The
Gospel Project
Bob Dylan Live 1979-80
An effort to comprehensively
catalog the circulating recordings of Bob Dylan’s gospel-based live
performances from November 1979 through May 1980.
Why?
To preserve the remaining recordings from an
oft-neglected -- if not maligned – period of Dylan’s work.
To improve the circulation of these recordings
among Dylan fans.
To encourage fans to reconsider this
extraordinary period in Dylan’s performing and recording career.
As
a long-time fan of Bob Dylan’s work, I
have always found it odd that this period received such hostile or, at best,
dismissive treatment from so many fans and critics. The simple fact is that Bob Dylan found personal salvation in
Christianity sometime in the late 1970’s.
He dedicated two studio albums, Slow Train Coming and Saved,
and nearly 80 concerts to articulating and reaffirming his faith to his
listeners. In the process, he
permanently diminished his status as a popular icon and alienated a number of
fans, some forever.
Was
this period an aberration in his life’s work -- a strange lapse in an otherwise
breathtaking body of poetry and musicianship?
Or was this rather an instance of an artist and individual imprisoned by
the expectations of his audience? I
think anyone willing to lend an open ear to the live performances from this
period will conclude it was likely the latter.
I don’t think you need to be Christian – or even religious – to find tremendous power in Dylan’s performances from this period. Indeed, as the live recordings clearly show, these concerts were a great success with the audience in attendance from the very first night in San Francisco. They succeeded despite overwhelmingly negative press reviews and a setlist dominated by as-yet unreleased songs. The performances testify to a great artist, with a fine backing band, laying open the depth of his own feelings about himself and his god. As Paul Williams states in his wonderful article, Dylan – What Happened?,
These . . . are songs of
intimacy, like his greatest love songs of the past. They are songs that touch on the universal and ultimately
personal experience of the individual alone with God. It is not necessary to perceive God as a being or to agree on His
name to know the intensity of this experience.
Like many other Dylan fans, my appreciation of his
work has been deepened through access to unreleased live and studio
recordings. Unlike most other segments
of Dylan’s performing career, I initially found it difficult to acquire seminal
recordings from this period. Very few
performances circulate widely among traders.
Of these, many are commercial bootlegs which hardly represent the
richness of these performances. Collecting
and cataloguing recordings for this Project, I have been surprised to find a
number of remarkable and largely uncelebrated performances. As I continue to pursue this Project, I hope
to highlight some of these performances and encourage readers such as yourself
to have a listen.
Please follow the links below to explore this tour further.
