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On July 29 , 1966 , Dylan crashed his 500cc Triumph Tiger 100 motorcycle near his home in Woodstock , New York and was thrown to the ground . Though the extent of his injuries was never disclosed , Dylan said that he broke several vertebrae in his neck . Mystery still surrounds the circumstances of the accident since no ambulance was called to the scene and Dylan was not hospitalized . Dylan 's biographers have written that the crash offered Dylan the chance to escape the pressures around him . Dylan confirmed this interpretation in his autobiography : " I had been in a motorcycle accident and I 'd been hurt , but I recovered . Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race . " Dylan withdrew from public and , apart from a few appearances , did not tour again for almost eight years .
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Once Dylan was well enough to resume creative work , he began to edit D. A. Pennebaker 's film of his 1966 tour . A rough cut was shown to ABC Television and rejected as incomprehensible to a mainstream audience . The film was subsequently titled Eat the Document on bootleg copies , and it has been screened at a handful of film festivals . In 1967 he began recording with the Hawks at his home and in the basement of the Hawks ' nearby house , " Big Pink " . These songs , initially demos for other artists to record , provided hits for Julie Driscoll and the Brian Auger Trinity ( " This Wheel 's on Fire " ) , The Byrds ( " You Ain 't Goin ' Nowhere " , " Nothing Was Delivered " ) , and Manfred Mann ( " Mighty Quinn " ) . Columbia released selections in 1975 as The Basement Tapes . Over the years , more songs recorded by Dylan and his band in 1967 appeared on bootleg recordings , culminating in a five @-@ CD set titled The Genuine Basement Tapes , containing 107 songs and alternative takes . In the coming months , the Hawks recorded the album Music from Big Pink using songs they worked on in their basement in Woodstock , and renamed themselves the Band , beginning a long recording and performing career of their own .
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In October and November 1967 , Dylan returned to Nashville . Back in the studio after 19 months , he was accompanied by Charlie McCoy on bass , Kenny Buttrey on drums , and Pete Drake on steel guitar . The result was John Wesley Harding , a contemplative record of shorter songs , set in a landscape that drew on the American West and the Bible . The sparse structure and instrumentation , with lyrics that took the Judeo @-@ Christian tradition seriously , departed from Dylan 's own work and from the psychedelic fervor of the 1960s . It included " All Along the Watchtower " , with lyrics derived from the Book of Isaiah ( 21 : 5 – 9 ) . The song was later recorded by Jimi Hendrix , whose version Dylan acknowledged as definitive . Woody Guthrie died on October 3 , 1967 , and Dylan made his first live appearance in twenty months at a Guthrie memorial concert held at Carnegie Hall on January 20 , 1968 , where he was backed by the Band .
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Dylan 's next release , Nashville Skyline ( 1969 ) , was mainstream country featuring Nashville musicians , a mellow @-@ voiced Dylan , a duet with Johnny Cash , and the hit single " Lay Lady Lay " . Variety wrote , " Dylan is definitely doing something that can be called singing . Somehow he has managed to add an octave to his range . " Dylan and Cash also recorded a series of duets , but only their recording of Dylan 's " Girl from the North Country " was used on the album .
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In May 1969 , Dylan appeared on the first episode of Johnny Cash 's television show , duetting with Cash on " Girl from the North Country " , " I Threw It All Away " , and " Living the Blues " . Dylan next traveled to England to top the bill at the Isle of Wight festival on August 31 , 1969 , after rejecting overtures to appear at the Woodstock Festival closer to his home .
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= = = 1970s = = =
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In the early 1970s , critics charged that Dylan 's output was varied and unpredictable . Rolling Stone writer Greil Marcus asked " What is this shit ? " on first listening to Self Portrait , released in June 1970 . Self Portrait , a double LP including few original songs , was poorly received . In October 1970 , Dylan released New Morning , considered a return to form . This album included " Day of the Locusts " , a song in which Dylan gave an account of receiving an honorary degree from Princeton University on June 9 , 1970 . In November 1968 , Dylan had co @-@ written " I 'd Have You Anytime " with George Harrison ; Harrison recorded " I 'd Have You Anytime " and Dylan 's " If Not for You " for his 1970 solo triple album All Things Must Pass . Dylan 's surprise appearance at Harrison 's 1971 Concert for Bangladesh attracted media coverage , reflecting that Dylan 's live appearances had become rare .
