Bob Dylan - The Pedlar Now Speaks Mp3

Finding your way to a bootlegged Dylan album is something we’ve all done, though most of the time I’ve been seriously disappointed for any number of reasons. The Pedlar Now Speaks is an entirely different story for me, perhaps because I was in attendance for this show, and most importantly, because it’s a rather fine album. If you know Dylan’s Unplugged Session, this gem is travels down the same avenue.

The backstory is rather impressive, as in the summer of 1996, Dylan was on tour with the Grateful Dead, yes, the summer Mr. Garcia died, ending the tour cold. The music for this album was laid down at the TLA Theater on South Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it was a two night event, warmup shows of sorts for his Bob-ness and his band of merry pranksters. The TLA was an actual movie house up until about a year before this event, all of the seats had been removed, nevertheless, it left fans precariously perched, standing on a rather steep angle, which of course was good for seeing the band, but rather tiring on the legs and ankles.

Nearly all of the tracks found here, with a few exceptions were not expected, showing a new side to a live Dylan. This was a show at a small venue with perhaps five hundred people in attendance, where to make matters all the better, Dylan wasn’t just goofing on his music, going through the motions, this was the real deal. On the night of June 21st, Bob was a guitarist again, back by a solid wall of first rate musicians pushing it for all they were worth. Flooring everyone was the fact that Dylan wasn’t saving his voice, he was singing with purpose, singing well, even on songs he could walk through, numbers such as “Mr. Tambourine Man.” If I dare, I might suggest that he was in the midst of reshaping his music with a new found passion and purpose that night, the band’s visitation on “Silvio” drew sonic associations with the Pretenders, while the guitar work on “Most Likely You Go Your Way” evoked the spirit of Dire Straits, the ever mindful Dylan devotees. Virtually every song featured a heady little instrumental jam that simply shook the hall that warm night, pumping up the spirits of listeners to a fever pitch. Why even the mellow mindset section, including “Visions Of Johanna” and “Girl Of The North Country” were radically retuned, sounding newly embroidered, as if I were hearing them for the very first time. Dylan himself stunned everyone, playing more lead and rhythm guitar than I’ve heard in decades, trading musical lines while creating sinewy harmonies with guitarist John Jackson, along with pedal steel and Dobro man Bucky Baxter. Ahhhh … but I’ve not even gotten to his smoking hot rhythm section, bassist Tony Garnier and drummer Winston Watson who drove harder than even Tom Petty’s band on their best night.

Hands down, I’m not a live music fan, that being said, this album has rekindled that dream, it’s a keeper, it’s one I reach for every couple of years, not just to relive that gracious night, but for the quality of the music.

I walked into that show willing to sell my two tickets for $500, needless to say, I had no takers. I walked out a couple hours later looking to purchase two tickets for the following night at that same price, again, sadly I had no takers.

Review by Jenell Kesler