emotionally.   Combined with this, I find in the songs of … Continue reading

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Dylan: The Concert Series. The utterly stunning and magnificent 5 July 1984

By Tony Attwood The idea of the concert series is very simple – a set of links to videos or recordings of a single concert year by year, gathered together so that when complete we can all find at least … Continue reading

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My Own Version Of You (2020) part 9: You take things and you make them your own

  My Own Version Of You (2025) part 9 by Jochen Markhorst IX         You take things and you make them your own I get into trouble and I hit the wall No place to turn – no place at all … Continue reading

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The Philosophy of Modern Song: “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”

By Tony Attwood Bob Dylan’s book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song”, was written, as I understand it, after he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.  I started out thinking I might write a commentary upon the book, but soon … Continue reading

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Polish Dylan part 2: a different band and ten new songs

  This is the conclusion of the article a review of the amazing world of Dylan.pl – which we published a few days ago. By Filip Łobodziński Now we’re in 2025 and we’re a different band. During the lockdown, we parted … Continue reading

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No Nobel Prize for Music 22: the journey of turning the music upside down

  By Tony Attwood Details of the previous articles in this series are given at the end of the article.  Details of all the series were are currently running, and some recently concluded are given on the home page of this site.  … Continue reading

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Bob Dylan the concert series. New York 2017

By Tony Attwood The idea of the concert series is very simple – a set of links to videos or recordings of a single concert year by year, gathered together so then when complete we can all find at least … Continue reading

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