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Between March 16 and 19 , 1971 , Dylan reserved three days at Blue Rock , a small studio in Greenwich Village to record with Leon Russell . These sessions resulted in " Watching the River Flow " and a new recording of " When I Paint My Masterpiece " . On November 4 , 1971 , Dylan recorded " George Jackson " , which he released a week later . For many , the single was a surprising return to protest material , mourning the killing of Black Panther George Jackson in San Quentin State Prison that year . Dylan contributed piano and harmony to Steve Goodman 's album , Somebody Else 's Troubles , under the pseudonym Robert Milkwood Thomas in September 1972 .
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In 1972 , Dylan signed to Sam Peckinpah 's film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid , providing songs and backing music for the movie , and playing " Alias " , a member of Billy 's gang with some historical basis . Despite the film 's failure at the box office , the song " Knockin ' on Heaven 's Door " became one of Dylan 's most covered songs .
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= = = = Return to touring = = = =
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Dylan began 1973 by signing with a new label , David Geffen 's Asylum Records , when his contract with Columbia Records expired . On his next album , Planet Waves , he used the Band as backing group , while rehearsing for a tour . The album included two versions of " Forever Young " , which became one of his most popular songs . As one critic described it , the song projected " something hymnal and heartfelt that spoke of the father in Dylan " , and Dylan himself commented : " I wrote it thinking about one of my boys and not wanting to be too sentimental . "
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Columbia Records simultaneously released Dylan , a collection of studio outtakes ( almost exclusively covers ) , widely interpreted as a churlish response to Dylan 's signing with a rival record label . In January 1974 , Dylan returned to touring after seven years ; backed by the Band , he embarked on a North American tour of 40 concerts . A live double album , Before the Flood , was on Asylum Records . Soon , according to Clive Davis , Columbia Records sent word they " will spare nothing to bring Dylan back into the fold " . Dylan had second thoughts about Asylum , miffed that while there had been millions of unfulfilled ticket requests for the 1974 tour , Geffen had sold only 700 @,@ 000 copies of Planet Waves . Dylan returned to Columbia Records , which reissued his two Asylum albums .
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After the tour , Dylan and his wife became estranged . He filled a small red notebook with songs about relationships and ruptures , and recorded an album entitled Blood on the Tracks in September 1974 . Dylan delayed the release and re @-@ recorded half the songs at Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis with production assistance from his brother , David Zimmerman .
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Released in early 1975 , Blood on the Tracks received mixed reviews . In the NME , Nick Kent described " the accompaniments [ as ] often so trashy they sound like mere practice takes . " In Rolling Stone , Jon Landau wrote that " the record has been made with typical shoddiness . " Over the years critics came to see it as one of Dylan 's greatest achievements . In Salon.com , Bill Wyman wrote : " Blood on the Tracks is his only flawless album and his best produced ; the songs , each of them , are constructed in disciplined fashion . It is his kindest album and most dismayed , and seems in hindsight to have achieved a sublime balance between the logorrhea @-@ plagued excesses of his mid @-@ 1960s output and the self @-@ consciously simple compositions of his post @-@ accident years . " Novelist Rick Moody called it " the truest , most honest account of a love affair from tip to stern ever put down on magnetic tape . "
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In the middle of that year , Dylan wrote a ballad championing boxer Rubin " Hurricane " Carter , imprisoned for a triple murder in Paterson , New Jersey , in 1966 . After visiting Carter in jail , Dylan wrote " Hurricane " , presenting the case for Carter 's innocence . Despite its length — over eight minutes — the song was released as a single , peaking at 33 on the U.S. Billboard chart , and performed at every 1975 date of Dylan 's next tour , the Rolling Thunder Revue . The tour featured about one hundred performers and supporters from the Greenwich Village folk scene , including T @-@ Bone Burnett , Ramblin ' Jack Elliott , Joni Mitchell , David Mansfield , Roger McGuinn , Mick Ronson , Joan Baez , and Scarlet Rivera , whom Dylan discovered walking down the street , her violin case on her back . Allen Ginsberg accompanied the troupe , staging scenes for the film Dylan was shooting . Sam Shepard was hired to write the screenplay , but ended up accompanying the tour as informal chronicler .
