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The current and recent series…
You can see a list of the current series and their latest articles on the site below and via the column on the right side of this page.
We’re also on Facebook – please do join us
If only there had been a Nobel Prize for music: Part 9 – Ballad in Plain D
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue; A history in performance part 3: 1984-1989
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry Part 12: You don’t whistle in church
Bob Dylan: The Concert Series No 16 The Beacon Theatre NYC, 21 November 2o21
How Bob Dylan turned the entire notion of how a song should be written, upside down.
The songs got longer the form started to bend, we needed patience
Dylan in 1966: where did this music come from?
The evolution of Bob Dylan as a songwriter
- Bob Dylan, truth and fiction from 1963 to 1995. The Restless Farewell.
- Breaking down the rigidity of the popular song. Dylan in 1966.
- Why does Bob Dylan so often re-write the music of his songs?
- How Bob Dylan became a poet first and a songwriter second: “Masters of War”
- Why does a simple, hardly known Dylan song, get recorded over and over again?
- How the most subtle of musical changes gave “Bob Dylan’s Dream” a totally different meaning
- Why does Bob Dylan so often re-write the music of his songs?
Other articles and the current series
Dylan the lyrics, the music and some false comparisons: Blowing in the Wind
The Covers We Missed: Boots of Spanish Leather Part 3
Like A Rolling Stone b/w Gates Of Eden: Bob Dylan kicks open the door
A complete unknown: A diversion and another perspective
Dylan and us: beyond America. What you really don’t want – part 2
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Updates and recently concluded series
Gates of Eden Part 3: 1991 – 2001. Where Babies Wail: A Spooky Grandeur
The Double Life: Conclusion – there is no double life
Three times and out: It’s all good
Dylan on Tour: The 54 songs that Bob has performed in the last four years…
The originality and creativity of Bob Dylan, and the issue of copyright
Blowing in the Wind 4: The Jazz Versions
False Prophet part 15 (final): No, people never see me as a prophet
Mr Tambourine Man: – A History in Performance. Part 7: 2000 – 2010: the jingle jangle.
Once or twice: Songs that Bob has performed just once or twice on stage. Series farewell: When the Ship Comes In
The lyrics and the music: “Things have changed”
Untold Writers: A few words about those who have given up their time to create the articles that make this site what it is.
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Obituary: Farewell Aaron Galbraith: Wonderful Dylan fan, superb contributor to this site, and such a great friend who I never met
The Never Ending Tour: The End. 2019 part 4: Virgil’s farewell: It’s not dark yet
Other people’s songs: Performances by Dylan of traditional songs, and those written by others with explorations of their origins. Ragged & Dirty
The Never Ending Tour – the absolute highlights – a totally personal view of some of the best moments from across the decades. Every Grain of Sand
Dylanesque – songs that are comparable to or inspired by the music of Dylan: Dylanesque: The Alpha Band. (Beware; the commentator goes totally over the top)
Dylan’s Opening Lines: A return to a theme we last looked at eight years or so ago. The final update taking us to over 100 opening lines is now published. Dylan’s 114 greatest opening lines: completing the list
Dylan’s Favourite songs: Bob has revealed the songs he likes the most, and we are taking a look at them, one at a time. The series is complete and the final article (including an index to the series) is Join Me in LA.
Album artwork: unique series that investigates with illustrations the stories behind Dylan’s album covers. Plus of course the in-depth investigations into individual Bob Dylan songs, some of which have since been republished as books, available from Amazon. Most recent: Shadows in the Night
Untold Dylan on Facebook
We’re at https://www.facebook.com/groups/UntoldDylan/ or you can just type Facebook Untold Dylan in your search engine. The group is constantly moderated for the benefit of its 14,000+ subscribers.
And about Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is of course one of those people who works in multiple fields of the arts. Here, we primarily know him as a composer and writer of lyrics. And I guess those of who have a tendency to focus on his work in songwriting can easily forget just how masterful he is with visual art.
Yet with a quick look at Dylan’s work in the Halcyon Gallery you cannot but be impressed by both the quality and the beauty of his work. And of course, Bob’s art work as with his lyrics and music can bring forth a feeling of “if only I could do that….”
This is a thought that has occupied me for much of my working life in the creative arts. Obviously not at anything remotely like Bob’s level, but still doing my best and earning some money along the way.
But I have been left with that constant feeling concerning visual art that if only I had the ability with paint that artists have, I might find I had something to say, visually. And so it has been for all my life, until now. Because I’ve just found that there are tools like the ai art generator which are designed to help artists and marketers create stunning visuals with ease. Which is exactly what I need.
For the simple fact is that when you need an image that’s hard to find, such as anything from a watercolour floral background to a vibrant poster there is a way of getting it.
Of course you might well know the answer already, and maybe I’ve been rather slow in finding the solution, but the solution is simple. For now, I can type in a prompt describing the sort of artwork I want, and the Generate image tool does it for me.
The solution is the Adobe Express AI art generator. You just type a prompt describing the artwork you envision and the Generate image tool does it. If you want to see Bob’s work first of course you can – take a look at his art website.
And after that you can type new images into existence with the AI art generator.
Indeed if you do follow this route, and create something Dylan related which you feel you would like to have reach a wider audience, by all means make send me a digital copy, and I’ll try and fit it into Untold Dylan. With an acknowledgement to you, of course.
Tony Attwood
What Rolling Stone had to say about Untold Dylan
“Tell Ol’ Bill” is a favorite among hardcore Dylan fans like Tony Attwood at Untold Dylan, who called it “one of Dylan’s two greatest works of all time” and wrote a fascinating piece tracing its origins through several bootleg versions. As documented there, the singer tried a few approaches, from one version that echoes the groove of “Thunder on the Mountain” to another that’s more reminiscent of “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.” “Gradually,” Attwood writes, “Dylan moves towards the masterpiece that we have come to know.”
Would you like to contribute an article to Untold Dylan?
We’re always interested in receiving new ideas and new articles which fit into our remit of providing new insights and thoughts on Dylan. If you would like to join in, please either send me your idea, or alternatively a whole article as a word file attached to an email.
To join in just email [email protected]
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