Flagging Down's Best of 2023
The 10 most popular newsletters of the year, plus 10 personal faves
I’ve got a big project set to kick off at the top of the new year (think round-number anniversaries, and just about the only time Dylan toured in January). But, in the meantime, I’d thought I’d send around a quick New Year’s Eve look back.
Below I’ve pulled out the ten most-read newsletters of the past year, five free and five paid, as well as ten personal favorites of mine that weren’t as widely read (I can’t believe some grainy GIFs of Bob Dylan playing guitar in 1997 didn’t break the internet!). It’s a primer for those who are new here, or those who just didn’t have the time to read every single issue.
Thanks to everyone for reading this year, and special thanks to those whose generous support helps keep this silly project going! See you on the other side…
FIVE MOST-READ FREE NEWSLETTERS
Bob Dylan's Bandmates Recall the Best Song They Ever Played with Him
When I was putting together my book earlier this year (Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members), I enjoyed the moments that got granular, where a musician would recall a specific song or performance they gave with Dylan. Sometimes these people had played hundreds of…
Behind the Scenes of Bob Dylan's Farm Aid Surprise
As you undoubtedly heard, Bob Dylan made a surprise appearance at Farm Aid this past weekend. It was the first time he’s played the festival since 1986, and the first surprise onstage appearance he’s made of any kind in years…
A Listening Guide to the Time Out of Mind Bootleg Series Live Disc
Today, Bob Dylan releases the 17th volume in his Bootleg Series: Fragments: Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997). There’s a lot to dig into, from a new remix of the entire album to a trove of session outtakes. But, if you read this newsletter, you know my eye…
Plugz Bassist Talks Backing Bob Dylan in Raucous Letterman Performance
On today’s date in 1984, Bob Dylan gave one of the most memorable performances of his career. He appeared on David Letterman’s fairly-new late night TV show backed by a fairly-new band: The Plugz. It would be the only time he’d play with this young Latino punk group – publicly at least…
Exploring Two Newly Unearthed Dylan/Petty Soundboards
Last fall, two new soundboard tapes surfaced of complete 1986 concerts with Bob Dylan backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was the first time they’d ever been heard in full. Amazing that…
FIVE MOST-READ PAID NEWSLETTERS
A Deep Dive Into Bob Dylan Setlist Data
Over the summer, I was reading the excellent music newsletter Can’t Get Much Higher. Writer Chris Dalla Riva often crunches music-related data, and in this issue, he was crunching thousands of concerts worth of Setlist.fm data to analyze “setlist uniqueness”…
Paolo Brillo on Surreptitiously Photographing Bob Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour
Great photos of the Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour have been hard to come by. Bob Dylan has for years prohibited any sort of official press photographers, and venue security swoops down fast on any fan trying to get a quick iPhone snap…
Two Nights in Newark (by Lee Ranaldo)
Lee Ranaldo needs no introduction. He’s most famous, of course, as a member of… The Million Dollar Bashers, the I’m Not There soundtrack house band where he covered Dylan tunes alongside Television’s Tom Verlaine…
"You all sing it, I’ll play it for you"
In April and May of 1980, Bob Dylan did his third and final all-gospel songs tour. Later that year, he would begin mixing older songs back into the setlists, but this tour was still exclusively his new Christian material. With one exception…
"Tombstone Blues" and Paul Williams' Unfinished Fourth Book
What is interesting is that the great Paul Williams wrote about this show for the never-completed fourth volume in his beloved Bob Dylan, Performing Artist series. This show, in fact, was the focus of what would have been the intro for the book…
FIVE “RAY’S PICKS”: FREE
The First Week of Bob Dylan's Historic 1966 Tour
On today’s date in 1966, Bob Dylan kicked off maybe the most famous year of his touring career. The first step on the path that would lead to “Judas!” began on February 4th on the Convention Center stage in Louisville, Kentucky…
Bob Dylan and Tom Petty's Farm Aid Rehearsals
Thirty-eight years ago today, Bob Dylan played with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first time in front of an audience. The audience, though, was just a couple ABC News cameras…
A GIF Guide to Bob Dylan's Guitar Poses
The subscriber who requested this show highlighted “the best version of Tambourine Man I've ever seen from Bob over the years.” Sometimes these in-person experiences don’t translate if you weren’t in the room…
Tough Guy Angels: The Larry & Charlie Harmonies I
When you think “Bob Dylan” and “backing singers,” the first image that probably comes to mind is Dylan’s gospel-era tours, where he played with three or four powerful gospel singers every night…
Dylan's 21st Century Gospel
Hearing “Saving Grace” during this reader-requested 2003 Nashville show caught me by surprise. I’d forgotten that Saved song ever escaped Dylan’s gospel era. But it did – and, during about two years in 2002-3, a lot of other songs from the Christian…
FIVE “RAY’S PICKS”: PAID
Real Not-Yet-Live: Bob Dylan's 1984 Tour Rehearsals, Part 2
In Part 1, we heard a rehearsal tape of Dylan and his all-star band (Mick Taylor, Ian McLagan, Colin Allen, Gregg Sutton—plus special guest Carlos Santana) woodshedding in Beverly Hills before…
The Wildest Bob Dylan Bootleg Covers
I recently completed a project to collect as many covers for Dylan bootleg recordings as I could find. You can read more here, but the short version is that I find this fan-made art interesting and useful…
Bob Dylan ft. Van Morrison – and Vice Versa
Today’s show request, one of January 1998’s five co-headlining gigs with Van Morrison features a stunning Bob-Van duet. It got me wondering about all the other times the two have stood on stage and sang together over the years…
Stu's Noodles
When listening to today’s requested show, something struck me before Dylan even opened his mouth: The intro. We all know the typical Never Ending Tour intros. For many years, it was simple…
An Alternate History of Dylan's London 1995 Stand
I love looking at old cue sheets. Those are the printed setlists laid in front of each band member every night before the show. Many times, the printed setlists don’t line up exactly with what the band would actually perform that night…
And, one last plug for 2023, have I mentioned my new book Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members? Oh, only like a million times you say? Make that a million and one. Never too early to start your Christmas 2024 shopping.
Ray - so many thanks for the wonderful work you have done. You make our lives richer.
I read your book last week. I special ordered it for our local library. It was great. A big contribution.
Thanks.