Photo: Getty

A pair of poems written by Bob Dylan have been published in The New Yorker magazine. The poems — simply titled “#17″ and “#21″ — were penned by Dylan in an era closer to The Times They Are A-Changin’ than Modern Times. They will be featured in the upcoming book Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric: The Lost Manuscript, which pairs 23 Dylan poems with classic Hollywood photos by photographer Barry Feinstein, who also photographed Dylan for the The Times They Are A-Changin’ album cover. Forty years after Feinstein and Dylan collaborated on the project, the 160-page book will finally be released on November 4th through Simon & Schuster. “#17″ finds the narrator pondering suicide and Marlon Brando, while “#21″ has the narrator attending the funeral. Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric is Dylan’s latest foray into literature: (more…)

Bob Dylan will release the eighth installment of his Bootleg Series on October 7th. Tell Tale Signs features unreleased recordings and alternate versions of studio sessions from the last two decades, sessions that ultimately resulted in albums like
Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft and Modern Times. The two-disc set will also feature rare live performances.

For a limited time, Bob Dylan’s refurbished Website is offering a free download of “Dreamin’ of You,” culled from Dylan’s 1997 Daniel Lanois-produced Time Out of Mind sessions. Tell Tale Signs will be available as both a two-CD and a four-LP vinyl set, with both versions featuring 27 songs and a 60-page booklet. For the Dylaniacs, there’s the Exclusive Deluxe Edition, which includes the two discs plus a third containing 13 more rare songs, a 150-page photo book of Dylan’s singles from around the world and a 7′’ vinyl single. The first 5,000 to preorder get a bonus poster for Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour. For the entire track list, click after the jump. (more…)

Chief Justice John Roberts quoted Bob Dylan in a dissenting opinion yesterday — and nearly got it correct. In a case of regarding the ability of collection agencies to sue customers when they have no financial stake in the matter, our first boomer Chief Justice wrote: “The absence of any right to the substantive recovery means that respondents cannot benefit from the judgment they seek and thus lack Article III standing. ‘When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.’ Bob Dylan, Like A Rolling Stone, on Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia Records 1965).” The clerk who checked the quote technically got it right, since the official lyrics on Dylan’s website do phrase it like that. But anyone who has actually heard the song on the record or in concert knows the actual line is “when you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose.” Maybe he was actually quoting Titanic, since Leonardo DiCaprio’s character says “When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.” Leo also misquoted Dylan, but we’ll cut him some slack since the Titanic sank fifty-three years before Dylan wrote that line.

The first major art gallery exhibit by Bob Dylan opened Saturday at the Halcyon Gallery in London’s lively Mayfair district. Although he’s been a committed visual artist since 1961, this is only the second time that Dylan’s work has been shown publicly — the first being a three-month stint in Germany’s Chemnitz Museum. Of the work, Dylan remarked on the enjoyment of sketching saying, “I’d lose all track of time completely. An hour or two would go by and it would seem like only a minute.”

• The Art of Music: Paintings by Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Patti Smith

The Drawn Blank series features a collection of pencil, watercolor and gouache works that Dylan completed during his time on the road from 1989 to 1992. Themes present in Dylan’s music and writing are present in his art as well. One of the featured pieces entitled “Train Tracks” is a pictorial motif that underscores the singer-songwriter’s lifelong fascination with trains. As he writes in Chronicles: Volume 1, “I’d seen and heard trains from my earliest childhood days … The sound of trains off in the distance … made me feel at home, like nothing was missing.” (more…)

Todd Haynes’ strange and wonderful Bob Dylan essay film I’m Not There earned critical accolades and an Oscar nomination for Cate Blanchett. The film hits stores this week on a two disc DVD full of deleted scenes, alternate takes, audition tapes, commentaries and a tribute to star Heath Ledger. Click above to check out the clip of Haynes’ interpretation of the infamous incident at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where Dylan went electric, and hit the jump to find out how you can win a copy of the I’m Not There DVD.