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Running through late 1975 and again through early 1976 , the tour encompassed the release of the album Desire , with many of Dylan 's new songs featuring a travelogue @-@ like narrative style , showing the influence of his new collaborator , playwright Jacques Levy . The 1976 half of the tour was documented by a TV concert special , Hard Rain , and the LP Hard Rain ; no concert album from the better @-@ received and better @-@ known opening half of the tour was released until 2002 's Live 1975 .
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The 1975 tour with the Revue provided the backdrop to Dylan 's nearly four @-@ hour film Renaldo and Clara , a sprawling narrative mixed with concert footage and reminiscences . Released in 1978 , the movie received poor , sometimes scathing , reviews . Later in that year , a two @-@ hour edit , dominated by the concert performances , was more widely released .
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In November 1976 , Dylan appeared at the Band 's " farewell " concert , with Eric Clapton , Joni Mitchell , Muddy Waters , Van Morrison and Neil Young . Martin Scorsese 's cinematic chronicle , The Last Waltz , in 1978 included about half of Dylan 's set . In 1976 , Dylan wrote and duetted on " Sign Language " for Eric Clapton 's No Reason To Cry .
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In 1978 , Dylan embarked on a year @-@ long world tour , performing 114 shows in Japan , the Far East , Europe and the US , to a total audience of two million . Dylan assembled an eight piece band and three backing singers . Concerts in Tokyo in February and March were released as the live double album , Bob Dylan At Budokan . Reviews were mixed . Robert Christgau awarded the album a C + rating , giving the album a derisory review , while Janet Maslin defended it in Rolling Stone , writing : " These latest live versions of his old songs have the effect of liberating Bob Dylan from the originals . " When Dylan brought the tour to the U.S. in September 1978 , the press described the look and sound as a ' Las Vegas Tour ' . The 1978 tour grossed more than $ 20 million , and Dylan told the Los Angeles Times that he had debts because " I had a couple of bad years . I put a lot of money into the movie , built a big house ... and it costs a lot to get divorced in California . "
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In April and May 1978 , Dylan took the same band and vocalists into Rundown Studios in Santa Monica , California , to record an album of new material : Street @-@ Legal . It was described by Michael Gray as , " after Blood On The Tracks , arguably Dylan 's best record of the 1970s : a crucial album documenting a crucial period in Dylan 's own life " . However , it had poor sound and mixing ( attributed to Dylan 's studio practices ) , muddying the instrumental detail until a remastered CD release in 1999 restored some of the songs ' strengths .
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= = = = Christian period = = = =
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In the late 1970s , Dylan became a born again Christian and released two albums of contemporary gospel music . Slow Train Coming ( 1979 ) featured the guitar accompaniment of Mark Knopfler ( of Dire Straits ) and was produced by veteran R & B producer Jerry Wexler . Wexler said that Dylan had tried to evangelize him during the recording . He replied : " Bob , you 're dealing with a 62 @-@ year @-@ old Jewish atheist . Let 's just make an album . " Dylan won the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for the song " Gotta Serve Somebody " . His second Christian @-@ themed album , Saved ( 1980 ) , received mixed reviews , described by Michael Gray as " the nearest thing to a follow @-@ up album Dylan has ever made , Slow Train Coming II and inferior " When touring in late 1979 and early 1980 , Dylan would not play his older , secular works , and he delivered declarations of his faith from the stage , such as :
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Years ago they ... said I was a prophet . I used to say , " No I 'm not a prophet " they say " Yes you are , you 're a prophet . " I said , " No it 's not me . " They used to say " You sure are a prophet . " They used to convince me I was a prophet . Now I come out and say Jesus Christ is the answer . They say , " Bob Dylan 's no prophet . " They just can 't handle it .
