Previous Next Latest

Bob Dylan Celebrates Charlie Sexton’s Return By Cranking Up His Guitar in L.A.

10/14/09, 12:12 pm EST

Photo: Hill/FilmMagic

There are many reasons to celebrate Charlie Sexton’s return to Bob Dylan’s live band, but the biggest one might be that Sexton’s presence frees up Dylan to peel off terrifically cranky lead lines on a guitar that sounds like it’s been strung with straightened-out wire hangers. Kicking off a three-night stand at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles last night, Dylan spent a good deal of his two-hour set tangling with the Austin blues-rock whiz, who this fall is playing guitar with the legendary singer-songwriter for the first time since 2002. In “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” they scrabbled for supremacy like two barnyard chickens; later, during an appropriately driving “Highway 61 Revisited,” Sexton dropped to his knees for a thrilling solo while Dylan jabbed out creep-show organ licks.

All night, Sexton occupied the center-stage spot, which he took advantage of by whipping around like Marty McFly at the end of Back to the Future. Not that Dylan, peering out from underneath his black gaucho hat, wasn’t worth watching, too; before he finished “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)” he started bopping up and down behind his keyboard, leaning into the juicy rolling-thunder beat.

The band’s default mode Tuesday was a salty brand of electric blues, but Dylan and Sexton kept leading the musicians on tasty little detours: “Cold Irons Bound” rode a hard proto-funk groove; “Like a Rolling Stone” had a bright, Byrds-like jangle; “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’,” from this year’s Together Through Life, was a border-town-cantina shuffle with pedal-steel dude Donnie Herron on sweet-and-sour trumpet. For “Nettie Moore” they took everything down to a creepy café-music murmur, over which Dylan did his best Leonard Cohen sprechstimme.

Dylan closed the show the same way he did the several that preceded this one, with a stormy, hard-rocking “All Along the Watchtower.” As Sexton slashed his way through the tune, the guitarist’s old pal appeared totally satisfied with his new hire.

Set list:

“Gonna Change My Way of Thinking”
“Shooting Star”
“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’”
“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
“Cold Irons Bound”
“Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)”
“My Wife’s Home Town”
“Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”
“High Water (for Charlie Patton)”
“I Feel a Change Comin’ On”
“Highway 61 Revisited”
“Nettie Moore”
“Thunder on the Mountain”
“Ballad of a Thin Man”
“Like a Rolling Stone”
“Jolene”
“All Along the Watchtower”

Related Stories:

Review: Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart
Bob Dylan’s “California” to Debut on NCIS Soundtrack
Bob Dylan: The Rolling Stone Covers


Previous Next Latest

Comments

chip love | 10/14/2009, 1:21 pm EST

cool. dylan can still smoke a set. how great would a dylan/the band tour be? one more time around for old times sake.

stevefrehley | 10/14/2009, 1:44 pm EST

Bob Dylan AND Charlie Sexton? That sounds like an evening in paradise!

Johntony | 10/14/2009, 1:46 pm EST

Thanks for the great review, im going tonight. What time did he go on stage?!!

bill | 10/14/2009, 2:13 pm EST

great guitar work means great band and thats good for us bob fans

Brian | 10/14/2009, 2:40 pm EST

No such thing as The Band without Richard and Rick, plus Levon would rather eat shit than be anywhere near Mr. Robbertson.

Scott | 10/14/2009, 3:19 pm EST

I was there. Ballad of a Thin man never sounded better!

Elliott | 10/14/2009, 4:17 pm EST

When will we ever get a Never Ending Tour document? Ideally a comprehensive DVD set – one featuring Larry Campbell and Charlie Sexton. This must be the next Bootleg Series release.

Anonymous | 10/14/2009, 6:43 pm EST

What the hell does this mean?

on a guitar that sounds like it’s been strung with straightened-out wire hangers

Jeb | 10/14/2009, 7:16 pm EST

Should the phrase ‘new hire’ actually be stated as ‘re-hire’.

Barbara | 10/14/2009, 7:56 pm EST

They were smoking last night. Johnny Rivers started at 7:30 and Dylan hit the stage at 8:30 sharp. The band is tight tight tight. Charlie and Bob entertained.

Zim Fan | 10/14/2009, 10:40 pm EST

What the heck is a creep show organ lick?

Weegie | 10/15/2009, 4:11 am EST

Bob seems to be cracking his first smile since……oh…..
…1973… ..

Jungleland2 | 10/15/2009, 9:30 am EST

Glad to see Charlie back, but does that mean that the return of The Arc Angels was just a one-tour thing?

bob | 10/15/2009, 11:31 am EST

Is charlie on board for the rest of the tour?

steve | 10/15/2009, 11:58 am EST

Chip, did you know that Rick Danko and Richard Manuel are dead?

jerryg | 10/15/2009, 4:54 pm EST

And that Levon has better things to do than reconcile with Robbie “ahole” Robertson

hellobeatle | 10/15/2009, 5:17 pm EST

I’m seeing him in Boston next month, if Charlie around all tour??

Jim Moult | 10/16/2009, 2:40 am EST

Wow,
This is great, Charlie Sexton is one of my favorite guitarists, hope that he keeps up his studio work, He is so good and original
J

dave | 10/16/2009, 10:40 am EST

great idea for another bootleg series re:never ending tour. it has to include some late 80’s stuff w/ g.e. smith.

j | 10/16/2009, 10:57 am EST

It is very possible that DYLAN is GOD.Think about it.

