Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers

Subject: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: GUEST,Suzy T.
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 02:27 PM

Greetings,

I am trying to track down the Bob Dylan radio show (or shows) in which he mentions the New Lost City Ramblers, for possible inclusion
in the new feature-length documentary film about the Ramblers
that Chris Strachwitz and Yasha Aginsky are making.

If you have any info about this, please email me or post here -- we're especially interested in actually hearing these rumored references, but any leads will be appreciated.

And a big THANK YOU to all who contacted me with info about photos and film footage -- this group is quite an amazing resource.

Suzy Thompson

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 03:27 PM

In Chronicles, Volume 1 there is a passage where he talks specifically about Mike Seeger and Mike's influence on his career.

Russ (Permanent GUEST)

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: PoppaGator
Date: 06 Dec 07 - 04:55 PM

A complete set of MP3s of Bob's current series of satellite radio shows ("Theme Time Radio Hour") is posted somewhere on the web. I have the link on my home computer, and will try to remember to post it later when I'm back home.

Each program has a theme (e.g., "death and taxes," "coffee," jail," etc.). I'm not sure if the web-based source provides complete setlists, maybe just the theme titles. (It's not an "official" website, but more-or-less a bootleg operation maintained by a dedicated fan.) Finding every mention of the NLCR might require listening to the entire hour of each show. Doing so would be enjoyable enough, though; Bob is a very enjoyable and quirky DJ, and the song selection is amazing.

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: GUEST,Hootenanny
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 06:12 AM

Suzy,

If the written word is also of use. There is an entry for the NLCR in the recently published Bob Dylan Encyclopaedia which quotes Dylan.

Probably available at your local library.

Hoot

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: Nerd
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 11:12 AM

I just sent an email about this to someone at XM15 The Village, which carries Dylan's show. I hope she'll surf over here and answer you about how to track these shows down.

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 11:45 AM

This is a side note, and may not be of interest to you. But just in case it helps:

If memory doesn't fail me -- it's been a long time -- I remember Dylan and the Ramblers appearing on the same TV show (as separate acts) in the mid?-60s. It may have been an episode of Hootenanny???? I remember the Ramblers sang "I Never Will Marry," but I don't remember much else about it.

Hope this memory is accurate -- Mike Seeger could tell you for sure. My understanding is that Mike and Bob were acquaintances in the Village in the early days. Bob

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: Mark Ross
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 02:54 PM

It wouldn't have been on Hootenanny, I think Dylan refused to appear because of the Seeger blacklist.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 03:18 PM

I could be wrong, but the Dylan show is property of XM and I don't think that they have officially been made available as MP3's.

Most broadcasters will allow use of their material, sometimes for a fee, but it is better than downloading something illegally and then being sued. Piracy is wrong.

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 07 Dec 07 - 03:22 PM

Speeding in a car is wrong, also; and is a lot more dangerous than downloading stuff. And, guess what? A lot more people speed in their cars than download illegally!

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: BK Lick
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 04:05 AM

This is prolly what PoppaGator was referring to:
Night time in the big city: A Theme Time Radio Hour Blog

Track listings are available on Wikipedia here:
Theme Time Radio Hour Season One

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: BK Lick
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 05:17 AM

I reckon what Suzy T is looking for may be Dylan's comments about the NLCR after playing their recording of "Sales Tax On the Women" in "Episode 49: Death and Taxes" of TTRH aired on April 11, 2007:

They never made the big time like the Kingston Trio, but they never did wear striped shirts. One of the things that the NLCR did was uncover great old songs -- songs that you could only find in those days in piles of 78s in somebody's barn. They breathed new life into those songs.

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: Suzy T.
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 12:55 PM

Just to be clear, there is no question of using pirated material in this upcoming NLCR film. Anything that is used -- music, speech, quotes, photos, film footage -- will be credited, and only used with permission.

At this point, we just want to hear what Dylan actually said on the radio show, to figure out whether we want to use it.

Many thanks to those who have replied!

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 02:20 PM

Tunesmith - poking your eye with a stick is even more dangerous. What the hell does one have to do with the other?

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: Stringsinger
Date: 08 Dec 07 - 03:19 PM

From what little I know about Dylan, he made it his business to know everything about anyone in folk music. He studied it like a college textbook. Of course he would have known about the Ramblers and Mike Seeger as well as everyone else. I also know that Dylan's statements may not be totally unfictional too as in the early days where he wanted to "mislead" the press for a joke. (caveat here)

What did Bob Dylan know and when did he know it? That's the topic for a biography that has yet to be written.

Frank

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: PoppaGator
Date: 09 Dec 07 - 03:21 PM

Here's the unofficial site where you can listen to every TTRH program (or many of them, anyway):

http://dsp.vscht.cz/pavelka/TTRH/

See the links under the heading "Archive," for Season 1 and Season 2. Illustrations (sorta like "cover art") for each episode are also available; I think the "polaroids" link is the way to find them.

After you hear something you'd want to publish, of course, you can go through channels, make payments, etc. already knowing which segment of which program you wish to reproduce..

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: Suzy T.
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 01:34 AM

Many thanks to all who replied, I found and listened to the show. In case you are interested:

Dylan's comments about the NLCR after playing their recording of "Sales Tax On the Women" in "Episode 49: Death and Taxes" of TTRH aired on April 11, 2007:

"The New Lost City Ramblers was Mike Seeger, John Cohen, and Tom Paley.   They never made the big time like the Kingston Trio, but they never did wear striped shirts. One of the things that the New Lost City Ramblers did was uncover great old songs -- songs that you could only find in those days, in piles of 78s in somebody's barn. They breathed new life into those songs, and their records stand the test of time, just like the originals."\

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: Alonzo M. Zilch (inactive)
Date: 14 Dec 07 - 11:08 AM

Mike Seeger made an album of collaborations with other musicians in 1994 called "Third Annual Farewell Reunion." One of the songs was a duet with Dylan on "The Ballad of Hollis Brown."

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: GUEST,David Lightbourne
Date: 30 Jul 09 - 06:45 PM

In 1960, at the second Newport Folk Festival, Mike Seeger sang his version of "Man Of Constant Sorrow" with autoharp, the magnificent Tom Paley on guitar. This performance appeared on the first of the two LPs issued by Vanguard in early 1961. To my mind this is Mike's single greatest recording. I'm more than positive Dylan thought the same because his first album, an attempt to cover every base in the Village folk sweepstakes from Ramblin' Jack to Dave Van Ronk, included his own "Man Of Constant Sorrow" - which I read at the time as an obvious direct reference to Mike Seeger's monster.

Subject: RE: Bob Dylan & New Lost City Ramblers
From: open mike
Date: 30 Jul 09 - 08:51 PM

Suzy--I hope you have been able to get some good footage of Mike Seeger in light of his current health. Let us know about updates
on the film project! thanks! Gotta love that old-timey music! Laurel