Positively Bob Dylan

Dylan’s second exhibition of original paintings

Mike Hobo — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:48:18 +0000

As the Bob Dylan magazine ISIS reports in its latest issue, there will be an exhibition of original paintings and limited edition prints by Bob Dylan from 14 June 2008. The exhibition will include new, previously unseen works. It will take place at London’s Halcyon Gallery in Mayfair, one of Europe’s leading galleries for contemporary art in its 25th anniversary.
Bob Dylan’s interest in painting was probably influenced by artist Suze Rotolo, Bob’s girlfriend in the early 1960s. Examples of his early works can be found on the covers of his albums of “Self Portrait” (1970) and “Planet Waves” (1974), but only recently he agreed to a very first official exhibition at the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz in Germany from October 2007 until February 2008, entitled “The Drawn Blank Series Watercolor and Gouache Paintings Exhibition”. The initial idea for that came from a book of drawings and sketches done by Dylan from 1989 to 1992, which were published under the title “Drawn Blank” by Random House in 1994. You can read the official press release by Columbia Records here, or take a look at some of the paintings on this page of the Guardian website.

New Dylan exhibition and events at Skirball Cultural Center

Mike Hobo — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:35:18 +0000

“Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956–1966″ is a new exhibition at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles more than 160 artifacts, including Dylan’s handwritten drafts of classic songs, rare concert posters and a recording of his first concert, which has never been commercially released. It follows Bob Dylan from his Minnesota roots to his growing fame as a rock star. The presentation is complemented by a newly developed satellite exhibit, which offers a unique opportunity to experience the creative process. Visitors can simulate playing along with Dylan on keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars, drums and organs, as well as experiment with a mixing board on an authentic Dylan recording!

The exhibition can be visited until June 8, 2008 at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 North Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049. General admission is $10.

The Skirball Cultural Center is an affiliate of Hebrew Union College. Its mission is to explore the connections between four thousand years of Jewish heritage and the vitality of American democratic ideals. It features a museum, changing exhibitions, engaging music, theater, comedy, film, family, and literary programs in an architectural setting designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie. Over 500,000 people visit the Skirball each year.

Tambourine Man tops Hot 100

Mike Hobo — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:48:01 +0000

Visitors of this website have voted “Mr. Tambourine Man” Dylan’s greatest song ever. The classic 1965 album cut off Bringing It All Back Home reached the peak of the Top 100 Dylan Songs rating in April, closely followed by - and this might be a little surprise to some - Blood On The Tracks’ “Idiot Wind”. A few excerpts from user comments on the song: “the lyrics/imagery are unapproachable”, “first psychedelic vision of rock”, “last verse has been my personal touchstone for close on 42 years”, “Dylan is restless and aimless he is searching for something”, “The amazing thing about Dylan is that he can bathe himself into the sickness of a song, and then come out again.”
Feel free to vote for “Mr. Tambourine Man” as well, or post your own personal comment on the song or on any other officially released Bob Dylan tune.

Pulitzer Prize 2008: Special Citation to Bob Dylan

Mike Hobo — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:12:50 +0000

For his “profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power” Bob Dylan received a Special Citation at the Pulitzer Prizes 2008 on Monday. It was the first time the Pulitzer Prize Board awarded an art form once dismissed as subversive. So the times they have changed again and Rock ’n Roll has finally broken through the Pulitzer wall to join the exclusive club of icons in literature, journalism, classic music, and jazz. Congratulations, you got a good deal!

Zainab McCoy on Chronicles translation

Mike Hobo — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:35:06 +0000

Check out this interview with Zainab in addition to the posting below, Exclusive offer: Dylan’s original 1st Chronicles manuscript. When I asked for the permission to put it on YouTube, Zainab added that it was actually at the end of August when she and Hans Marius Stormoen received the second Chronicles manuscript from Simon and Schuster, and not in September as said in the video interview.

Exclusive offer: Dylan’s original 1st Chronicles manuscript!