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Dylan 's Christianity was unpopular with some fans and musicians . Shortly before his murder , John Lennon recorded " Serve Yourself " in response to Dylan 's " Gotta Serve Somebody " . By 1981 , Stephen Holden wrote in the New York Times that " neither age ( he 's now 40 ) nor his much @-@ publicized conversion to born @-@ again Christianity has altered his essentially iconoclastic temperament . "
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= = = 1980s = = =
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In late 1980 , Dylan briefly played concerts billed as " A Musical Retrospective " , restoring popular 1960s songs to the repertoire . Shot of Love , recorded early the next year , featured his first secular compositions in more than two years , mixed with Christian songs . " Every Grain of Sand " reminded some of William Blake 's verses .
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In the 1980s , reception of Dylan 's recordings varied , from the well @-@ regarded Infidels in 1983 to the panned Down in the Groove in 1988 . Michael Gray condemned Dylan 's 1980s albums for carelessness in the studio and for failing to release his best songs . As an example of the latter , the Infidels recording sessions , which again employed Knopfler on lead guitar and also as the album 's producer , resulted in several notable songs that Dylan left off the album . Best regarded of these were " Blind Willie McTell " , a tribute to the dead blues musician and an evocation of African American history , " Foot of Pride " and " Lord Protect My Child " . These three songs were released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1 – 3 ( Rare & Unreleased ) 1961 – 1991 .
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Between July 1984 and March 1985 , Dylan recorded Empire Burlesque . Arthur Baker , who had remixed hits for Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper , was asked to engineer and mix the album . Baker said he felt he was hired to make Dylan 's album sound " a little bit more contemporary " .
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Dylan sang on USA for Africa 's famine relief single " We Are the World " . On July 13 , 1985 , he appeared at the climax at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium , Philadelphia . Backed by Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood , he performed a ragged version of " Hollis Brown " , his ballad of rural poverty , and then said to the worldwide audience exceeding one billion people : " I hope that some of the money ... maybe they can just take a little bit of it , maybe ... one or two million , maybe ... and use it to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and , the farmers here , owe to the banks . " His remarks were widely criticized as inappropriate , but they did inspire Willie Nelson to organize a series of events , Farm Aid , to benefit debt @-@ ridden American farmers .
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In April 1986 , Dylan made a foray into rap music when he added vocals to the opening verse of " Street Rock " , featured on Kurtis Blow 's album Kingdom Blow . Dylan 's next studio album , Knocked Out Loaded , in July 1986 contained three covers ( by Little Junior Parker , Kris Kristofferson and the gospel hymn " Precious Memories " ) , plus three collaborations with ( Tom Petty , Sam Shepard and Carole Bayer Sager ) , and two solo compositions by Dylan . One reviewer commented that " the record follows too many detours to be consistently compelling , and some of those detours wind down roads that are indisputably dead ends . By 1986 , such uneven records weren 't entirely unexpected by Dylan , but that didn 't make them any less frustrating . " It was the first Dylan album since Freewheelin ' ( 1963 ) to fail to make the Top 50 . Since then , some critics have called the 11 @-@ minute epic that Dylan co @-@ wrote with Sam Shepard , " Brownsville Girl " , a work of genius .
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In 1986 and 1987 , Dylan toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers , sharing vocals with Petty on several songs each night . Dylan also toured with the Grateful Dead in 1987 , resulting in a live album Dylan & The Dead . This received negative reviews : Allmusic said , " Quite possibly the worst album by either Bob Dylan or the Grateful Dead . " Dylan then initiated what came to be called the Never Ending Tour on June 7 , 1988 , performing with a back @-@ up band featuring guitarist G. E. Smith . Dylan continued to tour with a small , evolving band for the next 20 years .
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In 1987 , Dylan starred in Richard Marquand 's movie Hearts of Fire , in which he played Billy Parker , a washed @-@ up rock star turned chicken farmer whose teenage lover , ( Fiona ) , leaves him for a jaded English synth @-@ pop sensation played by Rupert Everett . Dylan also contributed two original songs to the soundtrack — " Night After Night " , and " I Had a Dream About You , Baby " , as well as a cover of John Hiatt 's " The Usual " . The film was a critical and commercial flop . Dylan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in January 1988 , with Bruce Springsteen 's introduction declaring , " Bob freed your mind the way Elvis freed your body . He showed us that just because music was innately physical did not mean that it was anti @-@ intellectual .
