Playing tennis on clay courts with lan in Montevideo, signing a hundred posters for Callahan in hotel lobby in Rio, going to the diamond mines in Belo Horizonte with Callahan, Anna was on tour with us, signing a stack of records outside our hotel in Buenos Aires. He told me these were how he learned to speak English! (there is a great story about that but it would have to be off the record, Ha!) The size of São Paulo. Too many caiparinha's.
Thanks Ray, I really enjoy reading your pieces. Nick Cave would probably answer and elaborate on the Red Hand Files if you or someone asked.
BTW, NIck Cave and the Bad Seeds live in Paris is on YouTube where he performs Joy and lots of material from his/their recent Wild God album. It is incredibly good and well worth watching. And the Red Hand Files are well worth reading as is your Flagging Down the Double E's!
List of musicians in attendance: Evandro Mesquita (leader of Blitz, one of the most popular acts in Brazil during the eighties); Tony Bellotto (one of the guitarists in Titãs, another hugely popular Brazilian band who would later open for the Rolling Stones before their massive concert in Copacabana in 2006); Frejat, Dadi, Guto Goffi and Dé (all musicians from Barão Vermelho, yet another big rock band in Brazil); Péricles Cavalcanti (Brazilian composer)
The journalist wrongly lists Tony Garnier as the guitar player and John Jackson as the bass player.
The 1990 and 1998 concerts were not exactly in a stadium, but rather at a square where the samba schools end their parades.
Thanks for this post. I know Nick would have loved the feel of the show, much more than the sound. I still remember my first Dylan show. The people around me were disappointed, but I was in awe of the man up on the stage. He just had a presence like a halo around him. Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA 04-28-1992. He opened with Rainy Day Women. He played a lot of stuff I didn't know, but I remember really liking "Female Rambling Sailor." Oh, how I wish I knew "Idiot Wind" back then, because looking at the setlist, he played it, but I was still in the Dylan innocence phase...
Interesting paper on the Brazilian 1991 tour by Christopher Rollason (mentions Cave being in attendance in São Paulo at the Palace nightclub, which could hold up to 1800 people at the time - makes one wonder if Cave was really in Rio or just mixed up the two cities):
The night before the Rio show, Dylan participated in a recording session at the former studio of Chico Batera, Chico Buarque's percussionist, in Botafogo.
At the singer's request, about eight percussionists played various Brazilian rhythms, such as samba, baião, and maracatu. Eventually, the studio received another illustrious visitor: British guitarist Dave Stewart, of the duo Eurythmics.
As one of the few Brazilians who spoke English, percussionist Léo Leobons, who lived in the United States for 17 years, became a sort of "interpreter" between the musicians and the singer.
Dylan, to everyone's frustration, didn't sing or play anything. He spent the entire time in the "aquarium," listening to the tapes. After the recording, which lasted about three hours, Léo received his fee and went home. The next day, still drowsy, Léo received a phone call from a member of Dylan's entourage inviting him and his family to attend the Apoteose show. In return, he bought a tambourine as a gift and personally delivered it to the suite at the Rio Palace in Copacabana, where the singer was staying.
In the room, he taught Dylan some basic rhythms on the instrument, Dylan recorded his instructions, and the two said goodbye. "More than thirty years later, the only thing that remains is his appearance. His hands were large and his nails looked more like claws," Léo marvels. "However, Dylan is a sweet guy, very friendly."
Coincidence or not, when he released Under the Red Sky in September 1990, Dylan invited a Brazilian to play percussion: Paulinho da Costa, one of the most sought-after musicians in the United States. Of the album's ten tracks, the Rio de Janeiro-born musician played on four: "Born in Time," "2 x 2," "God Knows," and "Handy Dandy."
If ‘gaita’ is the original word (I cannot see it all that well): this can mean (among other musical instruments) harmonica. In Portugal it can also mean dick.
This is great, I haven't seen it before. 91' was a new beginning for all of us, Bob included.
Do you remember anything about that South American tour in particular? Must have been an unusual run
Playing tennis on clay courts with lan in Montevideo, signing a hundred posters for Callahan in hotel lobby in Rio, going to the diamond mines in Belo Horizonte with Callahan, Anna was on tour with us, signing a stack of records outside our hotel in Buenos Aires. He told me these were how he learned to speak English! (there is a great story about that but it would have to be off the record, Ha!) The size of São Paulo. Too many caiparinha's.
