Tony Garnier Joins Dylan's Band! 6-10-89

24 Years later, Dylan and Garnier are still happily married. Here's a brain-busting Like a Rolling Stone from 6-10-89 from Statenhal, Den Haag, The Netherlands. This is a favorite of mine. Dylan's vocals are urgent, and the guitar solo from, G.R. Smith smokes!

For more on the Never Ending Tour, check out Tangled Up in Tunes: Ballad of a Dylanhead

Howard Weiner's new book --Tangled Up in New York: Shakedown on the Streets 

Birth of the Never Ending Tour Revisited

Twenty five years ago on this day, June 7, Dylan launched what was to become known as the Never Ending Tour in Concord, California. I was fortunate to catch six Dylan shows in 1988. Here are my fond recollections of those performances:

6-24-88 Garden State Performing Arts Center…Dylan burst upon  the stage playing a frenetic Subterranean Homesick Blues opener followed by It’s All Over Now Baby Blue. Dylan and G.E. Smith were kicking ass and taking names.  I was stunned by the brazing versions of Drifting Too Far From Shore and Silvio, a massive improvement  over the tepid, but enjoyable album tracks.  Like a Rolling Stone was the sensational set closer—all ’88 renditions of Bob’s greatest anthem are sure to please. This was the first time I had ever seen Dylan without Petty or the Grateful Dead backing him—Dylan unfettered. This performance was exhilarating and brisk. I knew I’d be back for more, but I could never have imagined that it would be 119 shows over the course of the next twenty-five years.

7-3-88 Old Orchard Beach Ballpark, Maine…Gratefully blame this one on a simple twist of fate.  I’d seen the Grateful Dead at the Oxford Raceway the night before and was planning on returning for night two. Skimming through a local tabloid, my friend noticed that Dylan was playing at a ballpark in Old Orchard Beach--a hop skip and jump on down the road. With one of the most persuasive speeches of my life,  I convinced him to leave the Dead behind. Adios hippies, Howdy Bob.

Dylan played a batch of songs that I hadn’t heard at GSPAC, including: Tangled Up in Blue, The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, To Ramona, Trail of the Buffalo, and All Along the Watchtower. I waltzed right up to the front of the stage and savored every tune. This intimate experience was the antithesis to what was going on in Oxford in the land of the Dead--100,000 freaks.

9-2-88 Orange County Fair…Tour ’88 steamrolled into Middletown, New York. Dylan raged and G.E. continued to extend his jams confidently as Dylan's repertoire grew and the concerts became longer. On this night, Absolutely Sweet Marie and Seeing the Real You at Last soared. Dylan crooned like a Celtic balladeer on Barbra Allen, and his emphatic cadence on It Ain’t Me Babe brought pleasure to the ladies at the fair. I was hooked. The Grateful Dead’s influence on Dylan was undeniable. Every night Dylan was painting a fresh masterpiece.

10-19-88 Radio City Music Hall…The tour closed out with four nights at Radio City Music Hall. There was a  buzz surrounding these shows due to Dylan’s  momentous tour and the recent release of the Traveling Wilbury’s Volume 1. I attended three of these Radio City Shows. The final night was one for the ages.  The surprise of the opening seven-song electric set was Bob Dylan’s 115^th Dream. Bob’s voice was a little cranky at times, but The Dylan is at his best when he’s fighting through hiccups.

Dylan added the Neville Brothers Vietnam verse to a captivating With God on Our Side, to the delight of the audience. The four-song acoustic set was chased by an explosive trifecta: Silvio > In the Garden > Like a Rolling Stone.  In the Garden was mindboggling, transformed from a pleasing gospel number into a venue rattling rocker.

Dylan reached back to Harry Smith’s Folk Anthology for a stunning version of Wagoner’s Lad to launch the five-song encore.  The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll followed, yes it was a perfect night. During Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Dylan and G.E. traded their acoustics for electrics as the band crashed in. A searing All Along the Watchtower and Maggie’s Farm ended the premier concert from one of the most pivotal years of Dylan’s career. I was there.

He not busy being born is busy dying.

For more on the Never Ending Tour, check out Tangled Up in Tunes: Ballad of a Dylanhead

Howard Weiner's new book --Tangled Up in New York: Shakedown on the Streets 
 

Dylan's Top Ten NYC Performances

1.      8-1-71 Concert for Bangladesh, Madison Square Garden...From George Harrison’s introduction:, “Would you please welcome a friend of us all, Mr. Bob Dylan,” to the thunderous ovation following the astounding version of “Just Like a Woman,” this is the most satisfying short set of Dylan’s career, fueled by the pressure packed magic of Madison Square Garden.  The Prodigal Son returns, better than ever.

2.      10-31-64, New York Philharmonic Hall…It’s Halloween and Bob Dylan’s wearing all his masks: poet, prognosticator, prophet,  comedian, shaman, master of the talkin’ blues. The audience was spellbound and thrilled with every syllable. You won’t find better offerings of John Birch Paranoid Blues, Who Killed Davey Moore, or I Don’t Believe You.  

3.      8-28-65 Forest Hills Tennis Stadium...The storm after Newport. With Levon Helm & Al Kooper backing Dylan, Bob served nothing but aces in Queens. The crowd was bewildered as  Dylan debuted Desolation Row, Tombstone Blues, From a Buick 6, Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues, and Ballad of a Thin Man.  Unplugged and plugged in perfect harmony.

4.      11-11-02 Madison Square Garden…Dylan takes the stage perched behind a Yamaha keyboard and debuts “Yeah Heavy and a Bottle of Bread.” Fortified by his best touring band, Chez Dylan mixes his iconic anthems  with gems  from Love & Theft, and sprinkles in covers from the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Don Henley,  and Warren Zevon,  to create an abundant feast. The set ending Summer Days was tour de force.

5.      10-13-89 Beacon Theatre…From his initial creation,  Song to Woody,  to his latest Oh Mercy masterpiece, Man in the Long Black Coat, Dylan shocked the West Side  of Manhattan with a chaotic performance. Dressed in a gold leme suit and pointy white shoes, Dylan dropped his harp and mic on the floor during the Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat encore, and walked through the crowd before splitting stage left.  Adios Bob. May the lord have mercy on us all.

6.      10-17-93 Supper Club…From 1991-’93, The Never Ending Tour sputtered a bit. With a pair of sparkling acoustic shows at the intimate Supper Club, Bob righted the ship. All performances were memorable, but  One More Cup of Coffee, Queen Jane Approximately, and Tight Connection to My Heart were extraordinary.

7.      12-8-75 Night of the Hurricane, Madison Square Garden…The grand finale of the first leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue. Nuff said.

8.      10-19-88 Radio City…A blistering Subterranean Homesick Blues  kicks off a unique show featuring rarities like Bob Dylan’s 115^th Dream, With God on Our Side (With the Neville Brothers Vietnam verse), and Wagoner’s Lad. The set ending trifecta of  Silvio > In the Garden > Like a Rolling Stones is as rocking as Dylan gets, shades of ’66.

9.      11-19-01 Madison Square Garden… Six weeks after 9/11, Dylan returns to his town dressed in a pink suit. He unleashes a riveting 21 song show. I’ll never forget how he corkscrewed on the checkerboard floor during a Just Like a Woma harp solo, but the highlight of the night was when Bob said, “Most of the songs we’re playing here tonight were written here, and those that weren't were recorded here. So no one has to ask me how I feel about this town.” 

10.  1-17-98 Theatre at Madison Square Garden… Sharing the bill with “Van the Man,” Dylan set the night on fire with intense versions of Senor, Absolutely Sweet Marie and Tangled Up in Blue.  Tommorow is a Long Time was a pleasant surprise, and the Time Out of Mind tunes were sublime.

Honorable Mention: 2-25-98…Dylan walked away with all the important trophies from the 40^th Grammy Awards at Radio City, but his live performance was absolutely a Time Out of Mind experience. During Love Sick, Dylan endured the Soy Bomb intrusion to deliver an unforgettable Love Sick anchored by the spunkiest guitar solo of his career. During the acceptance speech,  The Dylan recalls the time he saw Buddy Holly in Duluth. Bob had The Right Stuff.

 

Howard Weiner's new book, Tangled Up in New York

 http://amzn.to/18kegXu 

 

 

Tangled Up in New York

Tangled Up in New York: Shakedown on the Streets is the inspirational, hilarious, and strange saga of a forty-eight year-old salesman who bagged his day job to hustle books on the streets. From Memorial Day through Halloween, Howard “Catfish Weiner hauled his Dylan/Dead memoirs from Battery Park to Yankee Stadium in search of an audience for his prose.  Along the way, Catfish becomes one with his oppressive environment, fusing with the strange brew of humanity stampeding along the steamy asphalt jungle. This is the quintessential and timeless tale of a New Yorker pressing on against all odds to manifest destiny, on his own terms. 

During his unprecedented 2012 book tour, Catfish meets up with Dylan's Never Ending Tour in Bethel Woods, Port Chester, and the Mohegan Sun. His tour also makes stops for Dylanfest at the Irving Plaza, and opening day for the Tempest Pop-Up-Shop in New York.
 

Take a look inside on Amazon... http://amzn.to/18kegXu 

 

4-18-13 Scarlet Town

Bob Dylan and his band were fabulous at Lehigh University.  The journey began when I met my accountant at Tobacco Road on 41st Street by Ninth Avenue, where our bartender, Honey, took our money. We then drove west across Jersey with live Dylan thundering all the way to Bethlehem. Since we were two miles from Stabler Arena, we stopped off for cocktails at the Sands Casino. Unfortunately, we got lost driving around the 2,600 acre Lehigh campus. After forty-five futile minutes, we paid a pizza delivery guy twenty bucks to escort us to the arena.

We strolled into Stabler, stomping to the beat of the “Early Roman Kings.” The acoustics of the venue were crisp, and there wasn't a shabby seat in the house. Dylan crooned a tender “Tangled Up in Blue,” and the warm tone of Duke’s guitar infused the band with a renewed sense of purpose.

The joint was jumping as Dylan"s harp solos pierced the night during “Behind Here Lies Nothing.” Dylan delivered the Holy Grail ,” Blind Willie Mc Tell,” followed by another '80s gem, “What Good Am I?” Oh Mercy!

The Thunder on the Mountain jam raged from fast to slow to loud to soft and back again. Dylan changed gears, shifting the sound this way and that way, and Duke and the boys were right on his tail. But no song captured the essence of the show better than “Scarlet Town.”  Whenever I hear this Tempest delight,  I imagine an old mill town like Bethlehem, where the evil and the good live side by side, and all human thoughts seem glorified.  Dylan’s performance was phenomenal.

I've loved hearing the heavy echo on Ballad of a Thin Man every show for the past four years, but eliminating the echo for this tour is a touch I like. The roaring crowd adored Dylan as he stood before the faithful and marched in place, before splitting for the next cowtown on his schedule.

An hour after the parking lot emptied, my accountant and I were still enjoying brews, shuffling to Tempest, and inhaling the magic of Lehigh. Both the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band played legendary shows here in 1981. We split after midnight and drove straight into pure fog. Arriving in Chinatown by 2:30, we closed the night out with a succulent feast down below at Wo Hop.

Howard Weiner interview with David Gans

 

Listen to my my interview with David Gans on Tales from the Golden Road 11-11-12.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elwzLlxUwVo

Go West Young Men! 8-7-82

Thirty years ago today. An excerpt from Chapter Four of Tangled Up in Tunes:

Doug was waiting for me in the gravelly Tennyson Park lot, leaning against his yellow Caddy and spinning a red, white, and blue ABA basketball on his index finger. The windows were rolled down, and “Casey Jones” was cranking. He said, “Howie, I got a proposition for you. You’re gonna love this idea. It’s right up your alley. The Dead are in Wisconsin next weekend at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre. We can get tickets from Ticketron. Howie, picture this: We are outdoors with Jerry in the Midwest next Saturday night. I hear this place is amaaaaazing!  Can you imagine how hot Garcia will be in the Midwest? It’s only a sixteen-hour drive. Let’s do it. Whattaya say?” 

