Dylan Revisited

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, it’s time to meet the podcast’s first guest. Martin Fitzgerald is the author of a brilliant new book about the JFK assassination, The Umbrella Man and Other Stories, as well as Ruth and Martin’s Album Club. Borrowing the premise of the latter, I challenged Martin to listen to a record he had never heard before, Broadside Ballads Vol. 1, which features a number o...

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, I look back at Dont Look Back, the feature-length documentary covering Bob Dylan's 1965 UK tour that became a landmark in documentary filmmaking and helped make this Dylan an iconic figure in music history. Join me to revisit director DA Pennebaker’s groundbreaking film and its extraordinary cast of characters. Let’s revisit Dont Look Back. Written, produced and...

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, I look back at Bringing It All Back Home, the first in Bob Dylan's trio of classic mid-60s albums, which sees the protest icon begin his thrilling transformation into a rock star. Join me to revisit this remarkable record, split into electric and acoustic sides but where the real divide between past and future is not as straightforward as that. Let’s revisit Bri...

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, I look back at The Bootleg Series Vol. 6, which presents a complete Bob Dylan concert from New York’s Philharmonic Hall in October 1964 that features a guest appearance from Joan Baez. Join me to revisit this memorable show and dive into Baez’s background and her relationship with Dylan and his music. Let’s revisit Concert at Philharmonic Hall. Written, produced...

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, I look back at The Bootleg Series Vol. 9, which collects the demos recorded by Bob Dylan for his music publishing company over a three-year period from 1962-64. Join me to listen back to more original songs from this fertile era, as well as alternative versions of his classic songs, like A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall, Blowin’ in the Wind and Mr. Tambourine Man. Let...

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, I look back at Bob Dylan’s fourth studio album. Join me to revisit a single, wine-fuelled evening in June 1964, where the singer abandoned his protest icon status and embraced a more expansive interior side with classic songs like It Ain’t Me Babe, To Ramona, Chimes of Freedom and My Back Pages. Let’s revisit Another Side of Bob Dylan. Written, produced and perf...

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, I look back at very first volume of The Bootleg Series, the long-running collection of outtakes, live shows and other rare recordings from throughout Bob Dylan’s career. I explore the extraordinary number of songs that Bob Dylan wrote over a three-year period from 1961-63 but never officially released until The Bootleg Series finally gave us high-quality audio v...

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, I look back at Bob Dylan’s third studio album, which cemented his (ultimately unwanted) position as a protest icon. I explore its themes of protest, societal change, and personal despair, contrasting the hopeful title track with the rest of the record’s darker narratives of injustice and heartbreak. Let's revisit The Times They Are a-Changin’. Written, produced...

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, we look back at a short live Bob Dylan set at small folk festival in the gym room at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Recorded in May 1963, just weeks before the release of The Freewheelin’ saw Dylan become a star, it's one of the last chances to hear him perform at such a modest event and features great renditions of some of his early classics. Let's revis...

An early radio appearance featuring performances and conversation with Cynthia Gooding. In this episode of Dylan Revisited, we look back at one of Bob Dylan's first major radio show features from March 1962 when he appeared on the show Folksinger's Choice, hosted by Cynthia Gooding. Dylan performs a wide range of folk and blues standards, plus some of his early compositions, plus there's some comp...

The album that made Dylan a star. The record with the iconic cover. The one with a handful of his most famous songs. But is it as loose and loved-up as that title and photo suggests? In this episode of Dylan Revisited, we look back at the 18-month period from 1962-3 when the love of Bob Dylan's life was on another continent, a torrent of songs was flowing out of him and the artist he wanted to be...

Our first bootleg revisit takes us to Greenwich Village in the early 1960s where a young Bob Dylan is honing his craft in the heart of the folk music revival. This episode covers three different live shows at the famous Gaslight Café. The first is from September 1961, a couple of months before Dylan recorded his debut album. The next two are from October 1962, by which time his songwriting had tak...

Going back to the beginning with Bob Dylan's self-titled debut album. Released in 1962, the record was a low-key introduction for the singer who would go on to be one of popular music's most important and iconic figures. But what does it tell us about Bob Dylan's early career and are there clues about what's to come. Let's revisit Bob Dylan's debut album and find out. Written, produced and perform...