Years ago, back when I was a kid – 14 or 15, maybe – I got a little compact stereo for Christmas. It had dual tape decks, detached speakers, and a record player. This was the tail end of the 1980s so CDs weren’t really a thing. I didn’t have any vinyl but my Mom had a pretty good collection of oldies, Simon & Garfunkel, Sonny & Cher, that type of thing. I remember swiping her Monkees records and listening to them over and over. Not long after I got the thing we had a garage sale and my Aunt Sandy brought over a bunch of her old records to sell. She had some cool stuff including The Beatles White Album, and Let It Be and Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits.
I swiped that one and gave it a listen. I was knocked out. Floored. Blown away. I’m sure I had heard some Bob Dylan songs before then. My mother was an oldies radio listener and most of those songs were staples, but there was something about hearing them all together, back to back that blew my mind. I became an instant and lifelong fan.
As I grew a little older, deeper into my teenage year’s musical tastes leaned more to the heavier side of rock. This was the early 90s and I was a grunge kid. Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr., and Smashing Pumpkins were my jam. But I still dug Dylan. I didn’t buy all his albums, but Greatest Hits remained a staple of my listening habits. One year my mother bought me the Biography boxed set and then another one she got my the MTV Unplugged album. That one I swallowed up like it was a great steak. I still love that album and that period of Dylan live.
All these years later I do have all the albums, and of course thousands of live recordings. Bob Dylan has remained a steady current in my life. He has meant more to me than just about any other musical artist. I often think about his death and what that will mean to me. It will put a period at the end of a long, magical sentence. What will life be like without more new Dylan music to fill the air? How strange it will be to know there are no new Dylan shows to collect.
He’s not dead yet, thank god. He turns 80 this week and I hope he has many more years left of inspiring us all with his musical genius.
To celebrate his birthday I thought I’d share nothing but Dylan shows this week. I’m terrible at picking out which shows are his best ones and while there are a few eras I really love I figured it would be fun to post a whole lot of compilation albums from throughout his long career. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
themidnightcafe.org 
I heard Dylan on Radio Luxembourg, yes…that pirate radio station he sings about now, in 1963
It was live at first hearing
So…bring them on…
There is never enough Dylan in one’s life
*typo
live = love
Great stories, Mat! I cut my teeth on something like this: [image: image.png] When I was about 3 and could reach the record player I started listening to my folks’ Kingston Trio “Live At The Hungry I”(still a great LP), Perter, Paul and Mary Greatest Hits, and The Carpenters Close To You. My folks were a bit too conservative for Uncle Bob!
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That Greatest Hits album was my gateway drug too! I found Bob after discovering music at the end of the 70’s with The Jam and the mod revival. From there I followed Weller’s 60’s obsession (never got The Beatles though) and eventually someone lent me the album that changed my life.
Fast forward to 2021 and Bob is the vast majority of my listening … much to my wife’s chagrin (“love the songs, hate the voice”). I have traveled the world, discovered new places and made new friends following Bob.
There’s Bob Dylan and then there’s everybody else. He operates on a totally different level.
Looking forward to a week of exclusive Bob shows! Happy Birthday, Bob … and thank you for being you!
Super idea celebrating his birthday with the compilations, especially the PP offerings.
I was at the Sydney Stadium concert in April ‘66 having just arrived from the UK. The impact of his performance that night has remained a constant throughout the years and I’ll celebrate my 80th a little later in October!
Wow Peter -that’s amazing! Do you have any memories of watching that show? (I’m sure you’ve been asked a million times before!)
I remember the wooden building being well past its sell by date and was awaiting demolition, I think it was primarily used for boxing tournaments.! Tiered wooden seating in a 360 arrangement around a revolving central stage. The audience was small and we constantly moved seats following the band. Crazy days but I do remember being so impressed how the majority of the audience knew the words and sang along throughout. The published recordings don’t seem to capture that. However even in those ‘gladiatorial surroundings’ my life long relationship with Dylan was forged…..
Thank you! Wonderful memory. How lucky we are to be on this planet at the same time as Bob!
That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks to every one for the comments and stories. I was hoping a few of you would chime in with Bob stories and you did!
Here’s my story. Many of my friends were big Dylan fans in the late 60’s when I was discovering music and I just didn’t quite get it. But I sure got The Band big time. At the end of 1971 The Band scheduled a series of shows at the Academy of Music in NYC that are now known as the Rock of Ages shows. There would be 4 nights, Dec. 27-30. I bought tickets for the December 27 show, right up front. Then something strange happened – the December 27 show got re-scheduled to December 31. OK, so now I have a New Year’s ticket! I said to everyone, just watch, Dylan is going to show up. Of course at that time Dylan wasn’t showing up anywhere but I didn’t know that. Well, he did show up just after New Years and he and they blew the roof off after what had been a spectacular show by the Band – the one memorialized on Rock of Ages. I was mesmerized watching him lead them through a short set and my love of Dylan was born. Haven’t stopped listening to him since. So bring it on Mat – a full week of Dylan sounds just about right as he celebrates his 80th!
Another great memory! what a thrill that must have been! Thank you.
Marcus, Almost fifty years later and I can still picture them in my mind on stage. After each song they would huddle up like a football team and decide what was coming next. The electricity in the room was incredible and they were almost jumping up and down too. Down in the Flood. Masterpiece. Don’t Ya Tell Henry. Rolling Stone. You are right – what a thrill it was.
Amen!! Happy 80th birthday to my favorite artist. I’ve found his songs to be deep wells of interest for many years. It’s his perceptive eye to human nature, rebel left turns, and a sense of the power of each individual.
It’s also, for me, largely about that controversial voice. As John Lennon once said, “You don’t have to hear what Dylan says, you just have to hear HOW he says it.” Inflection and emphasis.
It’s also about artistic growth, which is inspiring. I listen to his albums from the last 20 years – especially 2001’s “Love And Theft” – more than most of his earlier material.
The idea that he could come out at any time with more material as strong as last year’s mind-blowing “Rough And Rowdy Ways” is pretty cool. Happy birthday, Mr. Dylan.