Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan launches whiskey line Heaven’s Door

Bob Dylan has come out with a whiskey line named Heaven’s Door and it will feature a straight rye, a Tennessee bourbon, and a double barrel whiskey. He partnered with the co-founder of Angel’s envy, Marc Bushala, for the release. “We both wanted to create a collection of American whiskeys that, in their own way, tell a story,” Dylan told The New York Times. “I’ve been traveling for decades, and I’ve been able to try some of the best spirits that the world of whiskey has to offer. This is great whiskey.”

Working with Dylan, for Bushala, involved figuring out what a lot of his comments about each sample whiskey meant.

Bob Dylan announces new gospel years box set

Bob Dylan has announced the latest of Bootleg Series. Trouble No More – The Bootleg Series Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 will look inside Dylan’s “gospel years” and the three albums that came from it: Slow Train Coming, Saved, and Shot of Love. It will be available for purchase through a two-CD or four-LP set. It will also be available as a deluxe box, which will feature eight CDs and one DVD. The set will include 100 previously unreleased live and studio recordings, which has 14 songs never released on an official Dylan release. The box will also feature a concert film that features never-before-seen footage from his 1980 tour and sermons delivered by Michael Shannon. Trouble No More is out November 3rd through Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings and the full details can be found here.

Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Bob Dylan has won this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. He joins the list of previous winners which  includes Toni Morrison, Gabriel García Márquez, Samuel Beckett, and more. Dylan was awarded the prize “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”

Watch the video of the announcement below, as well as an interview with Sara Danius, the Swedish Academy’s Permanent Secretary, who called Dylan “a great poet in the English tradition.” You can find more information on past Nobel laureates here.

Record Store Day 2016 announces release list

Record Store Day will return on April 16th. The list of releases available at independent record stores exclusively that day was announced today. Find the full list here for the U.S. and here for the UK. Artists like David Bowie, Run the Jewels, the Weeknd, Outkast, J Dilla, Mac DeMarco, Bob Dylan, Chvrches, the Flaming Lips, Jay Reatard, the Shaggs, Big Star, Fleetwood Mac, Foals, Best Coast, Jason Molina, and many more are included. Here are a few of the highlights of what is coming out:

  • David Bowie reissues of “TVC 15” and “The Man Who Sold the World” on picture disc, and the 50th anniversary release of his singles, I Dig Everything – The Pye Years 1966 
  • A 16-track album of Mac DeMarco demos, Another (Demo) One, which were in his bedroom
  • Unheard songs by the Shaggs on a 7″, “Sweet Maria” b/w “The Missouri Waltz (Missouri State Song)”
  • J Dilla’s long-lost vocal album The Diary
  • Big Star’s reunion show Complete Columbia: Live at Missouri University 4/25/93, on double-LP
  • Patti Smith’s Horses Live Electric Lady Studios, a live version of the classic album, recorded last year in the same studio
  • The Weeknd’s The Hills Remixes, which features Eminem and Nicki Minaj
  • Run the Jewels’ own virtual reality viewer (for watching their “Crown” VR video, which is coming soon)
  • Metz and Mission of Burma cover one another on “Good Not Great” b/w “Get Off,” available on starburst 7″
  • Florence + the Machine’s “Delilah / Only Love Can Break Your Heart,” which has studio and demo versions of “Delilah” alongside the Neil Young cover
  • Outkast’s “Elevators (Me & You),” reissued as a “glow-in-the-dark alien vinyl” for the 20th anniversary of ATLiens
  • The Feelies’ Uncovered, which features covers of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, the Doors, Patti Smith, and more
  • Fleetwood Mac’s (Alternative) Tusk, that features the alternative version of the album on double-LP
  • A 7″ including new songs from Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval
  • Best Coast’s “Late 20s” b/w “Bigger Man” 7″, including two previously unreleased B-sides
  • Chvrches’ Every Open Eye Remix EP, including takes on the song by Four Tet and others
  • Low/S. Carey’s 10″ single “Not a Word” b/w “I Won’t Let You,” including two exclusive seven-minute collaborations
  • The Flaming Lips’ alternate mix for Cloud Tastes Metallic, which also includes an accompanying comic written and illustrated by Wayne Coyne, and an 8xLP albums boxset called Heady Nuggs Vol.II Studio Albums 2006 – 2012
  • Jay Reatard’s Blood Visions 10th anniversary reissue on red vinyl, with a bonus demos 7″
  • A Bob Dylan EP called Melancholy Mood backed by four tracks from his upcoming Fallen Angels album
  • Husker Du’s “In A Free Land” with the long out-of-print 1982 single to 7″
  • A 7″ featuring Townes Van Zandt covers by the late Jason Molina
  • Death Cab for Cutie’s “Tractor Rape Chain”/”Black Sun,” two live tracks that also includes a Guided by Voices cover
  • The Runaways’ single “Right Now/Black Leather” reissued on cherry-red vinyl
  • Lush’s five album reissues in the Origami boxset
  • New York performances by Sun Ra and His Arkestra, recorded in 1966 and ’68, on colored vinyl
  • Foals’ “Rain” 7″ backed by a cover of Mark Ronson and Kevin Parker’s “Daffodils”

New posthumous Jeff Buckley album features covers of Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths

Jeff Buckley released only one album before he tragically died in 1997, but that was not the only material he recorded ever. Before making Grace, Buckley recorded demos to show his producers the direction he saw the album going. Now, Columbia/Legacy Recordings is planned to release some of the never-before-heard recordings in a new compilation named You and I.