Thanks Ray, I really enjoy reading your pieces. Nick Cave would probably answer and elaborate on the Red Hand Files if you or someone asked.
BTW, NIck Cave and the Bad Seeds live in Paris is on YouTube where he performs Joy and lots of material from his/their recent Wild God album. It is incredibly good and well worth watching. And the Red Hand Files are well worth reading as is your Flagging Down the Double E's!
List of musicians in attendance: Evandro Mesquita (leader of Blitz, one of the most popular acts in Brazil during the eighties); Tony Bellotto (one of the guitarists in Titãs, another hugely popular Brazilian band who would later open for the Rolling Stones before their massive concert in Copacabana in 2006); Frejat, Dadi, Guto Goffi and Dé (all musicians from Barão Vermelho, yet another big rock band in Brazil); Péricles Cavalcanti (Brazilian composer)
The journalist wrongly lists Tony Garnier as the guitar player and John Jackson as the bass player.
The 1990 and 1998 concerts were not exactly in a stadium, but rather at a square where the samba schools end their parades.
Thanks, Ray! This particular armchair Spelunker appreciates your hard work investigating the cavernous history of Bob Dylan. Much appreciated.
Wow! Thanks for such impressive research.
Thanks Ray!
Thanks for this post. I know Nick would have loved the feel of the show, much more than the sound. I still remember my first Dylan show. The people around me were disappointed, but I was in awe of the man up on the stage. He just had a presence like a halo around him. Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA 04-28-1992. He opened with Rainy Day Women. He played a lot of stuff I didn't know, but I remember really liking "Female Rambling Sailor." Oh, how I wish I knew "Idiot Wind" back then, because looking at the setlist, he played it, but I was still in the Dylan innocence phase...
Interesting paper on the Brazilian 1991 tour by Christopher Rollason (mentions Cave being in attendance in São Paulo at the Palace nightclub, which could hold up to 1800 people at the time - makes one wonder if Cave was really in Rio or just mixed up the two cities):
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/19807228/made-in-brazil-bob-dylans-1991-brazilian-tour-yatra
More info on Bob Dylan in Brazil (in Portuguese): https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-57208133
The night before the Rio show, Dylan participated in a recording session at the former studio of Chico Batera, Chico Buarque's percussionist, in Botafogo.
At the singer's request, about eight percussionists played various Brazilian rhythms, such as samba, baião, and maracatu. Eventually, the studio received another illustrious visitor: British guitarist Dave Stewart, of the duo Eurythmics.
As one of the few Brazilians who spoke English, percussionist Léo Leobons, who lived in the United States for 17 years, became a sort of "interpreter" between the musicians and the singer.
Dylan, to everyone's frustration, didn't sing or play anything. He spent the entire time in the "aquarium," listening to the tapes. After the recording, which lasted about three hours, Léo received his fee and went home. The next day, still drowsy, Léo received a phone call from a member of Dylan's entourage inviting him and his family to attend the Apoteose show. In return, he bought a tambourine as a gift and personally delivered it to the suite at the Rio Palace in Copacabana, where the singer was staying.
In the room, he taught Dylan some basic rhythms on the instrument, Dylan recorded his instructions, and the two said goodbye. "More than thirty years later, the only thing that remains is his appearance. His hands were large and his nails looked more like claws," Léo marvels. "However, Dylan is a sweet guy, very friendly."
Coincidence or not, when he released Under the Red Sky in September 1990, Dylan invited a Brazilian to play percussion: Paulinho da Costa, one of the most sought-after musicians in the United States. Of the album's ten tracks, the Rio de Janeiro-born musician played on four: "Born in Time," "2 x 2," "God Knows," and "Handy Dandy."
"Communal sense of ow"--nice!
If ‘gaita’ is the original word (I cannot see it all that well): this can mean (among other musical instruments) harmonica. In Portugal it can also mean dick.
I guessed that "crotch" was a typo and was supposed to be crutch (for Bob's harmonica rack).
Gives a different meaning to the line "I won't ask for your crutch, don't ask for mine."