(more…)

• Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Dylan will follow up his critically acclaimed autobiography Chronicles with a children’s book entitled Forever Young. The forty page picture book is due to hit shelves October 6th.
• Gregg Allman’s recovery from Hepatitis C has forced the Allman Brothers Band to cancel their performance at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival. Bonnaroo organizers will fill the vacancy with a “big announcement” this Thursday.
• Contrary to previous reports, Axl Rose will not star in a reality TV show documenting the release of Chinese Democracy.
• Details about Bill Cosby’s hip-hop album Cosby Narratives Vol. 1: State of Emergency have emerged. The comedian executive-produced and co-wrote the album, but will not spit rhymes, instead leaving rapping duties to a trio of newcomers.

[Photo: Getty]

An enthusiastic, sell-out crowd packed Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional last night to watch Bob Dylan open his twelve-gig Latin American tour. The concert marked Dylan’s comeback after a short hiatus (save for three warm-up gigs last week at the House of Blues in Dallas) as well as his long-awaited return to the region — the last time Dylan embarked on a major tour of the region was in 1998, as the opening act for the Rolling Stones.

Dylan began the evening on electric guitar for his first three songs, “Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35,” “It Ain’t Me, Babe” and “Watching The River Flow.” (more…)

Evidently, the Golden Globes “award ceremony” occurred last night in the form a half-hour press conference. We were too distracted by Rock of Love 2 to watch, but we did see the list of winners this morning and we can now report accordingly. On the music front, the Hollywood Foreign Press loves them some Pearl Jam and Bob Dylan, as Eddie Vedder’s “Guaranteed” from Into the Wild won Best Original Song, filling the void on Vedder’s mantle that was meant for the Critics’ Choice Award he didn’t win. Cate Blanchett took home Best Supporting Actress for her role as Jude Quinn, one of the many Bob Dylan alter egos in Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There. In a press release/”Thank You” speech, Blanchett wrote/said “None of this would be possible without the great man himself, Bob Dylan, wherever you are, whoever you are, I thank you deeply.”

Johnny Depp, star of Sweeney Todd and the current issue of Rolling Stone, followed up his win at the Peoples’ Choice Awards with the Best Performance By an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy trophy, while Sweeney Todd itself won Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Best Score went to Dario Marianelli and Atonement, which didn’t have to face off against the Critics’ pick Jonny Greenwood and his There Will Be Blood score because it wasn’t nominated. In one last music note, Queen Latifah won the Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television award for the HBO film Life Support.

[Photo: Getty]

The latest issue of Rolling Stone features Greil Marcus’s in-depth Q&A with Todd Haynes, director of I’m Not There — the new film in which six different actors portray Bob Dylan. The interview was originally conducted before an audience at the Telluride Film Festival, the day after I’m Not There premiered. Below, check out audio excerpts from the interview:

• Haynes talks about the concept of identity in his films — including Dylan’s status as identity-changer, and how the Sixties may have marked been the beginning of a national “identity crisis.”
  

• Haynes talks about the idea of “queerness” in his films, touching on both Andy Warhol and Pentecostal fundamentalist Christianity.
  

• Marcus and Haynes answer an audience question about the role of Dylan’s music in the film.

In our interview with Bob Dylan earlier this year, we asked the great man what he thought of climate change and he replied: “Where’s the global warming? It’s freezing here.” Lest you think Dylan was just being his normal contrarian self, we direct you to exhibit A: His new ad campaign for Cadillac’s latest Escalade SUV. In fairness: if climate change means that in the future we’ll all be driving jeeps in the desert wearing black Western duds, that’s kinda cool.

• KISS has announced Kissology Vol. 3 — nearly ten hours of the band’s live performances from 1992-2000 on four DVDs (some sets include a bonus fifth), including their MTV Unplugged in 1995 and a show at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium in 1998. The set, due in stores December 18th, also features the 1973 Queens, New York gig that marked KISS’ first concert filmed in makeup.

