Annual Round Up: Top Ten Blog Posts of 2019: It's Dylan Nearly All the Way

Photo courtesy Laura Leivick

Fifty years ago the Beatles made their last public appearance on the roof of Apple, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, Woodstock and Altamont rocked then shocked the world. These events were all during Bob Dylan's private period when he was quietly enjoying his family and making music with The Band. Other than a performance at the Isle of Wight, it was a quieter year outside the public eye.

I'm willing to bet that very few people would have expected him to be still on the road doing nearly 100 shows a year on his Never Ending Tour. What a long strange trip it's been.

* * * *
As has been my custom in recent years, I've taken an inventory, reviews the stats, and now present a summary of my Top Ten blog posts for the year, based on Pageviews. Three of these top ten posts were reviews of Dylan's latest tour across the waistline of our country from L.A. to his 10 shows at the Beacon in New York, with a final stop in DC.

All in all, it was another strong year for Dylan. The much anticipated Martin Scorsese documentary about The Rolling Thunder Revue finally arrived, as did Dylan & Me, Louis Kemp's collection of stories about his boyhood friend. Bootleg #15 was also a welcome addition to every collector's treasure trove of Dylan CDs, vinyls and memorabilia. But this fourth quarter leg of his Never Ending Tour, well, that was the cat's meow, the bee's knees, the icing on the cake, and any other over-worn expression you want to choose.

Without further adieu, here were the most read stories of 2019 here at Ennyman's Territory.

10 
21 Questions: Dylan Fest Trivia 2019

9 
Bob Dylan’s “With God On Our Side” Addressed A Fundamental Divide In American Culture, and Still Does

8 
Sunday Night's Blood Moon, Plus More Buddy Holly Memories and Insights

7 
Warm Welcome for Dylan in Minnesota: Bringing It Home at the Mankato Civic Center

6 
Laura Leivick's Take On Bob Dylan's December 5 Show at the Beacon

5 
Dylan's Blowing in the Wind Gets a New Twist in Super Bowl LIII

4 
Spotlight on Rolling Thunder: Louis Kemp's Dylan & Me, and Scorsese's Netflix Release on the Revue

3 
Trivial Pursuits: Bob Dylan's Favorite Monopoly Piece

2 
"Go Away Bomb:"---Dylan Writes A Song for Izzy Young

1 
Dylan at the Beacon--Philip Hale Shares Why Fans Keep Coming Back for More

Related Links
Planning for Duluth Dylan Fest 2020 has been underway since late summer. The schedule is taking shape. To stay in touch with breaking news on events visit www.bobdylanway.com/dylan-fest.php


Gift ideas for the holidays:
Dylan & Me: 50 Years of Adventures
Travelin' Through  
Christmas in the Heart

BONUS TRACK
A song by song breakdown from Lloydville of Dylan's Christmas in the Heart
[EdNote: Make time to read all the track by track analysis here. You'll gain a far deeper appreciation for this album than you initially conceived possible.]

Christmas in the Heart

As promised earlier this week, here's my take on Bob Dylan’s new CD, and first Christmas album.

Unless you are a die-hard Dylan fan, I do not recommend buying it. But if you have a friend who’s a die-hard who just had to have it (like me, I suppose) then see if he’ll let you wheedle it away for a once-through.

This is not your typical Christmas fare. First, Dylan’s voice has become a raspy caricature of itself. But it is especially jarring when accompanied by the sticky-sweet strains of male and female backup vocalists. As a result, the discordant sounds at times are almost grating.

Like much that Dylan has said or done, there is a measure of ambiguity present. Is this supposed to be a serious Christmas album or is he just funnin’ us? When asked about this he said, “The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.”

A couple bright spots on the CD are worth noting. I like the opening number “Here Comes Santa Claus” which I just discovered was co-written by Gene Autrey. But my favorite cut on the album, which is worth the whole thing for me, is “Must Be Santa.” It’s done polka style, which brings numerous personal echoes for me. My wife’s father played an accordion as did her brother, with memories that bring a smile. The Northland here is polka country, Dylan’s original roots, Duluth being home to more accordion players than you can shake a stick at. The Duluth Accordionaires, founded in 1949 by John Copiskey, must have tried to teach everyone and their mothers, sisters and brothers to play because to this day I still run into people here and there who took accordion classes downtown way back when.

My accordion memories don’t end here in the Northland. On our first trip to Ol’ Mexico we came out of a café in Monterrey late one eve only to be greeted by two street musicians, one on guitar, the other on the diatonic accordion featured in what is called “Musica Nortena”…our own favorite style of music South o’ the border. We tipped them, of course.

So when David Hidalgo sets the tone with a jalepeno-hot squeezebox riff on “Must Be Santa”, I’m in the game. Dylan’s having fun, the band is having fun, and you’ll have fun, too, if you get a chance to hear it.

The reviewer in Christianity Today gave it 2 stars (out of five) and Rolling Stone gave it 3. Chris Richards of the Washington Post called it awesome. (Was that tongue in cheek, Chris?) I also saw at least one reviewer give it a zero, so… do beware.

We already own Christmas CDs by Elvis and The Jackson Five, so why not Bob?

EDNOTE: The Dylan quote in paragraph four is ennyman fiction