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The album Down in the Groove in May 1988 sold even more unsuccessfully than his previous studio album . Michael Gray wrote : " The very title undercuts any idea that inspired work may lie within . Here was a further devaluing of the notion of a new Bob Dylan album as something significant . " The critical and commercial disappointment of that album was swiftly followed by the success of the Traveling Wilburys . Dylan co @-@ founded the band with George Harrison , Jeff Lynne , Roy Orbison , and Tom Petty , and in late 1988 their multi @-@ platinum Traveling Wilburys Vol . 1 reached three on the US album chart , featuring songs that were described as Dylan 's most accessible compositions in years . Despite Orbison 's death in December 1988 , the remaining four recorded a second album in May 1990 with the title Traveling Wilburys Vol . 3 .
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Dylan finished the decade on a critical high note with Oh Mercy produced by Daniel Lanois . Michael Gray wrote that the album was : " Attentively written , vocally distinctive , musically warm , and uncompromisingly professional , this cohesive whole is the nearest thing to a great Bob Dylan album in the 1980s . " The track " Most of the Time " , a lost love composition , was later prominently featured in the film High Fidelity , while " What Was It You Wanted ? " has been interpreted both as a catechism and a wry comment on the expectations of critics and fans . The religious imagery of " Ring Them Bells " struck some critics as a re @-@ affirmation of faith .
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= = = 1990s = = =
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Dylan 's 1990s began with Under the Red Sky ( 1990 ) , an about @-@ face from the serious Oh Mercy . The album contained several apparently simple songs , including " Under the Red Sky " and " Wiggle Wiggle " . The album was dedicated to " Gabby Goo Goo " , a nickname for the daughter of Dylan and Carolyn Dennis , Desiree Gabrielle Dennis @-@ Dylan , who was four . Sidemen on the album included George Harrison , Slash from Guns N ' Roses , David Crosby , Bruce Hornsby , Stevie Ray Vaughan , and Elton John . Despite the line @-@ up , the record received bad reviews and sold poorly .
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In 1991 , Dylan received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award from American actor Jack Nicholson . The event coincided with the start of the Gulf War against Saddam Hussein , and Dylan performed " Masters of War " . Dylan then made a short speech , saying " My daddy once said to me , he said , ' Son , it is possible for you to become so defiled in this world that your own mother and father will abandon you . If that happens , God will believe in your ability to mend your own ways . ' " This sentiment was subsequently revealed to be a quote from 19th @-@ century German Jewish intellectual , Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch .
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The next few years saw Dylan returning to his roots with two albums covering folk and blues numbers : Good as I Been to You ( 1992 ) and World Gone Wrong ( 1993 ) , featuring interpretations and acoustic guitar work . Many critics and fans commented on the quiet beauty of the song " Lone Pilgrim " , written by a 19th @-@ century teacher . In November 1994 Dylan recorded two live shows for MTV Unplugged . He said his wish to perform traditional songs was overruled by Sony executives who insisted on hits . The album from it , MTV Unplugged , included " John Brown " , an unreleased 1962 song of how enthusiasm for war ends in mutilation and disillusionment .
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Dylan 's longtime road manager Victor Maymudes has claimed that the singer quit drinking alcohol in 1994 . Maymudes felt that Dylan sobering up made him " more introverted and a little less social . "
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With a collection of songs reportedly written while snowed @-@ in on his Minnesota ranch , Dylan booked recording time with Daniel Lanois at Miami 's Criteria Studios in January 1997 . The subsequent recording sessions were , by some accounts , fraught with musical tension . Before the album 's release Dylan was hospitalized with a life @-@ threatening heart infection , pericarditis , brought on by histoplasmosis . His scheduled European tour was cancelled , but Dylan made a speedy recovery and left the hospital saying , " I really thought I 'd be seeing Elvis soon . " He was back on the road by mid @-@ year , and performed before Pope John Paul II at the World Eucharistic Conference in Bologna , Italy . The Pope treated the audience of 200 @,@ 000 people to a homily based on Dylan 's lyric " Blowin ' in the Wind " .
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September saw the release of the new Lanois @-@ produced album , Time Out of Mind . With its bitter assessment of love and morbid ruminations , Dylan 's first collection of original songs in seven years was highly acclaimed . One critic wrote : " the songs themselves are uniformly powerful , adding up to Dylan 's best overall collection in years . " This collection of complex songs won him his first solo " Album of the Year " Grammy Award .
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In December 1997 , U.S. President Bill Clinton presented Dylan with a Kennedy Center Honor in the East Room of the White House , paying this tribute : " He probably had more impact on people of my generation than any other creative artist . His voice and lyrics haven 't always been easy on the ear , but throughout his career Bob Dylan has never aimed to please . He 's disturbed the peace and discomforted the powerful . "
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In 1999 , Dylan embarked on a North American tour with Paul Simon , where each alternated as headline act with a " middle " section where they performed together , starting on the first of June and ending September 18 . The collaboration was generally well @-@ received , with just one critic , Seth Rogovoy , from the Berkshire Eagle , questioning the collaboration .
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= = = 2000s = = =
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Dylan commenced the new millennium by winning the Polar Music Prize in May 2000 and his first Oscar ; his song " Things Have Changed " , written for the film Wonder Boys , won an Academy Award in March 2001 . The Oscar , by some reports a facsimile , tours with him , presiding over shows perched atop an amplifier .
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" Love and Theft " was released on September 11 , 2001 . Recorded with his touring band , Dylan produced the album himself under the pseudonym Jack Frost . The album was critically well received and earned nominations for several Grammy awards . Critics noted that Dylan was widening his musical palette to include rockabilly , Western swing , jazz , and even lounge ballads . " Love and Theft " generated controversy when The Wall Street Journal pointed out similarities between the album 's lyrics and Japanese author Junichi Saga 's book Confessions of a Yakuza .
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In 2003 , Dylan revisited the evangelical songs from his " born again " period and participated in the CD project Gotta Serve Somebody : The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan . That year also saw the release of the film Masked & Anonymous , which Dylan co @-@ wrote with director Larry Charles under the alias Sergei Petrov . Dylan played the central character in the film , Jack Fate , alongside a cast that included Jeff Bridges , Penélope Cruz and John Goodman . The film polarised critics : many dismissed it as an " incoherent mess " ; a few treated it as a serious work of art .
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In October 2004 , Dylan published the first part of his autobiography , Chronicles : Volume One . Confounding expectations , Dylan devoted three chapters to his first year in New York City in 1961 – 1962 , virtually ignoring the mid @-@ 1960s when his fame was at its height . He also devoted chapters to the albums New Morning ( 1970 ) and Oh Mercy ( 1989 ) . The book reached number two on The New York Times ' Hardcover Non @-@ Fiction best seller list in December 2004 and was nominated for a National Book Award .
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No Direction Home , Martin Scorsese 's acclaimed film biography of Dylan , was first broadcast on September 26 – 27 , 2005 , on BBC Two in the UK and PBS in the US . The documentary focuses on the period from Dylan 's arrival in New York in 1961 to his motorcycle crash in 1966 , featuring interviews with Suze Rotolo , Liam Clancy , Joan Baez , Allen Ginsberg , Pete Seeger , Mavis Staples , and Dylan himself . The film received a Peabody Award in April 2006 and a Columbia @-@ duPont Award in January 2007 . The accompanying soundtrack featured unreleased songs from Dylan 's early career .
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Dylan earned yet another distinction in a 2007 study of US legal opinions and briefs that found his lyrics were quoted by judges and lawyers more than those of any other songwriter , 186 times versus 74 by the Beatles , who were second . Among those quoting Dylan were US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia , both conservatives . The most widely cited lines included " you don 't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows " from " Subterranean Homesick Blues " and " when you ain 't got nothing , you got nothing to lose " from " Like a Rolling Stone " .
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= = = = Modern Times = = = =
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May 3 , 2006 , was the premiere of Dylan 's radio presenting career , hosting a weekly radio program , Theme Time Radio Hour , for XM Satellite Radio , with song selections revolving around a chosen theme . Dylan played classic and obscure records from the 1930s to the present day , including contemporary artists as diverse as Blur , Prince , L.L. Cool J and the Streets . The show was praised by fans and critics as " great radio , " as Dylan told stories and made eclectic references with his sardonic humor , while achieving a thematic beauty with his musical choices . In April 2009 , Dylan broadcast the 100th show in his radio series ; the theme was " Goodbye " and the final record played was Woody Guthrie 's " So Long , It 's Been Good to Know Yuh " . This has led to speculation that Dylan 's radio series may have ended .
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On August 29 , 2006 , Dylan released his Modern Times album . Despite some coarsening of Dylan 's voice ( a critic for The Guardian characterised his singing on the album as " a catarrhal death rattle " ) most reviewers praised the album , and many described it as the final installment of a successful trilogy , embracing Time Out of Mind and " Love and Theft " . Modern Times entered the U.S. charts at number one , making it Dylan 's first album to reach that position since 1976 's Desire . The New York Times published an article exploring similarities between some of Dylan 's lyrics in Modern Times and the work of the Civil War poet Henry Timrod .
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Nominated for three Grammy Awards , Modern Times won Best Contemporary Folk / Americana Album and Bob Dylan also won Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for " Someday Baby " . Modern Times was named Album of the Year , 2006 , by Rolling Stone magazine , and by Uncut in the UK . On the same day that Modern Times was released the iTunes Music Store released Bob Dylan : The Collection , a digital box set containing all of his albums ( 773 tracks in total ) , along with 42 rare and unreleased tracks .
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In August 2007 , the award @-@ winning film biography of Dylan I 'm Not There , written and directed by Todd Haynes , was released — bearing the tagline " inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan " . The movie used six different actors to represent different aspects of Dylan 's life : Christian Bale , Cate Blanchett , Marcus Carl Franklin , Richard Gere , Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw . Dylan 's previously unreleased 1967 recording from which the film takes its name was released for the first time on the film 's original soundtrack ; all other tracks are covers of Dylan songs , specially recorded for the movie by a diverse range of artists , including Sonic Youth , Eddie Vedder , Mason Jennings , Stephen Malkmus , Jeff Tweedy , Karen O , Willie Nelson , Cat Power , Richie Havens , and Tom Verlaine .
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On October 1 , 2007 , Columbia Records released the triple CD retrospective album Dylan , anthologising his entire career under the Dylan 07 logo . As part of this campaign , Mark Ronson produced a re @-@ mix of Dylan 's 1966 tune " Most Likely You Go Your Way and I 'll Go Mine " , which was released as a maxi @-@ single . This was the first time Dylan had sanctioned a re @-@ mix of one of his classic recordings .
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The sophistication of the Dylan 07 marketing campaign was a reminder that Dylan 's commercial profile had risen considerably since the 1990s . This first became evident in 2004 , when Dylan appeared in a TV advertisement for Victoria 's Secret lingerie . Three years later , in October 2007 , he participated in a multi @-@ media campaign for the 2008 Cadillac Escalade . Then , in 2009 , he gave the highest profile endorsement of his career , appearing with rapper will.i.am in a Pepsi ad that debuted during the telecast of Super Bowl XLIII . The ad , broadcast to a record audience of 98 million viewers , opened with Dylan singing the first verse of " Forever Young " followed by will.i.am doing a hip hop version of the song 's third and final verse .
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In October 2008 , Columbia released The Bootleg Series Vol . 8 – Tell Tale Signs as both a two @-@ CD set and a three @-@ CD version with a 150 @-@ page hardcover book . The set contains live performances and outtakes from selected studio albums from Oh Mercy to Modern Times , as well as soundtrack contributions and collaborations with David Bromberg and Ralph Stanley . The pricing of the album — the two @-@ CD set went on sale for $ 18 @.@ 99 and the three @-@ CD version for $ 129 @.@ 99 — led to complaints about " rip @-@ off packaging " from some fans and commentators . The release was widely acclaimed by critics . The abundance of alternative takes and unreleased material suggested to one reviewer that this volume of old outtakes " feels like a new Bob Dylan record , not only for the astonishing freshness of the material , but also for the incredible sound quality and organic feeling of everything here . "
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= = = = Together Through Life and Christmas in the Heart = = = =
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Bob Dylan released his album Together Through Life on April 28 , 2009 . In a conversation with music journalist Bill Flanagan , published on Dylan 's website , Dylan explained that the genesis of the record was when French film director Olivier Dahan asked him to supply a song for his new road movie , My Own Love Song ; initially only intending to record a single track , " Life Is Hard , " " the record sort of took its own direction " . Nine of the ten songs on the album are credited as co @-@ written by Bob Dylan and Robert Hunter .
