Tag: Updates

A New York state judge has ruled that the co-writer on many of Bob Dylan’s songs on the Desire album is not entitled to any further compensation as the result of Dylan’s sale of his catalog to Universal Music Group.

Claudia C. Levy, the widow of co-writer Jaques Levy, filed suit in January following the sale of Dylan’s catalog to UMG, claiming the estate was owed at least $1.75 million from the sale for the 10 songs on Desire, which I have ranked as Dylan’s third-best album. Levy has collected over $1 million since 1975 for his contributions to the record.

But following arguments in July, Justice Barry R. Ostrager of the New York Supreme Court granted the motion by Dylan and Universal to dismiss the case, writing that a 1975 agreement between Dylan and Levy grants Dylan copyrights to all of the songs they co-wrote together.

“The Court determines that the plain meaning of the 1975 Agreement is that the Dylan Defendants owned all copyrights to the Compositions, as well as the absolute right to sell the Compositions and all associated rights, subject only to plaintiffs’ right to receive the compensation specified in the 1975 Agreement,” Ostrager wrote.

Follow this link to to read the complete court decision.

For those of you who enjoy the very fertile early 1980s Dylan output, as I do, you will be glad to hear that the next chapter in the Bootleg series will cover outtakes, rehearsals and alternate cuts from 1980 to 1985.

This period sees Dylan emerging from the Gospel era with the transitional Shot of Love and the outstanding back-to-back releases of Infidels and Empire Burlesque. The new “Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Volume 16” will cover all of those albums in a 5-CD volume, and a pared-down 2 CD set.

Of particular note are the Empire Burlesque cuts that have the Arthur Baker remix-heavy trimmings removed, and a live version of the amazing “Dark Eyes.” None of the material on the new collection has been released before in other Bootleg Series editions or compilations, save for a couple of international releases.

You can pre-order the package and read in more detail about it by visiting Dylan’s website.

Denny Freeman performs with Antone’s All-Star Revue during Antone’s 40th Anniversary Celebration at Blues on the Green. (Photo by David Brendan Hall)

If you love the Modern Times record, or saw Dylan live between 2005 to 2009, you probably appreciate the guitar stylings of Denny Freeman, whose sound is heard all over the record and live shows of that era.

Freeman, while not a household name, was a member of the Austin Hall of Fame and performed with the Vaughn brothers and Taj Mahal, among other notables, and co-wrote songs with Blondie and Percy Sledge.

Of his years on tour with Dylan, he told the Austin Chronicle:

“It was totally unpredictable. We had a set list for each night and we even rehearsed before every show, but when we’d get the set list on the way to the stage, it wouldn’t be unusual for a song to appear that I’d never heard of, much less played.

“Musically, it’s kind of hard to talk about playing with Bob Dylan because nothing was ever the same. The only thing that didn’t constantly change was the uncertainty about everything.”

To read more about his life and music, view the full article on the Chronicle’s website.

To mark what would have been David Bowie’s 74th birthday, an unreleased recording of him singing “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven” from Dylan’s 1997 Time Out of Mind album has been released as a single, with the other side being John Lennon’s “Mother.”

Bowie recorded the Dylan song for his LiveandWell.com live album but it was not used. The performance, with dissonant, looping guitar sounds and urgent vocals, loses a little of Dylan’s melodic delivery, but definitely worth a listen. The release comes in a limited edition vinyl single, and of course on streaming services. You can listen on Spotify below.

Lukas Nelson, son of Willie and leader of his band Promise of the Real, have released a bluesy cover of “Meet Me in the Morning” from the Blood on the Tracks album. The recording is part of their #soundchecksongs series. You can view the video below.