Newsletter
Subscribe to our
FREE newsletter now!

Find out more...

18/09/2006

The new Rough Guide – encore

Nigel Williamson, author of the new edition of The Rough Guide To Bob Dylan, praised here last week, will be well aware that many Dylan fans tend to have, erm, an eye for detail. And he’ll know that any lengthy piece of writing on Dylan is almost bound to include at least a few glitches.

Thanks to regular Dylan Daily contributor Martin Cowan, who picked up the following errors in The Rough Guide (his page numbers refer to the first edition; the points he makes are still relevant to the second edition):

“I have been enjoying Nigel Williamson's Rough Guide to Bob Dylan. However, I've noticed some discrepancies which could be corrected in any future editions of the book, as follows:

* Rough Guide: “p 95 "Broken up and Born Again 1970 - 79 - The tracks were released on the album Dylan in 1973 by Columbia who were in a fit of pique because Dylan had signed for Geffen's Asylum label. The album's one saving grace was a superb version of "Spanish is the loving tongue", a passionate naked solo performance at the piano which was also released as the b side of the 1971 single "Watching the river flow."

Martin Cowan: “This is incorrect - this version of "Spanish...." is a different version to the one on Dylan, and was recorded during the New Morning sessions. Its only appearance on CD to date is on the Masterpieces 3CD set.

* MC: “p 122 - picture of Dylan performing at The Last Waltz is the wrong way round.

* RG: “p 159 "1987 - Down with the dead" - Further well chosen songs included "Queen Jane Approximately" and "Stuck inside of mobile", performed for the first time live since 1966".

MC: “ "Stuck Inside of Mobile" was performed live during the 1976 Rolling Thunder tour and is available on the Hard Rain live album.

* RG: “p 226 "Hard Rain". "The Hard Rain film features a radically different set of performances to the album."

MC: “The tracks on the album which were recorded on May 23rd at Fort Collins were "Maggie's Farm", "One Too Many Mornings," "Shelter from the Storm", and "Idiot Wind". The remaining tracks on the album were recorded at a different show.

* RG: “p 269 - "50 Great Dylan songs - Mr Tambourine Man. The song was first recorded on June 9th, 1964.....Belatedly released on 1985's Biograph."

MC: “The version of this song on Biograph is the "Bringing It All Back Home" version. The 1964 Jack Elliott version didn't appear until "No Direction Home" was released in 2005.”

* RG: Street Legal - "However, the remastering of the album...in 2003 has recently helped to restore some of its battered reputation."

MC: This album was actually remastered and cleaned up to popular acclaim in 1999.

* RG: Empire Burlesque - reference to song "Something Is Burning Baby"

MC: Should be "Something's Burning, Baby."

* RG: The Strange Case of AJ Weberman - "On May 23 1971, Dylan's 30th birthday..."

MC: Dylan's date of birth is 24 May.

* RG: The New Bobs - Phil Ochs - "They fell out (over)...."Won't You Please Crawl Out Your Window".

MC: The song title is "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window".


“Further to your review, I have also seen the new edition and it is a handsome volume. As you rightly say, it is refreshing to read a measured and well-reasoned appreciation of some of the albums that have been critically over-looked in recent years, like "Street Legal" and "Under the Red Sky".

“If they could have picked up those few errors, it could almost be the perfect Dylan book!”

[Archives]

[The Dylan Daily Update]

Search entries:

[Daily Update]

[Archives]

Previous entry:
[Modern Times lyric fragments from Civil War-era poet?]

Next entry:
[Modern Times and Henry Timrod again]