Mike Hobo — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:23:50 +0000

When Zainab McCoy, visual and performing artist from Philadelphia who is currently living in Oslo contacted me, I was immediately astonished by the unique item she had to offer: Her late husband Hans Marius Stormoen translated Dylan’s “Chronicles, Volume 1″ into Norwegian. After his work was finished, Zainab asked him what to do with the original manuscript. His simple reply was “Put it in the trash. Or just do whatever you want to do with it”, she tells me. But of course this is not what you would do with a true collector’s item.
To everyone’s surprise, just before Bob Dylan’s book was going to be released worldwide and Stormoen was nearly halfway finished translating it, the phone rang. It was the Chief Editor of the Norwegian publishing house, telling him to immediately stop his translation, “Dylan has sent us a new manuscript”! On the same day the new version of the manuscript arrived from New York, the one that would later end up as the official book release. Zainab’s job was to read both versions and mark the changes that Dylan had made so that her husband could easily find them and not have to completely run through what he had already translated. A complicated task, as she confirms.
Back to the first, completely unedited manuscript: As Zainab told me, in the first manuscript you can hear Dylan’s voice, his casual unedited way of speaking and writing. It even includes Bob’s personal note to the editor “type written on the PC”. None of the manuscripts contain any handwriting by Dylan. Still since there were so many changes made from the first to the second manuscript, the original unpublished version remains an important item for every serious rarities collector and Bob Dylan fan.

Please note that the authenticity of the original Chronicles manuscript copies can be verified by Morten Malmø, Chief Editor at DAMM/EGMONT in Oslo, Norway, who personally hand delivered the first manuscript to Hans Marius Stormoen, who also translated several other works such as Bob Dylan’s “Scrape Book”. He died on June 1, 2006, whilst in the middle of translating Sharon Osbourne’s autobiography “Extreme”.

Supported by positively-bobdylan.com Zainab McCoy now exclusively offers to sell the original first manuscript to the highest bidder - THIS IS A CALL TO SERIOUS COLLECTORS ONLY! McCoy will request a face-to-face meeting with the eventual buyer to see and purchase the complete manuscript. It will NOT be sent via e-mail! In case you are seriously interested, you may contact her at hmstormo@hotmail.com.

It’s Rolling Thunder hat time again!

Mike Hobo — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:26:52 +0000

Bob seems to have found his RTR hat again. In a series of recent gigs he was seen wearing a hat that looks like the one from the 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour. Keep on keepin’ on, Bob - it still fits!

Check out Bob’s latest performance of “Lay Lady Lay” at the House of Blues in Dallas on February 23, posted by sonsofjah on youtube:

Symposium “Defining Dylan”

Mike Hobo — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:12:35 +0000

The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles will be holding a symposium on influences that helped shape Dylan’s music. The event on March 30 will be hosted by Bob Santelli, director of the Grammy Museum and author of “The Bob Dylan Scrapbook”. The presented topics will include Dylan’s Minnesota roots, his Jewish upbringing, connections to black female gospel singers, and an examination of folk music before and after Dylan. One of the presenters will be Greil Marcus, cultural historian and author of “Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads”.
Ticket prices range from $35 (general) to $15 (students) and can be ordered online here.

Also “Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956-1966″ is still on view at the Skirball Cultural Center through June 8, 2008 . The exhibition features more than 160 artifacts, including Dylan’s handwritten drafts of classic songs, rare concert posters and a recording of his first concert, which has never been commercially released.

A Freewheelin’ Time Again

Mike Hobo — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:09:04 +0000

65 years old Suze Rotolo is going to release her book “A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties” in May. The official release date is May 13, 2008 but it can already be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.
Rotolo is perhaps best known from the 1963 cover photography of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”, where she is walking through Greenwich Village with Bob. Both she and her sister Carla were close friends of Bob in the early 1960s. Her political and artist background is often regarded as having influenced Dylan’s early songwriting and his interest in art, especially painting.

A few years after having lost her connection to Dylan she got married to an Italian film editor. Their son now works as a musician in New York. Her latest public interviews on Dylan were for PBS news in 2004 and for Martin Scorsese’s documentary “No Direction Home” in 2005. The release of her new book comes along with the 45th anniversary of the “Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” album.

Song to Bobby

Mike Hobo — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:47:04 +0000

Check out Cat Power’s new album Jukebox which includes both a wonderful cover version of “I Believe In You” as well as a song dedicated to Bob in the manner of his 1962 “Song to Woody”, “Song to Bobby”. In the lyrics of her very personal song she reveals her love to Dylan, “Givin’ you my heart was my plan”.

I found this live performance from French Canal+ TV channel on YouTube: