Philadelphia, PA (16-Dec-95)

D480.su LIKE ICE, LIKE FIRE

What does D480.a offer us? A show not only incomplete but also partly (when shot off a video-screen) second-hand, a film quavery and head-beset for much of the time and a soundtrack of quality that, though listenable, misses best by a country mile. All the same, there the DVD sits in the Must Have top ten, thrice-reviewed and not a star dropped, rubbing shoulders with the more obviously pristine elite such as Surround Sound Wembley 2000 or St Louis 3.3.04. In view of its several patent handicaps, what factor lifts it up there? What gives? In a word: performance. D480.a preserves for us a Dylan performance spirited, visceral, special enough to transcend the moderate quality of the video and audio that catch it - a performance that bites then won’t let go. Of course the magical Dark Eyes duet with Patti* is a highlight, but it’s not the only one (Love Minus Zero, anyone?). And yet, if only the sound were a teensy bit better and a half-dozen songs - I Want You, Shelter, Tom Thumb among them - not lopped off the set-list...



Ou-yass! Praise be, then to the Arlington Ace who with his superb D480.su upgrade gives us not only a spiffy new soundtrack that’s sharp as a gimlet in the acoustic sets and rich and meaty in the electric, but also restores (in audio only) six previously-absent friends, bang on the money every one. (Okay, I admit it - given the chance, I‘d trade Watchtower and Silvio for Desolation Row like that, but four out of six isn't bad.)

I’ve only one quibble with this disc and that's the garishly pulsating still used to fill out RDW. This horror does your eyes no good at all and if you’ve any tendency towards epilepsy you’d be well advised to avoid this track altogether. As for your ears, though, turn on, tune in, drop out and give them a treat. You won’t regret it.

* * * * *

*1975: in the period immediately preceding the first Rolling Thunder Tour, Patti Smith hung out with Bob in NYC. (He subsequently invited her to join the tour, but she declined.) She reminisced about D and that time in a 1977 interview given to Barry Miles:

I don't expect anything out of anybody when I meet them, all I expect is that ... they exude a certain kind of energy that's really inspiring. And he had a lot of it. He's really an amazing storehouse. He's so full of grace, speed and urgency. It's a real thing.

At that time ... he had been in hiding for so long (but) it wasn't the sixties any more - and Dylan had been King of the Sixties, the Absolute King. He had Elvis Presley's crown of thorns, he was the next in line, the successor for the championship of rock'n'roll. To me, Dylan always represented rock'n'roll - I never thought of him as a folk singer or poet or nothing. I just thought he was the sexiest person since Elvis Presley - sex in the brain, y'know? And he still has it. I don't think his true power has been unleashed.

Phil Ochs was there and Phil Ochs could always bring out that Don't Look Back side of Dylan. Dylan's got that side still. It's all stored up. He's all those people, he's still that guy. He hasn't turned beautiful and gentle, he's a real bastard. But that's what I think is great for his art. Maybe not for being a husband!


B&P, December 1995

... I guessed it was time to turn the beat around, so I said: I'll give you one tip. Use your fists. He sort of hung his hands when he was singing. When he was standing there without a guitar, he didn't know what to do with his hands. I said: Grab that microphone. You got these fists. You're singing about a boxer, Hurricane Carter - use those fists! Box with them. You're a great mover. What are you standing there like a dead fish for? Move! He was a great mover in the sixties, Dylan, those great little curtsies he used to do. I said: You're the Father of Cool. Don't be cool by being uptight, be cool by moving with the moment. And he says: Aw, I can't hit the air with my fists or nothing. People will think I'm copying you! I said: Well, I've imitated you for twelve years, you can spare a little imitation. So he just laughed. Seeing him laugh is great, 'cos he has a lot of pain. He's like the Duke of Windsor, how he gave up his crown for the woman he loved, y'know? He's like that. But he's also got a streak in him that won't give up being a contender, and the streak is what gives him so much life. That streak makes him keep creating, keeps putting him out there.

Dylan's such a f*cking maniac ... I look at him and I don't see a guy giving out leaflets, holding a banner. I see a machine gun.

... So, next time you watch R&C Isis, think/thank Patti Smith.