Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (photo by John Shearer, courtesy of Columbia Records)
[May 2019 update: Three years ago, upon the release of Bob Dylan's Fallen Angels and his 75th birthday, FUV first celebrated the man as an FUV Essentials artist. Catching up to all things Bob is always a reminder of his never-ending accomplishments: in fact, later in 2016, in that ever-churning machine of Dylan laudation, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature (and in elusive Dylan style, he never made the trip to Stockholm pick up the prize for December's concert ceremony, but did so privately in April 2017 and delivered his lecture to the Swedish Academy in June). But Dylan has always adhered to his own timetable.
He is 78 now. His most recent studio album, 2017's Grammy-nominated Triplicate, was a three-disc collection of American standards, covers of songs that Dylan loved — his attention to the past is not simply reminiscence, but also a reevaluation of his legacy too. The colossal 14-disc Rolling Thunder Revue box set is released on June 7 on Columbia Records: it's an awe-inspiring bounty for diehard Dylan fans who can binge on hours of over 100 previously unreleased recordings, rehearsals, and full sets from the first leg of the musician's 1975 tour. (And FUV is giving listeners the chance to win that incredible box set via an Instragram contest which ends on Friday, May 24, at 12 noon, EDT.) There is also a Netflix film directed by Martin Scorsese, called "Rolling Thunder Revue," which begins airing on the streaming service on June 12.
The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings is one of several interesting Dylan releases of late. Another is a 25-year-old "Bootleg Series" whiskey, due out this fall, which will set folks back a princely sum of $500, perhaps a boozy accompaniment to the 14th volume of the "Bootleg Series," More Blood, More Tracks, which came out via Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings late last autumn.
A grizzled road warrior, Bob is very much on tour in 2019, with a European and UK journey pegged for this summer, including the British Summer Time festival at London's Hyde Park on July 12 with Neil Young and Promise of the Real, Laura Marling, Cat Power and Sam Fender.]
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#FUVEssentials: Bob Dylan (Spotify playlist compiled by FUV's Rita Houston)
