TRUE CONFESSIONS BOB DYLAN 1986 by Olof Björner A SUMMARY OF RECORDING & CONCERT ACTIVITIES, RELEASES, TAPES & BOOKS. © 2004 by Olof Björner All Rights Reserved. This text may be reproduced, re-transmitted, redistributed and otherwise propagated at will, provided that this notice remains intact and in place. CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 3 2 1986 AT A GLANCE .......................................................................................................................................... 3 3 THE 1986 CALENDAR ..................................................................................................................................... 4 4 KNOCKED OUT LOADED .............................................................................................................................. 6 5 HARD TO HANDLE ......................................................................................................................................... 7 6 SUPERSTAR CONCERT SERIES .................................................................................................................. 8 7 THE TRUE CONFESSIONS TOUR ................................................................................................................ 8 7.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 8 7.2 THE MUSICIANS ........................................................................................................................................... 8 7.3 THE SHOW ................................................................................................................................................... 9 7.4 PART ONE: DOWN UNDER ......................................................................................................................... 10 7.4.1 The dates .............................................................................................................................................. 10 7.4.2 The songs ............................................................................................................................................. 11 7.4.3 Statistics ............................................................................................................................................... 13 7.4.4 Comments ............................................................................................................................................ 14 7.5 PART TWO: US .......................................................................................................................................... 15 7.5.1 The dates .............................................................................................................................................. 15 7.5.2 The songs ............................................................................................................................................. 17 7.5.3 Statistics ............................................................................................................................................... 27 7.5.4 Comments ............................................................................................................................................ 27 7.6 TRUE CONFESSIONS SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 29 7.6.1 Show Statistics ..................................................................................................................................... 29 7.6.2 Song statistics ....................................................................................................................................... 29 7.6.3 Album statistics .................................................................................................................................... 30 7.6.4 Alphabetical song list ........................................................................................................................... 31 7.6.5 Ten most played songs in 1986 ............................................................................................................ 33 7.6.6 Live debuts 1986 .................................................................................................................................. 33 7.6.7 Played only once in 1986 ..................................................................................................................... 34 8 SONGS 1986 ..................................................................................................................................................... 34 9 SUGGESTED READINGS .............................................................................................................................. 