Dylan.FM

‘A Complete Unknown’ starts and ends with Dylan & Woody Guthrie in Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris Plains New Jersey. In this episode we learn more about Dylan’s time there with Guthrie from two people who were directly involved, Woody’s daughter Nora Guthrie and his friend Jahanara Romney (then known as Bonnie Beecher). Beecher’s name will be familiar to Dylan fans because The M...

In this episode of Dylan Revisited, host Colm Larkin takes us into The Gaslight to talk about Dylan’s work and recordings there. These are visits that took place in the very early years of Dylan arriving in New York. We'll hear about two famous Dylan shows there, one from September 1961 and another from 1962 that has later been officially released. These shows took place in the very early years of...

Our Not Completely Unknown series continues, with Episode 2 from A Bob Dylan Primer, this time focusing on Dylan's life and work between the release of his debut album and the release of Another Side of Bob Dylan just two years later. Host Michael Hacker tells the story of this pivotal period when Dylan the songwriter came to the forefront. This all within the period of the A Complete Unknown Movi...

Today we hear from Elijah Wald, who wrote “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night that Split the Sixties” the book on which the movie 'A Complete Unknown' is based. As the title suggests, the book looks at the events of this period based on Seeger and his role in the established folk Music, Dylan’s arrival and ascension, and the dramatic events that took place at Newport ’in 196...

The Bob Dylan portrayed in  A Complete Unknown  finds those incredible songs pouring out of him—a characterization we’ve often heard about Dylan. While the blistering pace at which they emerged is astonishing, it’s important to understand the influences, borrowing, and creative remaking that played a huge role in this period of his life. Far from diminishing his achievements, understanding these f...

Just 10 months after he arrived in New York City, Bob Dylan found himself at Columbia Records recording his first record. This episode tells the story of what was then considered a rather unspectacular debut. This is the first episode of Dylan Revisited, a new podcast by Colm Larkin that grew out of his Twitter/Bluesky thread posts. Not Completely Unknown This episode is the second in an ongoing s...

Before television, a boy was born in springtime Minnesota. 25 years later he was the most beloved, and most reviled – pop star on the planet. A Bob Dylan Primer is a series that tells the story of the work and life of Bob Dylan. Over the course of 16 episodes it covers the time period from Dylan’s youth in Minnesota and early days in New York City up to the release of Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind in 1...

We're kicking off a new series on Dylan. FM called “Not Completely Unknown” focused on helping new Dylan fans learn more about the guy they met in the film, or the musician that they've never taken the time to get to know well. This will be an ongoing series of podcasts, blog posts, and social media chirps (primarily on Bluesky @dylan.thefm.club). Three sources will frame the series: A Bob Dylan P...

In 1983 Bob Dylan recorded Blind Willie McTell, but it remained unreleased until The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3, and became one of Dylan's most revered songs. It finally appeared in concert in 1997 where it remained an occasional highlight for a long long time. On this episode we dive into this well loved Dylan song with Michael Gray, who researched and wrote extensively about it in his book Song &am...

To listen to the Extended and Bonus Episodes of our shows you can either: Subscribe to FM+ : Click the subscribe button in Apple Podcasts or sign up here . (One subscription covers all our network podcasts for one low price ! ) Join FM Premium : Get an FM+ Subscription plus video interviews, blog posts, a weekly bonus email and more.   VIDEO AVAILABLE • • This interview is available on v...

Dylan's participation in The Traveling Wilburys was a clear career bright spot of the 1980s. What started as a few friends dropping by the house turned into a hit record. In this episode Musician Jeff Slate talks to us about how this happened, what it produced, and what it mean to Dylan and his career. ** This Episode is available on video for FM Premium Members. ** LINKS Jeff Slate Website ( Appl...

In this special episode we're sharing the premiere episode of a new podcast called 'Infinity Goes Up On Trial' hosted by Erin Callahan. It's monthly show with discussions about the ideas and emotions in Dylan's work, with artists, activists, educators, and more. SHOW NOTES The emotions and ideas in Bob Dylan’s work have an expansive reach that extends beyond his fan base. We see threads of these i...

Continuing our discussion with Michael Gray on his book Song & Dance Man Vol.2, we discuss Chapter 4 which focuses on Groom Still Waiting At The Altar and also covers Angelina and Caribbean Wind. Michael explains the biblical references from the title of Groom, we discuss the lyrical changes as sung from those in the lyric books, the various and adventurous rhymes, and Dylan's impassioned deli...

Bob Dylan struggled in many ways in the mid 80's, no matter how you look at it. We talk about the perception and reality of that struggle, along with his triumphs, with Professor Erin Callahan. Erin often hosts The Dylantantes podcast, is co-author/co-editor of The Politics and Power of Bob Dylan’s Live Performances - a recent book looking at Dylan through the lens of his live setlists, and has an...

We continue our series with Michael Gray on Song & Dance Man, Vol. 2 with a discussion of two chapters on great songs from Bob's Born-Again Period. The first is Yonder Comes Sin, and outtake captured at a live show soundcheck, and unreleased until the Trouble No More Bootleg Series. The Second is the beloved Every Grain of Sand. This is an extended version of this episode exclusively for FM+ S...

Dylan & The Dead is much more than an album, it's a relationship. In this episode we talk to Dylan and Dead expert Harold Lepidus about all aspects of that history, the shows, the rehearsals, the inspiration, and the impact. This a part of our 'Five Worst Years' series looking at all sides of 1984-1988. Dylan first started spending time with The Dead in '87, rehearsing and then playing live sh...

Following 18 months after Infidels, nothing about the making of this record - the recording process, the sound, the songs, or even the cover art - suggested that Dylan was on solid footing. The times were a-changin' again. Yet the music did impress some: Rolling Stone asked: "Is Dylan “back”? Again? One is tempted to trumpet some such tidings. ... Empire Burlesque  is nothing as straightforwa...

Bob Dylan has had an incredible career for over sixty years. But Dylan hit a bit of a rough patch in the 1980's - especially the mid 80s. Or did he? This is the question we're going to look at as we revisit the years 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988 - and everything that took place during those years - through this and a whole bunch of episodes ahead on Dylan. FM. In this introductory episode we s...

Dylan fans have always focused on setlists, but this may be the first book to use them as a theme, around which a series of writers look at how the list of songs Bob chooses to sing in any given night or tour has evolved, the different roles certain songs have played over the years, and the larger story or message contained within a sequence of songs (intentionally or not). Another by-product of t...

In this episode we talk with author Michael Gray about Chapter One of Volume 2 of Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan - Yonder Comes Sin, which was just released. Much of the discussion is about Street-Legal, and how that album revealed Dylan's evolving search for salvation - in a way that perhaps foreshadowed the gospel years much more clearly than anyone caught at the time. LINKS: Song &a...

Mixing Up The Medicine is a new book that takes us all inside The Bob Dylan Archives, and shares a wealth of photos, memorabilia, manuscripts, and new original writing. We talk with authors Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel to learn how they created it. ** The Extended Version of this Episode is 30 Minutes long and available only to FM+ Subscribers ** You can order Mixing Up The Medicine at Amazon ....

Nobody Else Can Be Influenced By The Pre-War Blues like Bob Dylan - or so says author Michael Gray in Chapter 8 in Song & Dance Man Vol.1 (The 50th Anniversary Edition). In 112 pages in that book he explains Dylan's relationship with the blues, which we discuss in this episode. Our Guest Reader for this episode is Scott Bunn of ReclinerNotes.com ** The Full Extended Version of this Episode is...

Only one song from Dylan's 1960s output earned a dedicated chapter in Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1) , and it's a song that Dylan never even released until over 20 years later. In this episode we talk to Michael Gray about "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" (later released on Biograph in 1985 and later on Side Tracks). The song is called out for special attention, because as Michael ex...

Following our two episodes on complexity in Dylan's lyrics, our discussion turns to the trend towards simplicity in the late 60's and early 70's work. This covers Chapter 5 in Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1) and includes comments on John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, New Morning, Self Portrait, Planet Waves and Blood On The Tracks. We'll listen to passages from the book and...

In this fourth episode in our Series on the new book release Song & Dance Man: The Art of Bob Dylan (Vol.1) we talk to author Michael Gray about Chapter Four: Dylan's Use of Language: Toward Complexity. We discuss the changes on songs seen over the course of Dylan's first seven albums - from Bob Dylan through Blonde on Blonde. The changes Bob Dylan went through from 1962 through 1966 are myria...