Set out on March 16th, You and I will contain two originals, — demo versions of “Grace” and “Dream of You and I” — with eight covers going from classic rock to alternative to funk. The album has Buckley covering songs by Bob Dylan (“Just Like a Woman”), Led Zeppelin (“Night Flight”), and The Smiths (“The Boy with the Thorn in His Side” and “I Know It’s Over”). Also on the album are his takes on traditional songs like “Poor Boy Long Way from Home” and “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Cryin’.”

You can listen Buckley’s version of Sly & The Family Stone’s “Everyday People” here. The cover has his distinct bluesy twist on the classic, but still keeping the funk in the song as he sings, “And so on/ And so on/ And scooby dooby dooby.”

Listen to the song as well as the NPR “Morning Edition” report on the album that features a sample of “The Boy with the Thorn in His Side.” The full tracklist is below.

You and I Tracklist:
01. Just Like A Woman (Bob Dylan cover)
02. Everyday People (Sly & The Family Stone cover)
03. Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Cryin’ (First recorded by Louis Jordan)
04. Grace (original)
05. Calling You (Jevetta Steele cover)
06. Dream Of You And I (original)
07. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side (The Smiths cover)
08. Poor Boy Long Way From Home (traditional blues song, Bukka White cover)
09. Night Flight (Led Zeppelin cover)
10. I Know It’s Over (The Smiths cover)

Bob Dylan’s “Big Pink” can now be rented

“Big Pink,” the house in West Saugerties where Bob Dylan and the Band holed up and recorded the majority of the music that would become the legendary Basement Tapes, can now be rented according to JamBase. The rate for living there is $650 a night, with a minimum for two nights required. The description says that “the Basement is not included in the rental.” Check out the listing below provided by the rental advertisement at VRBO. 

The house will sleep you and eight people (as long as there are no kids or pets). 

“Big Pink, the house where Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes were recorded with his back-up band, later know as The Band, whose first album was called Music from Big Pink. The updated Dormer unit was Levon Helm’s bunk area back In the late ’60s. The Central Staircase opens mid-unit to a dining table & chairs; to the right is a desk-bar; the kitchen, with stone counter-top; bathroom with tile shower, and a futon-couch-sitting area. To the left, in the bedroom area, there’s a sitting area with TV ( limited cable ) and a queen sided bed with a quality mattress set. The Dormer has air-conditioning, and views of Overlook Mountain, fields and forest. Outside is the lawn with out-door furniture & original stone fireplace/bbq area nestled beneath the pines. The Dormer can sleep 4, and has WiFi.

The main floor is a 2 bedroom unit with a sunroom ( Rick’s room – was Rick Danko’s quarters), living room with sofa, writing table & chairs at the picture window, wood-stove/fireplace. It opens into the Dining Room, which has a antique dining table & chairs for 6. The kitchen, as does much of the house, maintains the mid-century period look, with forest views east. The main bedroom has a queen-sized bed, desk, sitting area & full closet. The second bedroom has 2 twin beds, dressers and side tables. The sunroom had a futon twin couch ( which folds down to become a sleeper). The sunroom has it’s own back entrance, and opens to the lawn and old out-door fireplace for campfire evenings. All told, upstairs has a queen bed and full futon – can sleep 4 people max. The Main Floor has a queen-sized bed, 2 twins and a single ‘twin’ futon on the sunporch -and so can sleep 5 max.”

Bob Dylan honored at MusiCares tribute

Bob Dylan was honored last night at a tribute concert to benefit MusiCares. The lineup featured Jack White, Beck, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Willie Nelson, and others. It also had a lengthy speech from Dylan who thanked his early supporters and jibed at critics of his vocals and other famous detractors according to Rolling Stone.

Young covered “Blowin’ in the Wind,” Beck covered “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat,” White did “One More Cup of Coffee,” Springsteen did “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” and Crosby Stills and Nash performed “Girl From the North Country.”

Dylan thanked icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, Joan Baez, the Staple Singers, the Byrds, the Turtles, Peter Paul & Mary, Sonny & Cher, and others for supporting his music in his speech. When talking about Hendrix, Dlyan said, “He took some small songs of mine that nobody paid any attention to and brought them up into the outer limits of the stratosphere, turned them all into classics.”

He also talked about some famous artists who wrote him off early on, including the iconic songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and country legend Merle Haggard. “I didn’t really care what Leiber & Stoller thought of my songs,” he said, “’cause I didn’t like their songs, either.”