34 10 SOURCES ......................................................................................................................................................... 35 11 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................................. 35 12 THE 1986 SETLISTS ....................................................................................................................................... 37 True Confessions – Bob Dylan 1986 1 INTRODUCTION Another year of extreme activity. A new tour in two parts, a new record, and on top of it, leading role in a film. For the return to the concert scene, Dylan chose to appear as the rejuvenated legend, rather punkish, in sleeveless shirts and leather vests, lots of amulets and one eardrop. The tour was a result of his collaboration with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at the Farm Aid benefit in September 1985. It was a tour that featured many of the new songs from Empire Burlesque as well as songs from his entire career and then also a lot of rock 'n' roll covers. True confessions? 2 1986 AT A GLANCE Jan Febr March April May June July August Sept October Nov December Martin Luther King Day concert True Confessions pt 1: Australia & Japan recording of Band Of The Hand Kurtis Blow recording session Knocked Out Loaded recording sessions release of Band Of The Hand single Amnesty International Benefit Concert True Confessions pt 2: US release of Hard To Handle video release of Knocked Out Loaded Hearts Of Fire recording sessions Jan Febr March April May June July August Sept October Nov December 3 True Confessions – Bob Dylan 1986 3 THE 1986 CALENDAR January Dylan is interviewed by Don McLeese for Chicago Sun-Times. January Telephone interview with Dylan by Toby Croswell for the Australian Rolling Stone. January Rehearsals continue at Soundstage 41, Universal Studios. According to Tom Petty some sixty songs are rehearsed. Among them All My Tomorrows and This Was My Love. 20 January Dylan performs with Stevie Wonder at the Martin Luther King Day concert at the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC. 25 January Albert Grossman dies of a heart attack on a flight to London. 27 January Bob Dylan gives a congratulations speech to Willie Nelson, when he receives the First Annual Award of Appreciation. The event is broadcast by the ABC-TV Network Late January George Negus interviews Dylan in Malibu for the Australian TV-program Sixty Minutes, broadcast 10 February. 5 February The new tour named True Confessions with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers starts in Wellington, New Zealand. 8 February Dylan is interviewed by Stuart Coupe for The Age. 9 February A new Dylan song, Band Of The Hand, written for a film with the same name, is recorded by Dylan and Petty at Festival Studios in Sydney, Australia. An alternate title is It's Hell Time, Man! 10 February Dylan gives a press conference at Brett Whitley's Studio in Sydney. 19 February Dylan appears at a Dire Straits concert in Melbourne and sings four songs. 20 February Dylan is interviewed at the poolside of the Rockman’s Regency Hotel in Melbourne. The interview is broadcast on EON – FM radio 21 February. 22 February Dylan is interviewed by Maurice Parker in a hotel room in Melbourne. The interview is broadcast by Channel 7, Brisbane, 24 February in the program State Affairs. 24, 25 February The two shows in Sydney are recorded and released in parts in Westwood One's Superstar Concert Series. The shows are also filmed and 10 songs are released on the Hard To Handle video. 4 March Richard Manuel hangs himself in a motel room in Florida. 10 March Last show of the Down Under Tour is played in the Budokan Hall in Tokyo. 31 March Dylan receives yet another award, this time the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Founder's Award. Press conference and acceptance speech at Chasen's Restaurant in Los Angeles are broadcast by CNN in Showbiz Today. Dylan is also interviewed briefly by Dick Shoemaker, and this is broadcast by ABC in Entertainment Tonight. 1 April Dylan contributes vocal to Street Rock, recorded by Kurtis Blow at the Greene Street Recording Studios in New York City, New York. The song is released on Kingdom Blow in September. April Release of the Band Of The Hand single with non Dylan B-side. 28 April – 19 May Recording sessions for Knocked Out Loaded in Skyline Recording Studios in Topanga Park, California. May Release of the Band Of The Hand soundtrack. 15 May Lorimar Productions announces that Dylan is to star in a film called Hearts Of Fire. 4 True Confessions – Bob Dylan 1986 Dylan is to write six new songs for the film. 21 May Another telephone radio program with Bob Fass broadcast by WBAI-FM Radio in New York as a Bob Dylan birthday program. Bob Fass sounds exactly as he did in 1966. Bob Dylan doesn't. 6 June Amnesty International Benefit Concert at The Forum in Los Angeles. 