The Bob Dylan Week in Review
Happy Birthday Highway 61 Revisited! | Last Chance to Win a Frontrow Ticket! | "Don't Fence Me In" finally released
Each weekend, as I sit down to compile the latest Bob Dylan news from the past seven days, I’m consistently struck by just how much happens in the world of Bob Dylan, even when Bob himself isn’t on the road. (And by the way, only six days remain until Bob returns to the stage in Bangor, Maine!).
Highway 61 at 60
Yesterday marked the 60th annivesary of one of the greatest albums in music history!
Happy 60th birthday Highway 61 Revisited!
The Highway 61 Revisited anniversary campaign first added a new layer Friday night. (a short video appeared on Dylan’s official social channels, showcasing a booklet dedicated to the landmark 1965 album) It followed earlier teasers like billboards, phone numbers, and interactive playlists, building anticipation for what may turn out to be a broader, staged celebration of the record’s 60th year.
Yesterday, on the official anniversary, bobdylan.com sent out an email marking the occasion and inviting fans to “celebrate the milestone with a new interactive site featuring a custom playlist generator and a deep dive into the album’s history."
The campaign felt deliberately mysterious, echoing Bob’s long-standing preference for subtlety over spectacle.
Anyway, Happy Birthday to one of the greatest albums of all time!
Setlist Cue Sheet Surprise
A fascinating discovery from some days ago: a setlist cue sheet surfaced, revealing that “Garden Party” is still (or again) officially listed as an encore option. While Bob hasn’t performed it yet again since Chula Vista back in May, it’s clearly not off the table. Many thanks to Rechi van Lehen for spotting and sharing this detail with us.
By the way…
Last Chance: Giveaway Closes Today
Today is the final day to enter our 50k Instagram milestone giveaway! One lucky winner will receive a front-row ticket to Bob Dylan’s 2025 European fall tour (or, alternatively, a package of Dylan books).
Paid subscribers are automatically included—if you’ve been considering an upgrade, now’s the time.
(Don’t forget that we lowered the subscription price from 60€ to 50€ for 50 days (“50 for 50”), so if you were considering a paid subscribtion to support the project and join the giveaway, now’s a good time to do so!)
I have recorded a short video about this giveaway that you can watch here!
Reagan-Soundtrack finally released
Earlier this week, Bob Dylan’s cover of “Don’t Fence Me In” for the Reagan movie was finally released!
You can listen to the song on Bob Dylan’s official YouTube account here:
No credits have been published so far.
In Case You’ve Missed It
This past week we sent out a newsletter about a great project from Angus Gibson who is reintroducing high-quality footage from Bob Dylan’s live performances between 1997 and 2004. His mission is to make rare fan-shot videos accessible once again, in the best possible quality, for a new generation of listeners.
We have also included a short Q&A with Angus in this newsletter.
Daily Dylan Quiz – Leaderboard Deadline Today
Another reminder: today also marks the final day for the July/August leaderboard in the Daily Dylan Quiz. If you’ve been waiting to improve your standing, this is your last chance. Winners will be announced in the coming days, with the leaderboard resetting for September.
Play the Daily Dylan Quiz here! (and don’t forget: If you have a great Dylan question, feel free to send it to us so we can implement it into the question pool!)
That’s all for this week’s recap—thank you, as always, for following along and being part of this journey.
Daniel
Great to see H61R getting it's due over at BD.com ... it always seemed to get overlooked, in comparison to a lot of the other albums .. and even the odd single!
I will go to my grave believing it's the greatest album of all time.
It just hits different.
Bob at his surrealist peak, reinventing popular music on the fly .. and enjoying the whole wild mischief of it ... supported by another musician (maybe) at his own creative peak in Michael Bloomfield.
It was the perfect partnership in 1965.
you can hear them reveling in the chaos!
I remember reading a quote where he says something like "“I’m not gonna be able to make a record as good as that one.”
and then something about "I'd listen to that kind of music myself!"
@daniel You know a reference for that or am I misremembering? Maybe I just said it myself in one of my dreams and let Bob be in it? :)