ode
tile emerald s weekly
entertainment section
Bob Dylan is at it again. He is in preparation for his
first major tour since 1966, which is expected to gross
between $4 and $4.5million. The tour begins Jan. 3 at the
Chicago International Amphitheater and ends Feb. 16 in
Hawaii at the Honolulu International Center.
As of Tuesday, the word is that Bill Graham’s FM
Productions of San Francisco is setting the dates, those
being 39 concerts in 25 cities. Graham’s office has
reported that concert locations (particularly in major
cities) are subject to change, but definite times, dates,
and locations will appear Dec. 2 in the entertainment
sections of all city newspapers where Dylan will play. He
will not be performing in Oregon.
University students interested in seeing Dylan have
the following alternatives: the Seattle Coliseum (2
shows), Saturday Feb. 9, or the Oakland Coliseum (2
shows), Sunday Feb 11. These are the closest dates to
the Eugene area
Dylan, no longer with Columbia records, is con
sidered hot material in the label biz these days. Check
out all the hustle: David Geffen, 30-year-old manager
direction head-record company executive for Elektra
Asylum, has shown more than casual interest in the
signing of Dylan. He told Rolling Stone, “Of course, if
Bob Dylan or the Band suddenly came over and said,
‘We want to sing with you,’ I mean, we’re not gonna say,
‘No, you can’t.’ But that hasn’t happened.” Geffen is the
primary driving force behind the whole Dylan-Band
reunion.
Planned for release before the tour is a joint Dylan
Band effort of new material and a live recording of the
tour to be released later. At the same time, Columbia
Records has announced that they too are releasing a
Dylan album, featuring previously unreleased material
recorded in 1969-1970. The songs on the album include
Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” Jerry Jeff Walker’s
“Mr Bojangles,” two songs from Elvis, “Can’t Help
Falling in Love,” and “A Fool Such As I,” Pete Segger’s
“Ballad of Ira Hayes,” as well as “Lily of the West,”
“Sarah Jane,” “Marianne,” and “Spanish is the Loving
Tongue.” No release date has been set for the album and
Columbia claims to be “holding” it. Bob also has just
finished co-producing Barry Goldberg’s new album.
Dylan also does backup vocals for the album.
Felled by a motorcycle accident in 1966, Dylan has
not done a major cross country tour since that same
year, and since then he’s done only small token ap
pearances—at the Isle of Wight Rock Festival in
England (1969), a New Year’s performance with the
Band in New York City (1972), and the Concert For
Bangla Desh also in New York (1971). He has also
completed a role in the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the
Kid, with a soundtrack album recently released under
the same name.
There are numerous reasons for the sudden and
unexpected Dylan tour. Some say it’s because Bob Dylan
is becoming stale, which stands to reason as there has
been very little new material out (not counting “Pat
Garrett”). Others believe it to be promotion for an up
coming album due on an as-of-yet unannounced label.
Whatever the reason, this tour will be a strong deter
mining factor in Bob Dylan’s future as a rock and roll
legend.
Also appearing with him will be The Band, riding
high on the heels of their new album, “Moondog
Matinee.”
The Emerald will publish the addresses of where
you may buy tickets to the Dylan concerts as soon as the
information is available. Watch next week’s "ode”
section for further details. Tickets will be on a “mail
order only” basis.
Greg G. Lee