9 June The US part of the True Confessions tour kicks off with a show in The Sports Arena in San Diego, California. 13 June Dylan is interviewed by Jon Brem for the “Minneapolis Star and Tribune”. 26 June Dylan is interviewed by Bob Ashenmacher backstage at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota for News-Tribune & Herald. 20 June Release of the Hard To Handle video. 2 July The show at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio is played in collaboration with The Grateful Dead. Dylan Joins the Dead during their set for three songs. 4 July Three songs from the show at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York, are broadcast live via satellite for Farm Aid 2 and simulcast on various radio stations. 7 July Another Grateful Dead collaboration, this time at the RFK Stadium in Washington.D.C. Dylan again joins The Grateful Dead on three songs. 17 July Dylan is interviewed backstage at Madison Square Garden in New York City by David Hepworth for Q magazine. 5 August During the soundcheck at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, Thank God is recorded. It is broadcast 14 September in a syndicated anti-drug program organized by The Lubavitcher’s Chabad Telethon. 6 August Last concert at the Mid-State Fairground in Paso Robles, California, features the only live rendition of Brownsville Girl. Only the chorus is sung and Dylan comments after the song that they did it for TV. It is broadcast by ABC in Entertainment Tonight the next day. 8 August Knocked Out Loaded is released. The "release an album, do a tour to promote it" routine in reverse. August Dylan is “interviewed” by Sam Shepard. It is published in Esquire July 1987 under the title True Dylan. 17 August Hearts Of Fire press conference in the National Film Theatre in London. 27-28 August Recording of the Hearts Of Fire songs in Townhouse Studios in London. 20 September Dylan is interviewed by Christopher Sykes in the Colston Hall, Bristol, England, during the filming of Hearts of Fire. 30 September Dylan is again interviewed by Christopher Sykes in London. September Dylan is interviewed by Donald Chase from San Francisco Chronicle. 17 October The third Christopher Sykes interview is conducted in Toronto, Canada. 18 October The fourth and final interview by Christopher Sykes takes place in Dylan's trailer in Toronto, Canada. It is broadcast by BBC1 in England in the documentary Getting To Dylan. A part of the first interview is also broadcast as well as a part of the London press conference. 1 November Dylan performs with the Paul James Band at the Nag's Head in Markham, north of Toronto. 10 November Dylan presents the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame award to Gordon Lightfoot in Toronto. 5 True Confessions – Bob Dylan 1986 4 KNOCKED OUT LOADED The recording of Knocked Out Loaded took place during a number of sessions April and May. There are many details missing and the summaries below give only a fragmentary picture. Below (X) stands for “released after later overdubbing”. Some of the sessions were produced by Bob Dylan. Summary: # of take released on Date Song takes KOL1 GH32 BEST3 single 28 April You'll Never Walk Alone ? Driftin' Too Far From Shore ? The Beautiful Life ? Without Love ? 29 April Driftin' Too Far From Shore ? You'll Never Walk Alone ? Unchain My Heart ? 30 April You'll Never Walk Alone ? New Danville Girl ? Unchain My Heart ? Lonely Avenue ? 1 May Without Love ? New Danville Girl ? Unchain My Heart ? 2 May New Danville Girl ? Unchain My Heart ? 5 May Without Love ? They Killed Him ? (X) You Wanna Ramble ? (X) 6 May Without Love ? It's Too Late (She’s Gone) ? Precious Memories ? 7-13 May Under Your Spell ? Precious Memories ? They Killed Him ? Come Back Baby (One More Time) ? 9 May Driftin' Too Far From Shore ? Wild & Wicked World ? 14-23 May Precious Memories ? X You Wanna Ramble ? X They Killed Him ? X Maybe Someday 2 2 So Good ? I Need Your Lovin' ? Driftin' Too Far From Shore ? X X Brownsville Girl ? X X X 19 May Got My Mind Made Up ? 