The time had come for us to leave the Tennyson Boys behind. Our pursuit of Jerry’s next transcendent jam was paramount. I informed my parents I’d be heading West with Doug in my Chevy. My parents were fond of the Doug. They knew I was crazy, but if Doug was part of my posse, then there might be some merit to it. In the classic tradition of exploration made famous by Lewis and Clark and perpetuated by Kerouac and Cassidy —  look out, America — here comes Catfish and Schmell!

I pulled up in front of the Schmell residence before noon on Friday. We wanted to tackle the bulk of our sixteen-hour-trip in one day and cruise into East Troy, Wisconsin, triumphantly on Saturday, August 7, 1982. Doug emerged from his house with a duffel bag slung across his torso and a box of Maxell cassettes carefully balanced in his right palm like a tray with Dom Perignon. Stepping into my Chevy, he admired his precious cargo and said, “Howie, these tapes are bad news for Van Halen fans.” It was a smug remark—one that a Garcia junkie could appreciate. Comparing anybody to Jerry was comical to us. We understood Garcia’s virtuosity, and it was our mission to spread the word to non-believers. Despite the fact that the Dead’s latest studio efforts were lame, the legend of Garcia was growing, and his cult following was on the rise.  

Chuck and Paul, neighborhood Deadheads, joined us on our journey to Wisconsin. Chuck was a serious young man–Fred Flintstone in tie-dye. He was also a person of great interest to us because he had a substantial bootleg collection, but a bad reputation when it came to returning borrowed tapes. Our other passenger, Paul Blatt, was a tiny red-headed cat I met at Rockland Community College–a mini-Bill Walton, minus athletic prowess. Cordial Paul spoke in soft squeaky tones and was always willing to roll with the flow of the group.  

Charging on to 80 West, I claimed the fast lane and refused to budge—left hand steering, right hand juggling java, joints, Marlboros, and boots. Endless Pennsylvania seemed bleak – blue collar town followed blue collar town through Amish Country, insane amounts of highway construction and detours along the way. We ran into three thunder storms, or maybe it was the same one chasing after us. Sheets of precipitation rap-tap-tapped off the windshield as I raced past monster trailers and trucks on the bedraggled two-lane highway. The sky darkened by the time we reached Ohio. Feeling famished, we stopped for food at a place in Youngstown that had a menu boasting of gizzards. A grease-stained bucket of rest area Roy Rogers chicken would have to suffice. One more cup of coffee, a hit of speed and one more ’77 Dead tape; I refused to give up the wheel until Cleveland was in the rearview mirror. By 3 A.M., my comrades were snoring as I pulled into a rest area and slipped into a spot between tractor trailers.  Four Deadheads and 100 truckers were motionless beneath the stars, but they were still tearing down the road in their dreams.  

On Saturday morning, we blew by Chicago, purchased a road map, and found a quaint cabin in Lake Geneva by noon. We had stumbled upon a wonderful Wisconsin resort town, and the weather was perfect—ah-hoooo! Cotton-candy clouds in sapphire skies dangled over a crystal clear lake. This expedition turned up nothing but gold, and the impending jam was still a seed in Jerry’s mind. 

Our heroes opened with a Music Never Stopped -> Sugaree ->Music Never Stopped loop. Once again, the band had rewarded me for my dedication with a combination that was never played before and would never be played again. Garcia raged on, peppering away on the set ending “Let It Grow.” Weir shouted the lyrics at Jerry, begging him to deliver: “Let it grow, let it grow, greatly yield.” And yield, Garcia did.  It’s a guitar lover’s feast offering three separate instrumental segments, with the middle one being the longest and most complex. The band executed flawlessly, setting the stage for Jerry’s mid-summer tirade. 

I finished out the year seeing the Dead at Landover, Maryland (9-15-82), Madison Square Garden (9-20 + 21-82), New Haven (9-23-82) and Syracuse (9-24-82), as well as catching the Jerry Garcia Band at the Felt Forum (11-11-82 early & late shows) and in the Wilkins Theatre at Keane College, located in Elizabeth, New Jersey (11-15-82 early & late show). In 1983, I got serious about following Jerry around. 

Tangled Up in Tunes: Ballad of a Dylanhead is available at www.tangledupintunes.com The kindle version is on sale through August 9th for $5.99.