Dylan also said, “critics say I can’t sing, I sound like a frog. Why don’t critics say that about Tom Waits? Critics say my voice is shot. Why don’t they say that about Leonard Cohen? What have I done to get this special attention?”

Setlist:

Beck: “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”
Aaron Neville: “Shooting Star”
Alanis Morissette: “Subterranean Homesick Blues”
Los Lobos: “On A Night Like This”
Willie Nelson: “Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)”
Jackson Browne: “Blind Willie McTell”
John Mellencamp: “Highway 61 Revisited”
Jack White: “One More Cup Of Coffee”
Tom Jones: “What Good Am I?”
Norah Jones: “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight”
Derek Trucks And Susan Tedeschi: “Million Miles”
John Doe: “Pressing On”
Crosby, Stills & Nash: “Girl From The North County”
Bonnie Raitt: “Standing In The Doorway”
Sheryl Crow: “Boots Of Spanish Leather”
Bruce Springsteen: “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”
Neil Young: “Blowin’ In The Wind”

Joan Jett, Lou Reed, Green Day, and Stevie Ray Vaughn among Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

Lou Reed and Joan Jett will be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and join the likes of Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, and The Clash.

Among other acts that will be inducted in 2015 are Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Bill Withers, and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

Ringo Starr will also be awarded the Award for Musical Excellence and the “5” Royales will receive the Early Influence Award at the ceremony. The induction and award ceremony will be held on April 18 2015 at Cleveland’s Public House.

Green Day are the 48th act that have been inducted the first year of being eligible. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told Rolling Stone, “I had to go for a walk when I heard the news. We’re in incredible company and I’m still trying to make sense of this. The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame has always held something special for me because my heroes were in there. This is a great time for us to sort of reflect and look back with gratitude.”

Reed, who has appeared on the ballot in 2000 and 2001, has become the first person to be inducted as both a band member (Velvet Underground in 1996) and also as a solo artist. He is now in the likes of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Neil Young. The late musician is inducted for “uncompromising stance in the service of his artistic vision – often following commercial breakthroughs with daring, experimental projects that initially confounded both fans and critics only to gain recognition decades later.”

Over 600 artists, historians and members of the music industry chose the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame list of inductees. Fans were able to vote for their favorite artists this year. To be eligible to be nominated, the artist has to release a single or album at least 20 years before that year’s nomination. Other names that were on the ballot included The Smiths, Nine Inch Nails, Kraftwerk, Sting, and Chic.

Jack White and Neil Young Among Artists Who Will Perform at Bob Dylan Tribute

A gala concert in February will honor Bob Dylan with an impressive lineup.

Some of the artists that are set to play are: Jack White, Neil Young, Beck, The Black Keys, Norah Jones, Willie Nelson, Eddie Vedder, Tom Jones, John Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

The concert commemorates The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences’ choosing Dylan as the 2015 MusiCares Person of the Year. The concert will be held on February 6 and will be part of Grammy Week.

Neil Portnow, CEO of the MusiCares Foundation and The Recording Academy, said in a recent statement, “In celebrating the 25th anniversary of our MusiCares Person of the Year tribute, it is most fitting that we are honouring Bob Dylan, whose body of creative work has contributed to America’s culture, as well as that of the entire world, in genuinely deep and lasting ways.”

Money going to the concert will be donated to MusiCares, which is a foundation that provides help to musicians in need. The Person of the Year award honors musicians for both their artistic achievements, and their philanthropy. Recipients include Brian Wilson, James Taylor and Bruce Springsteen.

Bob Dylan Announces Extensive Tour

With the release of a new studio album coming out soon and The Basement Tapes anthology, Bob Dylan has announced an extensive tour in support of the two. The songwriter announced dates going through early December as part of his Never Ending tour. Dylan will perform multi-night residencies in various cities.

Dylan’s new LP is rumored to be named Shadows in the Night. The album is expected to release sometime this year. The Basement Tapes Complete is set to come out on November 4th.

2014 Tour Dates:
10/17 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
10/18 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
10/19 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
10/21 – Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium
10/24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Dolby Theatre
10/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Dolby Theatre
10/26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Dolby Theatre
10/28 – Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre
10/29 – Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre
10/30 – Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre
11/01 – Denver, CO @ Bellco Theatre
11/04 – Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
11/05 – Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
11/06 – Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
11/08 – Chicago, IL @ Cadillac Palace Theatre
11/09 – Chicago, IL @ Cadillac Palace Theatre
11/10 – Chicago, IL @ Cadillac Palace Theatre
11/12 – Cleveland, OH @ State Theatre
11/14 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
11/15 – Providence, RI @ Providence Performing Arts Center
11/17 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Center
11/18 – Toronto, ON @ Sony Center
11/21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Academy of Music
11/22 – Philadelphia, PA @ Academy of Music
11/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Academy of Music
11/25 – Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall
11/26 – Newark, NJ @ New Jersey Performing Arts Center
11/28 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
11/29 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
12/01 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
12/02 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre