01 September 2010

8Mixed Up Confusion:

 

In an online Rolling Stone article dated August 31, 2010, writer Andy Greene states that Bob Dylan’s short Brandeis University performance will only be available from Amazon. Harold Lepidus for examiner.com, who picked up the story from Rolling Stone, states that this “bonus” disc will only be available from amazon.com. However, neither of these articles gives the full story and both are misleading to Dylan fans outside of the USA.

 

The truth is that the Brandeis CD is not truly a “bonus disc”, but a completely separate CD. This CD will be given away to buyers of either “The Bootleg Series 9” or the “Mono Box Set”. It will only be available from one retailer in each country (territory) in the world. Each Sony territory will have their own partner and Sony’s partner in the USA is Amazon.com.

 

However, when I last talked with Sony UK they had not made their choice of partner and it is extremely unlikely that all Sony territories in the world will chose to go with the same retailer.

 

The reason I mention this is that ISIS has been inundated with emails and calls today from subscribers who believe they will not be able to obtain the Brandeis CD in the UK and that they will HAVE to buy from Amazon in the States.

 

The fact is that this CD will be available in all countries and you do not have to order from the USA.

 

I also notice that the Rolling Stone article gives the date of the Brandeis performance as being May 1, 1963. This date is incorrect. In the April issue of ISIS Magazine, (#149) Ian Woodward wrote a lengthy article about Dylan’s non-appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. In this piece, Ian talks about the Brandeis University 1^st Annual Folk Festival and ISIS reproduces the poster from the event.

 

The date on the poster is “Friday May 10 & Saturday May 11 1963”. Dylan is listed as appearing on Friday, May 10.

 

Further update soon..

30 August 2010

(Breaking News Exclusive - coordinated with “Desolation Row Promotions”. )

8More information on Dylan’s 2010 releases

An article earlier this year, in ISIS # 149, about Bob Dylan’s non-appearance on the 12 May 1963 Ed Sullivan show included reference to Dylan’s performance, two days earlier, at the “1^st Annual Folk Festival” at Brandeis University. Around the time ISIS went to press, there was a rumour that a recording of this performance had been found in the Ralph Gleason archive. Meanwhile, there has been contradictory information as to whether there would be a “collectors’ edition” of the forthcoming "Volume 9" in "The Bootleg Series". Now it seems that this will happen and the aforementioned Brandeis performance will make up the bonus disc. Here is the track listing as provided earlier this year:

 

1.      Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance

2.      Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues

3.      Ballad of Hollis Brown

4.      Masters of War

5.      Talkin’ World War III Blues

6.      Bob Dylan’s Dream

7.      Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues

 

Apparently, the opening song is cut or in some way incomplete, so it will be interesting to hear if this how it appears on the bonus disc. 'Bear Mountain' is the one song that was mentioned in a contemporary review of the concert and it always seemed an odd choice for a 1963 performance. It is now understood that this was in response to a request from the audience and we must assume that this audience member recalled the song from one of Dylan’s previous visits to the Boston area. The whole recording lasts about 40-45 minutes and, before you ask, we have neither got nor heard this recording either.

 

The current position seems to be that this bonus disc will not be released as an individual item, nor will be available on a widespread basis. Instead, it will be sold as part of a “Bootleg Series Volume 9” package and through just one selected retailer in any one country.  Details are not yet known.

 

Other news is that there will be a one volume version of “The Complete Mono Recordings”, having a selection of tracks from the 8 albums. At one time, it was thought that this would be a promo-only CD for radio stations but it is now said that it will be available through record retailers.  The thinking seems to be that it will be bought for dads and uncles at Christmas by younger relatives unwilling or unable to afford the price of the full box-set.

 

Meanwhile, we must assume that Sony is preparing (or, more likely, finalising) its marketing campaign and any information on this and any other developments on these releases would be welcome: ianwoodward9@aol.com

 

 

8Brazil Series Exhibition Preview

Full details HERE

 

 

 

8The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 The Witmark Demos

 

Disc 1: 1. Man On The Street (Fragment) 2. Hard Times In New York Town 3. Poor Boy Blues 4. Ballad For A Friend 5. Rambling, Gambling Willie 6. Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues 7. Standing On The Highway 8. Man On The Street 9. Blowin’ In The Wind 10. Long Ago, Far Away 11. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall 12. Tomorrow Is A Long Time 13. The Death of Emmett Till 14. Let Me Die In My Footsteps 15. Ballad Of Hollis Brown 16. Quit Your Low Down Ways 17. Baby, I’m In The Mood For You 18. Bound To Lose, Bound To Win 19. All Over You 20. I’d Hate To Be You On That Dreadful Day 21. Long Time Gone 22. Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues 23. Masters Of War 24. Oxford Town 25. Farewell

 

Disc 2: 1. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right 2. Walkin’ Down The Line 3. I Shall Be Free 4. Bob Dylan’s Blues 5. Bob Dylan’s Dream 6. Boots Of Spanish Leather 7. Walls of Red Wing 8. Girl From The North Country 9. Seven Curses 10. Hero Blues 11. Whatcha Gonna Do? 12. Gypsy Lou 13. Ain’t Gonna Grieve 14. John Brown 15. Only A Hobo 16. When The Ship Comes In 17. The Times They Are A-Changin’ 18. Paths Of Victory 19. Guess I’m Doing Fine 20. Baby Let Me Follow You Down 21. Mama, You Been On My Mind 22. Mr. Tambourine Man 23. I’ll Keep It With Mine

 

8BOB DYLAN: THE ORIGINAL MONO RECORDINGS

The eight albums in The Original Mono Recordings are:

 

Bob Dylan – 1962

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – 1963

The Times They Are A-Changin’ – 1964

Another Side Of Bob Dylan – 1964

Bringing It All Back Home – 1965

Highway 61 Revisited – 1965

Blonde on Blonde – 1966

John Wesley Harding – 1967

 

 

Note: Both "The Bootleg Series 9" and "Bob Dylan: Original Mono Recordings" will be available as vinyl Box-Sets. "The Bootleg Series 9" will be a four-LP set, whilst "Bob Dylan: Original Mono Recordings" will be a nine-LP set, with "Blonde On Blonde" being a double album.

 

However, it appears that the vinyl edition of "Bob Dylan: Original Mono Recordings" will not be available until late December.

 

ISIS will be stocking all of the above products.

 

 

15 Aug 2010

 

 8Mono Box-Set

We have now been asked by several people if the albums contained in the upcoming Dylan Mono Box Set will be available separately. It is our understanding that this will not be the case.

 

8Special Dylan Concert

Rumours began to circulate early this month with regards to a “special concert” which would take place in mid August, probably August 25, 2010. On August 13 the rumour was confirmed on the bobdylan.com website with the words “Bob Dylan and his band will perform a special show on August 25. Details will be announced next week”. The following day, ISIS was informed that the show would be staged at The Warfield in San Francisco. Today August 16, The Warfield website seems to have given the game away by stating that they will be staging a concert with “Very special guests! (to be announced) on August 25, 2010”. The ticket prices are to be confirmed but it appears that they will not go on sale until three hours before show time, which is at 8:00pm. The nature of this concert, which is likely to feature other artists as well as Bob Dylan, is unclear. Perhaps a charity event?

 

8Bob Dylan: The Brazil Series

 Images from forthcoming exhibition can now been seen HERE

 Bob Dylan: The Brazil Series book is now available to pre-order from ISIS. HERE

 

 

840% off "Jukebox Series" CD's- Offer ends Friday August 27, 2010.

We have a selection of "Jukebox Series" cd's available at discounted prices. Quantities are low and when sold out we will not be replenishing our stock. All of the cd titles are compiled by ISIS editor Derek Barker. All are presented in deluxe slip cases with 16-page liner note booklets also written by Derek. Full details HERE

 

 

 

27 July 2010

 

 

8The Brazil Series Exhibition

Dylan’s new collection of paintings, entitled “The Brazil Series”, will be on display between September 4, 2010 and January 30, 2011 at National Gallery of Denmark. The gallery, which is in Copenhagen will be displaying between 30–40 canvases depicting Brazilian scenes. The paintings, which are believed to be acrylic on canvas, will be displayed along with a selection of works fro from the previous “The Drawn Blank Series”.

 

8The Brazil Series Book

Publisher Prestel will be producing a book to accompany the Danish “The Brazil Series” exhibition. The large format book, containing 192 pages and featuring completely new works, is due for publication on September 1, 2010. This item is available now to pre-order from ISIS. Pre-order now.

 

8Also available to pre-order from ISIS.

Bob Dylan In America by Sean Wilentz. Pre-order now.

 

8Folksinger's Choice is now in stock at ISIS

This item is due to be released on 16 Aug 2010. However, by special arrangement ISIS already has this item in stock!! Buy now.

 

 

28 June 2010

 

8Rumoured 40Cd Box Set

 

A longer version of this report has been published in our ISIS newsletter which was mailed to subscribers last week. We seek more information on this matter for ISIS #151, the deadline for which is in approximately three weeks.

 

On Wednesday, 9 June 2010, on a Tampa Bay, Florida, arts page blog, John Fleming of the St. Petersburg Times said he’d recently conducted an interview with Didier Deutsch, whose name can be found on a number of Dylan album releases. The post mainly concerned various Broadway show original cast album releases. In the preamble to the interview, he mentioned that Deutsch had said that he was currently working on a 40-CD Bob Dylan box-set. On being contacted, Mr Fleming replied that Mr Deutsch had said he was working on a Bob Dylan project, right now, for Legacy Recordings - a 40-CD box-set, to comprise Dylan’s complete output, minus one album, with 2 CDs of bonus material. No other details were given, so we don’t know how Legacy counted Dylan’s Columbia albums nor what bonus material might be included. As for that “minus one album”, we assume that the phrase refers to 1973’s “Dylan” release. However, enquiries elsewhere indicate that, while this work may well be on-going, Sony has no plans to release the set. It seems the project was cancelled, in terms of an actual release, some time ago but, if Didier Deutsch is still working it, this suggests that the mastering stage, having been started, is being completed. Presumably, this will allow Sony to stockpile the mastered albums for future use. So, if Sony’s planned a 40-CD box-set Bob Dylan has now put that on ice, what plans does it have? There are two other Dylan projects on-going at present. One is an 8-CD set of Dylan’s earliest albums in mono. The other is the next Bootleg Series release, as mentioned in ISIS # 150 (on page 9 and page 18). No release date has yet been set for either but both projects are being prepared for release around the same time, later this year. In respect of the next Bootleg Series release, rumours some time back suggested a set of non-live recordings, well-known to collectors but in better quality, but nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing (mid-June 2010) and Sony’s plans could change meanwhile. Anyone able to refute or add further details to any of the above should contact: ianwoodward9@aol.com