"Bobfest"

The first Bob Dylan album I bought wasn’t really a “Bob Dylan” album at all. I liked Bob Dylan’s songs, but I didn’t think much of him because I could never understand what he was singing. Covers of his songs sounded better than their originals [to me anyway]. All that changed with one concert. On October 16, 1992, Columbia Records staged a celebration of Bob Dylan’s 30 years in the music business at Madison Square Garden. As Kris Kristofferson said in his introduction, one of the finest collections of talent ever assembled came together to celebrate the music of one man – Bob Dylan. Kristofferson did not exaggerate. What ensued was a four-hour show that put all previous all-star extravaganzas to utter shame. Booker T. & The MGs [with Anton Fig and Jim Keltner subbing for the late Al Jackson Jr] served as the house band, and served well they did. They proved they could play anything. Titans from soul music [Stevie Wonder. The OJays], country music [Johnny Carter & June Carter Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson], rock and roll [Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, George Harrison, Johnny Winter, Lou Reed], and Irish folk [the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem] all came to pay their respects to Bob Dylan.

One of the most amazing performances came from the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Liam Clancy quipped “I bet you never thought you’d hear Dylan with an Irish accent,” and he was right. It wasn’t until many years later that I learned that Dylan and the Clancy Brothers had a shared history, but in 1992 then I wondered “who are these guys and why are they here?” That question became moot when they turned When the Ship Comes In into an Irish folk song. It was simply amazing. When I listen to it 19 years later, it is still amazing. Such is the power of timeless music. Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready from Pearl Jam turned in a mesmerizing performance of Masters of War. It was a powerful song when Dylan first recorded it in 1963, and was made even more so with Eddie Vedder’s venom. His performance was simply brilliant. Lou Reed came up with the most obscure Dylan song to play. He found Foot of Pride, an Infidels outtake that had recently been released on the first official Bob Dylan bootleg collection. It went on for eight minutes, but it didn’t feel like it was that long – Lou Reed was on. When Johnny Winter came on a he whipped out a blistering rendition of Highway 61 Revisited. He had recorded it for his Second Winter album back in the day, so the song wasn’t new to him. Would there be any more guitar heroics on this night? Johnny Winter certainly threw down the gauntlet with his performance. Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin and Roseanne Cash did a very nice version of You Ain’t Going Nowhere. Those ladies harmonized well together.

The weirdest thing that happened that night happened when Sinead O’Connor came out to sing, of all things, a Bob Marley song [War]. The week before, she tore up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live. The New York audience didn’t take to kindly to that, and they booed her off the stage. How does one follow something like that? Ask Neil Young, he did it. He came out and played a stirring rendition of Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues. He was obviously having fun but he wasn’t done. He introduced the next song with “this song’s for you Bob, Thanks for having Bobfest” [I remember this show by that name ever since]. He followed that with a version of All Along the Watchtower that was more electrifying and apocalyptic than anything Jimi Hendrix did. Booker T. & The MGs helped Neil put the spook into the song. Who knew they could summon the spirit of Crazy Horse? When Neil was finished I remembered thinking to myself wow, I hope that comes out on CD sometime…

Yeah, it was that good. Ok, there were some guitar heroics from Lou Reed, Johnny Winter, and Neil Young – would there be any more? My question was soon answered when Eric Clapton appeared. He took Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright and made it into a great blues number. At this stage of his career he had slipped into “Adult Contemporary hell” after the death of his son, but on this night the old Eric made an appearance. Each Clapton guitar lick and vocal cut to the bone. He ended the guitar hero portion of the show. The Band performed a wonderful rendition of When I Paint My Masterpiece, which they first recorded for their Cahoots album. Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders [who performed I Shall Be Released earlier in the show] made this announcement – “can you handle another guitar hero? Let me give you a little clue – Hallelujah , Hare Krishna, Yeah Yeah Yeah, George Harrison!” George made his first appearance on a New York stage in 18 years and played 2 songs – Absolutely Sweet Marie and If Not For You. New York gave George a hero’s welcome. It is criminal that George’s If Not For You wasn’t included in the CD and DVD of the performance. EC’s performance of Love Minus Zero/No Limit, Booker T & the MG’s Gotta Serve Somebody, and Dylan’s own Song to Woody weren’t on the CD either. The reason cited was “technical difficulties,” which I thought was bullshit since I thought they sounded fine on my 20-year-old POS Zenith TV.

Tom Petty and the heartbreakers played License to Kill [from Infidels] and Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35 [Everybody must get stoned!], then brought out Roger McGuinn to play Mr. Tambourine Man. George Harrison then introduced the guest of honor, who played It’s Alright, Ma [I’m Only Bleeding]. The whole “cast” assembled and played My Back Pages and the obligatory Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, with some of the aforementioned guitar heroes swapping vocals and guitar solos. After the satellite feed shut down, Bob was left all alone to play Girl From the North Country. It was a perfect ending for an almost-perfect show.

My wish that the show would be released on CD came true a few months later while I was stationed in Korea. Believe me, after hearing lots of rap, hip-hop, and Top 40 crap on Armed Forces Radio, this album was a more-than-welcome relief for me. Some of the people who took part in this show [George Harrison, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Rick Danko] are no longer with us. For those who can’t get by Bob Dylan’s singing but like his songs, this 2-CD set is an excellent primer. I’ve been hooked ever since.