18 June Got My Mind Made Up ? X 1 Knocked Out Loaded 2 Greatest Hits Volume 3 3 The Very Best Of Bob Dylan 6 True Confessions – Bob Dylan 1986 session number 7905 7907 7909 7911 7913 7915 7917 7919 7921 7923 7925 7927 8065 date 28-apr 29 30 1-May 2 5 6 7-13 8 9 14-23 19 18-jun Driftin Too Far From Shore x x X O New Danville Girl x x x Brownsville Girl O They Killed Him X X O You Wanna Ramble X O Precious Memories X X O Under Your Spell O Maybe Someday O Got My Mind Made Up x X You'll Never Walk Alone x x x The Beautiful Life x x Without Love x x x x Unchain My Heart x x x x Lonely Avenue x Too Late She's Gone x Come Back Baby (One More Time) x Wild & Wicked World x So Good x I Need Your Lovin' x Legend x unreleased take X released take O overdub take Live history Song Debut Driftin’ Too Far From Shore Concord Pavilion, Concord, California, 7 June 1988 Brownsville Girl Mid-State Fairground, Paso Robles, California, 6 August 1986 Precious Memories The Beacon Theatre, New York City, New York, 13 October 1989 Got My Mind Made Up San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California, 9 June 1986 The following songs from Knocked Out Loaded have never been played live: They Killed Him, You Wanna Ramble, Under Your Spell, Maybe Someday. There are no officially released live versions of the songs on Knocked Out Loaded. Performances during The Never-Ending Tour Driftin’ Too Far From Shore 1988, 1989 5 HARD TO HANDLE This first Bob Dylan concert video was recorded at the Entertainment Center in Sydney, 24 and 25 February 1986. The video was released in October on CBS/FOX and contains the following songs: recorded 24 25 spoken introduction to In The Garden ⚫ In The Garden ⚫ Just Like A Woman ⚫ Like A Rolling Stone ⚫ It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) ⚫ Girl From The North Country ⚫ Lenny Bruce ⚫ When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky ⚫ Ballad Of A Thin Man ⚫ 7 True Confessions – Bob Dylan 1986 I'll Remember You ⚫ Knockin' On Heaven's Door ⚫ 6 SUPERSTAR CONCERT SERIES A number of live performances from the True Confessions tour were released on radio station discs in the series Superstar Concerts by Westwood One in August 1986. The songs were: a b c Introduction ⚫ * Positively 4th Street ⚫ All Along The Watchtower ⚫ Masters Of War ⚫ I'll Remember You ⚫ I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know ⚫ Just Like A Woman ⚫ Blowin' In The Wind ⚫ That Lucky Old Sun ⚫ Like A Rolling Stone ⚫ Knockin' On Heaven's Door ⚫ Girl From The North Country ⚫ * It Ain't Me Babe ⚫ * When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky ⚫ * a. recorded at the Entertainment Center in Sydney, Australia 24 February. b. recorded at the Entertainment Center in Sydney, Australia 25 February. c. recorded at the Tacoma Dome, Tacoma, Washington, 13 July. * released in February 1987 in countries outside USA and Canada. 7 THE TRUE CONFESSIONS TOUR 7.1 Introduction The tour consisted of two parts, the first in New Zealand, Australia and Japan, referred to as "The Down Under Tour" below. The second part took place in the US, Dylan's first tour in his home country for five years. 7.2 The Musicians Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Tom Petty (guitar, vocal), Mike Campbell (guitar), Benmont Tench (keyboards), Howie Epstein (bass), Stan Lynch (drums). The Queens Of Rhythm: Queen Esther Marrow, Madelyn Quebec, Elisecia Wright (Down Under Tour only), Debra Byrd, (Down Under Tour only), Louise Mathoon Byrd (US Tour only), 8 True Confessions – Bob Dylan 1986 Carolyn Dennis (US Tour only). 7.3 The Show Main set: Bob Dylan with band 6-7 songs Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 4 songs, 2 during the first leg Bob Dylan solo 3-4 songs Bob Dylan & Tom Petty 1 song Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers 4 songs, 2 during the first leg Bob Dylan with band 5-6 songs Encores: Bob Dylan & Tom Petty 1 song Bob Dylan with band 2 songs 9 True Confessions – Bob Dylan 1986 7.4 Part One: Down Under 7.4.1 The dates FEBRUARY 5 Wellington, New Zealand Athletic Park SA 7 Auckland, New Zealand Mt Smart Stadium SA 10 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Entertainment Centre MA 11 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Entertainment Centre SA 12 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Entertainment Centre MA 13 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Entertainment Centre MA 15 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Memorial Drive SA 17 Perth, West Australia, Australia Perth Entertainment Center - 18 Perth, West Australia, Australia Perth Entertainment Center - 20 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Kooyong Stadium SA 21 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Kooyong Stadium SA 22 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Kooyong Stadium SA 24 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Entertainment Centre SA, I 25 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Entertainment Centre MA MARCH 1 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Lang Park - 5 Tokyo, Japan Nippon Budokan Hall SA 6 Osaka Fu, Japan Castle Hall SA 8 Nagoya, Japan Gymnasium SA 10 Tokyo, Japan Nippon Budokan Hall SA SA = circulating audience recording is in stereo MA = circulating audience recording is in mono I = circulating audience recording is incomplete - = no circulating audience recording exists 10