Bob Dylan

In 1989, I went to see Dylan at the Tampa Convention Center. Bob was at a huge low point, creatively--or at least that's the way it seemed. The last album out was 1988's Down in the Groove, which Rolling Stone called "Dylan's worst record," and that album followed Knocked Out Loaded, which meant that it was the second release in a row with unanimously negative reviews.  Even though I own almost every other Dylan recording, I'm not sure I've ever heard either of those records, so I can't say. It's worth noting, however, that Self Portrait and even Blood on the Tracks were initially panned by the critics and both are now considered classics.

Through the 80s, Dylan toured with the Grateful Dead and Tom Petty and huge acts like that, but in 1988,  he decide to scale it down with a small combo featuring G.E. Smith on guitar. This was, essentially, the beginning of the "never-ending tour," which technically is still going on to this day.

The Convention Center show in 1988 was pretty bad. The sound system was horrible, which was something for which you could at least partially blame the Tampa Convention Center.  Dylan's lyrics were obscured by the echo of the room, and if you can't hear Dylan singing those words at least clearly enough to make out where he is in the song, then that pretty much puts an end to any Bob Dylan show for most people. But that wasn't the only trouble. The band didn't seem to know any of the songs, and Dylan didn't seem to care that they didn't. Dylan is famous for playing "stump-the-band" with his sidemen, but this was really bad.  It seemed the bass player, T-bone Wolk, had never even heard most of the songs.  He was reading chord changes from Smith's fretboard and struggling to keep up. I'd have to say that the best thing about the show was that Dylan wore his famous gold lame suit and that Roger Mcguinn, who lived in nearby Redington Shores, played a few songs at the end of the set.  In all, it was a terrible show.

This was actually the second time I'd seen Bob. The first was in 1974 at the Omni in Atlanta. This was when Dylan first returned to touring after seven years of isolation, and the show featured the Band both as Dylan's backup band and on their own. That show was incredible. First, Dylan came out with his guitar and played solo for about an hour--stuff like "It's All Right Ma" and "Spanish Boots" and "Tambourine Man"--and then the Band came out and played all their great songs for about an hour.  Then, Dylan came back out and played all the stuff he generally did with the band--"Like a Rolling Stone," "My Back Pages," "I Shall Be Released," etc. Great show, even from my bad seats.  I paid $40 for this show, by the way.  I had never heard of a concert ticket this expensive, but I got my money's worth and more. 

The point of recounting these two shows was to demonstrate that my experience with Dylan was typical, I think. For years after, and even now, people will say, "Dylan's either terrible or great." In fact, many people gave up on Dylan for the simple reason that you couldn't be sure which Dylan would show up. 

Which brings me to my last two experiences seeing Bob. Both of these show were at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. For those of you who don't know, the Ryman is the original home of the Grand Old Opry. It's called "the Mother Church" because it is, in fact, a converted church and because it is where country music was nurtured if not born. The first time Dylan came through was in 2007, and I thought I'd take a chance.  Dylan and the Ryman.  Ok, I'm in.  Plus, I had bought 2006's Modern Times, and I loved the record.  It sounded on the record like Dylan was doing what he wanted to do and having a good time doing it, and so we went. The band was Tony Garnier on Bass, George Recile on Drums, Stu Kimball on guitar, Denny Freeman on guitar, and Donny Herron on assorted instruments. Damn, it was good. Bob was leading the band, unlike the gig in Tampa where he seemed to be just playing and hoping the band kept up. These guys were focused on Bob. I mean focused. Bob, if you don't know, has been playing a lot of piano and organ on stage for a while (as he says, if I could find a keyboard player who played the way I like, then I'd stop) and he led the band from behind the organ. The cool thing was that it was a band--tight and playing with each other. High, focused energy, especially from Bob. The folks that follow Dylan closely all say it was the best show in years, maybe ever.  Jack White played a few songs with the band, too.  Great show, lucky me.

Ok, so Dylan comes back to the Ryman in 2011--this time with Charlie Sexton back on guitar. The thing is, Charlie is such a force that now he's leading the band. Instead of focusing on Bob, the band members are all focused on Charlie, which leaves Dylan free to be, well . . . the song and dance man he's always thought of himself as. So Bob's up front twirling his hat, dancing around, playing some harp and . . . wait for it . . . smiling and laughing. Yes, Bob Dylan smiling and laughing and dancing around and singing his butt off and, yes, having a good time. Incredible show.

So I guess the point is that Bob is back, at least for now. The current albums are weird as hell, but they make sense.  They really do.  This is Bob as he always wanted to be, I think: a chronicler of the American musical idiom (the last four or five albums) and an entertainer (the shows).  None of the pressure of being a savior or a prophet.  Just a living chronicler of American music and a song and dance man.