Hard Rain & Slow Trains: Bob Dylan & Fellow Travelers

In August and September of 1963, Bob Dylan began appearing as a special guest at Joan Baez concerts; he had three recording sessions for THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN', his third album; he sang before a quarter of a million people at the March for Jobs and Freedom in Washington, D.C.; he recorded more demos for his publisher M. Witmark and Songs; and he accepted Baez’s invitation to return with her to Carmel for a retreat away ...

In July of 1963, Bob Dylan traveled to Greenwood, Mississippi, final resting place of Robert Johnson, to perform at a Voter Registration Rally, traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to perform for Columbia executives, and traveled to Minnesota to perform for friends, he recorded a television performance that would air the following month, but above all he performed at the Newport Folk Festival. He performed at Newport and, as Robert Sh...

In May and June of 1963, Bob Dylan performed his first concert in California (where he sang his first duet with Joan Baez), walked off the set of THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, and finally saw his second album, which he had been working on for a year, appear in record stores. Take a “Highway of Diamonds” back 60 years to the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan's professional life in the late spring of 1963: May and June. In "20 Poun...

50 years ago, Bob Dylan recorded the soundtrack to PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, helped some friends in the studio, including producing the only non-Bob Dylan album he ever produced, began rehearsing with The Band for an anticipated concert tour, signed with a new record label after 11 years with Columbia, and went into a studio and recorded his only studio album with The Band. All of this occurred against a changing cultural ba...

In April of 1963, Bob Dylan showcased his own songs to his largest audience yet, he finished recording for his second album, and he returned to the stages of coffee houses and clubs…until he became too big for coffee houses and clubs. Take a “Highway of Diamonds” back 60 years to the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan's professional life in April of 1963...60 years ago to the month. This episode is exceptionally long (the longe...

This episode is marchin' down the line...to explore Bob Dylan's March of 1963. The 60th anniversary is the diamond anniversary – visit the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan's professional life in March of 1963...60 years ago to the month. Dylan appears on television for the first time in the United States, he does a couple different radio shows, he again records for Witmark and Sons, his publishing company, and his l...

Dylan is in the midst of a five-night residency at the Tokyo Garden Theater before he concludes his 11-date tour of Japan with three nights in Nagoya. To commemorate his 2023 tour of Japan, HARD RAIN & SLOW TRAINS: BOB DYLAN & FELLOW TRAVELERS concludes a two-part series featuring "'Pearls from Japan': Bob Dylan in Japan." Hear highlights of Bob Dylan's Japanese concerts over the decades: 1978 to 20...

On April 6, Bob Dylan returned to the stage for the first concert of 2023...in Japan. To commemorate the occasion, HARD RAIN & SLOW TRAINS: BOB DYLAN & FELLOW TRAVELERS launches the first of a two-part series featuring "'Pearls from Japan': Bob Dylan in Japan part 1". Hear highlights of Bob Dylan's Japanese concerts over the decades: 1978 to 2018. This first part features performances from 1978 to 1...

It is an ice-cold, snowy, slushy-street February in New York City in 1963, which is where the “Highway of Diamonds” takes us this month. The 60th anniversary is the diamond anniversary – visit the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan's professional life in February of 1963...60 years ago to the month. Dylan appears on a radio show, records for both Witmark and Broadside, is photographed for the cover of his next album, and has 12...

It is a new year, which means that the “Highway of Diamonds” that takes us back 60 years – the 60th anniversary is the diamond anniversary – now takes us back to a new destination: 1963.  Visit the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan's professional life in January of 1963...60 years ago to the month. The year begins with Dylan in London, rehearsing for the BBC television play authored by Evan Jones: MADHOUSE ON CASTLE STREET, pe...

We don't know what’s around the bend, but we’re heading there through 2023. This episode plays Dylan songs & those of fellow travelers dealing with what's around the bend. In "20 Pounds of Headlines," we round up news from the world of Bob Dylan, which includes news about a new Dylan art book, a reminder about the forthcoming Bootleg Series, Dylan's ranking on ROLLING STONE'S new "200 Greatest...

This episode concludes the 2022 monthly series that has been celebrating the tenth anniversary of TEMPEST with this the tenth and final episode, exploring the album’s final song, "Roll on John," John Lennon, and death as an odyssey. In "20 Pounds of Headlines," we round up news from the world of Bob Dylan, which includes director James Mangold’s announcement about the title of his upcoming Bob Dylan biopic and n...

In this episode we wrap up our year-long exploration of Bob Dylan's 1962. This month we are visiting December, when Bob Dylan enters Columbia Recording Studio A for the seventh and what he believed would be the final time before completing his second studio album (this turned out not to be the case), and then he boards a plane on December 16 in order to head to London to perform in Madhouse on Castle Street for the BBC: his fi...

This episode continues a monthly, ten-part series celebrating the tenth anniversary of TEMPEST, featuring the eighth track on the album, "Tin Angel," necessitating a consideration of the presence of the murder ballad in Dylan's work and his narrative songs in general. In "20 Pounds of Headlines," we round up news from the world of Bob Dylan, which includes Dylan's statement about his use of Autopen, th...

Visit the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan's professional life in November of 1962 as we travel "A Highway of Diamonds" back 60 years. Dylan returns to the Columbia Recording Studio A in Manhattan to finish recording his first single and to continue recording his second album. He performs at Gerde's Folk City and he prepares to leave for England. A 60th anniversary is a diamond anniversary, so this week, and th...

This episode continues a monthly, ten-part series celebrating the tenth anniversary of TEMPEST, featuring the seventh track on the album, "Early Roman Kings." In "20 Pounds of Headlines," we round up news from the world of Bob Dylan, which includes the long-awaited news about Bootleg Series vol. 17 on TIME OUT OF MIND, the wrapping up of Dylan's 2022 tour, and the passing of a musician fellow traveler. In &...

Because of the Cuban Missile Crisis, it is a fraught month, but the day before the Crisis begins — although the Crisis was not made public for another week — Dylan performs the first of what could legitimately join his (considerably long) list of "greatest concerts." Certainly, his Gaslight performance after hours with the closed sign on the door reveals Dylan in a character and mood he would not often sustain for an enti...