Town Without Pity: The Best of the London & Paris Residencies, 1990
Absolutely Sweet Marie - February 8
Where Teardrops Fall - January 30
You Angel You - February 8
Hang Me, Oh Hang Me - February 8
You're A Big Girl Now - January 29
You Angel You - February 8
Hang Me, Oh Hang Me - February 8
You're A Big Girl Now - January 29
All Along The Watchtower - January 29
I Shall Be Released - January 29
It's Alright, Ma - February 7
One Too Many Mornings - January 29
Boots Of Spanish Leather - January 30
Dark As A Dungeon - February 6
Simple Twist Of Fate - January 30
Ballad Of Hollis Brown - February 1
Man In The Long Black Coat - January 30
Disease Of Conceit - February 8
Has Anybody Seen My Love? - January 30
Queen Jane Approximately - February 3
I Shall Be Released - January 29
It's Alright, Ma - February 7
One Too Many Mornings - January 29
Boots Of Spanish Leather - January 30
Dark As A Dungeon - February 6
Simple Twist Of Fate - January 30
Ballad Of Hollis Brown - February 1
Man In The Long Black Coat - January 30
Disease Of Conceit - February 8
Has Anybody Seen My Love? - January 30
Queen Jane Approximately - February 3
Lossless Links:
MP3 Link:
These songs are all performances from Bob Dylan's esteemed residencies in Paris and London during the winter of 1990. This was a very fruitful tour, as Dylan reinvented classic songs and sharpened his interpretation of newer releases.
Highlights include a rare airing of “You Angel You,” an electrified Civil War ballad, “Hang Me, Oh Hang Me,” an absolutely intense “It’s Alright Ma,” the mournful “Simple Twist Of Fate,” the ominous “Man In The Long Black Coat,” a piano-driven “Disease Of Conceit,” and one of my personal favorites, “Has Anybody Seen My Love.”
Several changes had occurred between the beginning of the Never-Ending Tour in 1988 and this series of concerts. Dylan’s voice had altered significantly, drawing away some of the power of those ’88 shows while offering an opportunity to sing with more nuance. You can really hear the singer reaching for now depths in “One Too Many Mornings,” and “Queen Jane Approximately.” Another major change was the inclusion of harmonica from 1989 on. Though my overall impression of harmonicas is not necessarily a positive one, it really adds a melodic quality to many of the tracks here, particularly “You’re A Big Girl Now” and “One Too Many Mornings.”
If you like what you hear, you might enjoy listening to the original studio versions of these songs, released by Columbia Records:
Highlights include a rare airing of “You Angel You,” an electrified Civil War ballad, “Hang Me, Oh Hang Me,” an absolutely intense “It’s Alright Ma,” the mournful “Simple Twist Of Fate,” the ominous “Man In The Long Black Coat,” a piano-driven “Disease Of Conceit,” and one of my personal favorites, “Has Anybody Seen My Love.”
Several changes had occurred between the beginning of the Never-Ending Tour in 1988 and this series of concerts. Dylan’s voice had altered significantly, drawing away some of the power of those ’88 shows while offering an opportunity to sing with more nuance. You can really hear the singer reaching for now depths in “One Too Many Mornings,” and “Queen Jane Approximately.” Another major change was the inclusion of harmonica from 1989 on. Though my overall impression of harmonicas is not necessarily a positive one, it really adds a melodic quality to many of the tracks here, particularly “You’re A Big Girl Now” and “One Too Many Mornings.”
If you like what you hear, you might enjoy listening to the original studio versions of these songs, released by Columbia Records:
Next week I will post one of the highlights of this series - the first of two volumes concerning unreleased studio and live recordings from 1989 to 1993. You'll get to hear some great outtakes and live tracks from Oh Mercy, Under The Red Sky, Good As I Been To You, World Gone Wrong, with related songs from that era. Until then, keep yourself healthy and listen to some good tunes.
-CS
-CS
I'm greatly enjoying your posts CWS :)
ReplyDeleteI don't always agree with your choices, (Argh, how could you not include a version of Rank Stranger To Me on the 1988 compilation.) but it would be strange to the point of weird if we did agree on everything. We're Dylan fans after all...
Thanks for your kind words. Concerning "Rank Strangers To Me," don't think it was not considered, haha. That and "Man of Constant Sorrow" were pretty high in the running, but neither quite caught my ear, and the others in my '88 acoustic set were just so exquisite. Luckily, "Rank Strangers" was performed beautifully in 2000, and will turn up on a set relevant to that year when we arrive at it in the chronology.
DeleteGreat as ever. Thanks CWS.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to be at some of these London shows. Fantastic memories... Thanks
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!
ReplyDeleteFell in love with the 88-90 shows with G.E. Smith on guitar. Great, fresh arrangements of the songs with exciting guitar work by G.E. Made a spreadsheet and was able to find 144 of the 262 shows from these tours. Kept the best version of almost every song, except a few acoustic ones that he's performed about the same his entire career. Also skipped over a few covers I thought were abysmal. In all I found over 100 different songs written by Dylan, over 40 covers of other artists material and a few songs duplicating with very different arrangements. Created a mix tape of my favorite version of each song and ended up with around 160 songs clocking in at over 12 hours. What a shame the Bootleg Series hasn't delved into these years. Some of the shows, almost 4 hours, are mixing board quality or close to it.
ReplyDelete