Hello again everyone and best wishes for
2004, may your Bob be with you. After an exciting 2003, with the continuing
Never Ending Tour, the release of Masked & Anonymous and
the 15 SACD titles, we look forward with anticipation to the new year.
You were going to get an extended editorial extolling the virtues of
the Hammersmith show in November 2003, but Nick and Peter handle this
more than adequately in their invigorating article that kicks off this,
the eighth issue of Judas!
My own tour began in Sweden with the second and third shows of that
leg, in Stockholm and Karlstad. The Stockholm show was preceded, the
night before, by the ‘Love & Theft: a tribute to Bob Dylan’
convention. What a great occasion and success this was, full, like the
days that followed, of the on-tour fun of meeting up with old acquaintances
and forming new friendships. Keith will join me in saying ‘well
done’ to all our Scandinavian friends: the intrepid Norwegians,
doughty Danes, enthusiastic Swedes and friendly Finns (leaving aside
the accuracy of the ‘Scandinavian’ tag for the moment) that
cornered me pre-show.
Long will we remember the trip and, in particular, the ‘Dylan
Express’ train from Stockholm to Karlstad the morning after the
Stockholm show. Another highlight of the trip was meeting the legendary
Izzy Young. I thought I’d take him a copy of my Troubadour
book as a present and hopefully talk to him about the old days. To my
double surprise he knew of me and was very pleased to see me. After
he took the book he started showing us all manner of treasures. ‘Have
I caught up with the value of the book yet?’ he asked. I told
him the welcoming hug and first story he’d told had already done
more than that.
I am delighted to say that Izzy will be appearing regularly in Judas!
from issue nine onwards. Also next year we will have articles, some
already in, from Peter Doggett, Robert Forryan, John Hinchey, Richard
Jobes and John Perry amongst others. We also have an in-depth interview
with Stephen Scobie and I have more than just hopes for Michael Gray,
Clinton Heylin and Paul Williams all returning to these pages. We will
of course continue to introduce new writers, and we look forward to
seeing some of the many already introduced by Judas! flourish
and become more established.
This issue also sees the beginning of a rather special tale - ‘Red,
White and Blue’. I have had this for a while, but did not publish
it earlier as options to print it in its entirety were being explored.
Also, I was a bit concerned; not at all at the quality of the writing,
which I did and do find excellent, but at how it would fit into Judas!,
especially as it needs to be spread across various issues. When it transpired
that the separate printing idea was not viable, I was determined not
to let it languish any longer. It may be about a past year of touring
but it is clearly applicable to all NET legs, and, indeed, to many non-Dylan
inspired but similarly mad trips, and so I am proud to unveil it here.
I am, in fact, proud of all the contributors’ work in this issue,
including a large number of first-time authors - showing that my on-site
nagging during the tour worked wonders.
All in all it adds up to much more of a ‘live Dylan’ dominated
issue than we have had before; then again perhaps it is high time we
had one of those, and as I sit typing this editorial in post-‘Durango’
glow, now seems the best of times.
So full has the issue become that there is not room for my review of
Mike Marqusee’s Chimes of Freedom: The Politics of Bob Dylan’s
Art. This book came out around the time of Christopher Ricks’s
long-awaited book and therefore you may have overlooked it. That would
be a pity for, although it is yet another book about the sixties, this
is no easy cash-in. In fact it is a superbly constructed, researched
and written book that captivates you from the opening pages and does
not lose its grip until John Wesley Harding, when for the first time
Marqusee seems to lose focus. Then again, given that the theme of the
book is Dylan’s art in relation to the Civil Rights and Peace
movements and radical politics of the Sixties this is perhaps not surprising.
Marqusee comes across endearingly as a fan, without jeopardising his
role as a clear-eyed and objective historian and interpreter of Dylan’s
songs.
While I am on the recommendation kick, I should point out that there
is a fine ‘unofficial’ Masked & Anonymous website
to visit for all of you with an Internet connection. Not only does it
already repay your attention in spades but the man behind it, Trevor
Gibb, tells me he has a massive interview with Larry Charles that he’ll
be putting up as soon as he can. You can find the site at: http://www.peterstonebrown.com/M&A/Index.html
Enough of my recommendations for now, other than to say you’ll
find all sorts of delights in these pages; enjoy.