Kris Kringle | 10/16/2009, 2:17 pm EST

I can’t wait until some of the Xmas songs make their way into the setlist! I’m guessing that when the Calendar turns over to November, it’ll begin to feel a lot like Christmas! Instead of “Girl From the North Country,” I’m hoping for “Old Man From the North Pole!”

Mitzi Reynolds | 10/17/2009, 5:23 am EST

GO GO GO Charlie B. Goooood ! I am so happy for you and glad to hear you are touring with the greatest American poet and American legend that I adore so much …. I still remember when I used to take you around Austin and you would sit in with Doug Sahm and Stevie Ray and then we’d go back out to the house in Austin Lake Estates…seems like an eternity ago. I am living in Saigon, Vietnam…believe me, it’s for real. Love you dearly, keep on rockin with the greatest! Mitz

Craig | 10/17/2009, 12:39 pm EST

Who knows what kind of guitar Dylan is playing in this picture?

JDM | 10/17/2009, 4:18 pm EST

Bobby appears to be playing a Danelectro of some sort in that picture.

A creepshow organ is what it sounds like and I want to hear it. Maybe its that Ballad of a Thin Man sound, with old Garth Hudson creaking down the stairs into the darkness and spiraling upwards in chest fever, delirium tremens, hunch backed glory?

My adrenalin is pumping after hearing Charie is back in the fold, now if Larry Campbell and Levon would come over and join the party.
Larry could play with both bands and it would be an all out thunder on the mountain, medicine show revue, dream tour. Hell, Ronnie Hawkins could join up too. I saw him this past summer and he kept insisting from the edge of the stage, as thunder crashed and lightning flashed, that he’s just waiting for the medication to kick in.

You don’t need Robbie Robertson to make the Band. Those guys proved that ever since the Last Waltz boondoggle. But without Rick and Richard it won’t happen. Levon has too much integrity to drag that name through the dirt where his brothers are buried.

I gotta get some tickets for the Kitchener Ontario gig. I’ve been debating about it. Yesterday I listened to Tell Tale Signs and figured I’d go down the night of the show, do some busking and try to get leftovers from a scalper. But this news has me heading for the box office. I saw him several times when Larry and Charlie were in the band and those shows kicked ass. Off the rails, wheel’s on fire, bootleg series, strong times. OOOOOO EEEEEE!!!!!

He’s gonna make us miss him when he’s gone.

kujive | 10/18/2009, 8:43 pm EST

richard manual WAS a pervert

Mojo Bone | 10/19/2009, 10:42 am EST

I wouldn’t call Donny Herron a pedal steel player to his face. (not again, anyway) He made it very clear to me that he plays lap steel. I gather it’s like accusing a guitarist of using a capo.

JDM | 10/20/2009, 2:38 pm EST

Richard Manuel was a soul man and a crazy mixed up kid, in a crazy mixed up world. I read somewhere that Ray Charles told him he sang Georgia on My Mind better than Brother Ray himself. It’s a damn shame Levon had to find him hanging in that shower stall. The Band were some rough and tumble Canucks.

rockabilly redneck | 10/20/2009, 5:13 pm EST

Charlie is not in the same league as the great stylist, Mr. Robbie Robertson. Dylan’s finest lead guitarist.

Bill R. Moore | 10/20/2009, 6:07 pm EST

This is a very poor review. It doesn’t say a single thing about Dylan’s singing, which is incredible. This is the only reason most people go to see him, performance-wise. It is also amazing to say nothing about him going centerstage with the harmonica, which he did for about a third of the show. Indeed, it implies Sexton was alone centerstage the whole time. Also, though I have not yet heard this tour’s “Like a Rolling Stone” arrangement, assuming it is different significantly from what Dylan has been playing for years, I am very skeptical that it will sound anything like The Byrds. Even the article title is confusing; does “His Guitar” mean Dylan’s or Sexton’s? Finally, how does Sexton free Dylan to play weird guitar? He had as many guitarists before, and Dylan is playing more guitar than he has in years, so I wonder what this means. The comments already made about Herron’s instrument are also accurate. One could easily doubt if this “reviewer” even went to the show or know anything about Dylan. Any run-of-the-mill fan could do better than this so-called professional journalist.

Jaydog | 11/6/2009, 12:22 am EST

I’m sorry man. Charlie Sexton kicks Robertsons ass. Robertson is a good guitarist but he’s far from the best Dylan has had. Mike Bloomfield? G E Smith? In my opinion Mr Sexton is the best. I saw the Campbel/Sexton line up in 2000 at the SECC glasgow. Man! What a show.

aa in Ontario | 11/8/2009, 12:56 am EST

I was in Kitchener and witnessed an incredible melding of talents. The renditions of Highway 61 and Like a Rolling Stone were crowd pleasers. Charlie did his guitar magic and even dropped to the floor several times but it really served to compliment Dylan’s performance: his movement through his lyrics, his harmonica artistry, keyboard and guitar mastery. Infact the whole session band enhanced the night’s performance ending in such a huge work”All Along The Watchtower”. I’m so glad

Post A Comment

Caution: Off-topic comments will be deleted

Name:

Comments:



Advertisement

Advertisement