• Foxy Brown has pleaded not guilty to assault charges stemming from an August BlackBerry-throwing incident. Brown is currently serving a year in jail due to probation violation. Last Friday the MC refused to travel to the hearing on a prison bus, leading prosecutors to threaten to place her on a bus in handcuffs for the rescheduled date.

• CBGB and MVD Entertainment have partnered to release a series of CDs commemorating legendary performances at the defunct NYC venue. The first set will include shows by Mooney Suzuki and the Queers, with another disc expected before the end of the year.

• Elliott Smith’s girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba, will no longer receive payments from Smith’s estate because she “acted as an unlicensed talent agent” when serving as Smith’s manager. If Chiba appeals, the case could be reviewed by California’s Supreme Court.

• My Morning Jacket, the Roots, J Mascis and more will play a show together on November 7th for “I’m Not There: In Concert a Celebration of Todd Haynes’ Film” at New York’s Beacon Theatre. The lineup also includes Calexico and Cat Power.

Tuesday afternoon is as good a time as any to enjoy some classic photos of Bob Dylan from the Sixties and Seventies. These nearly two-dozen gorgeous, intimate shots of Dylan hiding out in limos, relaxing backstage and traveling the globe are part of photographer Barry Feinstein’s current exhibition at New York’s Morrison Hotel Gallery. Click here to check out our gallery.

Related Stories:

• When Rockers Dare to Paint: Art From Paul McCartney, David Bowie and More
• Jack White Takes Bob Dylan Further Into Uncharted Territory
• Bob Dylan Pic “I’m Not There” Trailer; Film Will Open in Four Theaters Before Wide Release

As we told you in the Maroon 5 issue of Rolling Stone, the first-ever exhibit of Bob Dylan’s original paintings will open at the Kunstsammlungen art museum in Chemnitz, Germany, on October 28th. Museum director Ingrid Mössinger first came across Dylan’s paintings in his 1994 book, Drawn Blank, which contains the singer’s sketches made between 1989 and 1992. “I was fascinated to learn of Ingrid’s interest in my work,” Dylan said in a statement. “It gave me the impetus to realize the vision I had for these paintings many years ago. If not for this interest, I don’t know if I even would have revisited them.” The exhibit runs through February 3rd. Check out another painting after the jump: (more…)

An astonishing number of days have passed since we last posted anything about Todd Haynes’ Bob Dylan-inspired film I’m Not There, but fear not, today we came across this video about the movie. I’m Not There was awarded the Special Jury Prize (alongside La Graine et le Mulet, a French film by Abdellatif Kechiche) at this year’s Venice Film Festival earlier this month, and this report, which features interviews with director Haynes and one of the film’s six Dylans (Heath Ledger), provides welcome insight into Haynes’ vision. Check it out, then enjoy a tour through our past coverage of the film including our I’m Not There photo gallery, on-set report, and sneak-peak preview of the film.

A second season of Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour XM show will begin on September 19th. Past episodes have featured baseball and Ricky Gervais, and this season’s first episode’s theme is “Hello,” featuring such songs as “Hello, Mello Baby” by the Mardi Gras Loungers and “Hello in There” by John Prine. No word on whether or not Lionel Richie’s “Hello” made the cut. Future themes will include “Young & Old,” “California,” “Dreams,” “Fruit,” “Something,” “Nothing,” “Streets,” “Parties” and “Mail.” (We’re sure the playlists are set, but any guesses on what he’ll be playing?) New episodes air on Wednesday nights at 10 PM on XM’s Deep Tracks channel. In other Dylan news, Columbia is releasing a DVD containing all of his Newport Folk Festival performances from his first performance with Joan Baez in 1963 to his first electric performance in 1965. Much of the footage has never before been seen.