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The album received largely favorable reviews , although several critics described it as a minor addition to Dylan 's canon of work . Andy Gill wrote in The Independent that the record " features Dylan in fairly relaxed , spontaneous mood , content to grab such grooves and sentiments as flit momentarily across his radar . So while it may not contain too many landmark tracks , it 's one of the most naturally enjoyable albums you 'll hear all year . "
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In its first week of release , the album reached number one in the Billboard 200 chart in the U.S. , making Bob Dylan ( 67 years of age ) the oldest artist to ever debut at number one on that chart . It also reached number one on the UK album chart , 39 years after Dylan 's previous UK album chart topper New Morning . This meant that Dylan currently holds the record for the longest gap between solo number one albums in the UK chart .
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On October 13 , 2009 , Dylan released a Christmas album , Christmas in the Heart , comprising such Christmas standards as " Little Drummer Boy " , " Winter Wonderland " and " Here Comes Santa Claus " . Dylan 's royalties from the sale of this album will benefit the charities Feeding America in the USA , Crisis in the UK , and the World Food Programme .
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The album received generally favorable reviews . The New Yorker commented that Dylan had welded a pre @-@ rock musical sound to " some of his croakiest vocals in a while " , and speculated that Dylan 's intentions might be ironic : " Dylan has a long and highly publicized history with Christianity ; to claim there 's not a wink in the childish optimism of ' Here Comes Santa Claus ' or ' Winter Wonderland ' is to ignore a half @-@ century of biting satire . " In USA Today , Edna Gundersen pointed out that Dylan was " revisiting yuletide styles popularized by Nat King Cole , Mel Tormé , and the Ray Conniff Singers . " Gundersen concluded that Dylan " couldn 't sound more sentimental or sincere " .
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In an interview published in The Big Issue , journalist Bill Flanagan asked Dylan why he had performed the songs in a straightforward style , and Dylan responded : " There wasn 't any other way to play it . These songs are part of my life , just like folk songs . You have to play them straight too . "
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= = = 2010s = = =
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= = = = Tempest = = = =
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On October 18 , 2010 , Dylan released Volume 9 of his Bootleg Series , The Witmark Demos . This comprised 47 demo recordings of songs taped between 1962 and 1964 for Dylan 's earliest music publishers : Leeds Music in 1962 , and Witmark Music from 1962 to 1964 . One reviewer described the set as " a hearty glimpse of young Bob Dylan changing the music business , and the world , one note at a time . " The critical aggregator website Metacritic awarded the album a Metascore of 86 , indicating " universal acclaim " . In the same week , Sony Legacy released Bob Dylan : The Original Mono Recordings , a box set that for the first time presented Dylan 's eight earliest albums , from Bob Dylan ( 1962 ) to John Wesley Harding ( 1967 ) , in their original mono mix in the CD format . The CDs were housed in miniature facsimiles of the original album covers , replete with original liner notes . The set was accompanied by a booklet featuring an essay by music critic Greil Marcus .
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On April 12 , 2011 , Legacy Recordings released Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University 1963 , taped at Brandeis University on May 10 , 1963 , two weeks prior to the release of The Freewheelin ' Bob Dylan . The tape was discovered in the archive of music writer Ralph J. Gleason , and the recording carries liner notes by Michael Gray , who writes the recording captures Dylan " from way back when Kennedy was President and the Beatles hadn 't yet reached America . It reveals him not at any Big Moment but giving a performance like his folk club sets of the period ... This is the last live performance we have of Bob Dylan before he becomes a star . "
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The extent to which his work was studied at an academic level was demonstrated on Dylan 's 70th birthday on May 24 , 2011 , when three universities organized symposia on his work . The University of Mainz , the University of Vienna , and the University of Bristol invited literary critics and cultural historians to give papers on aspects of Dylan 's work . Other events , including tribute bands , discussions and simple singalongs , took place around the world , as reported in The Guardian : " From Moscow to Madrid , Norway to Northampton and Malaysia to his home state of Minnesota , self @-@ confessed ' Bobcats ' will gather today to celebrate the 70th birthday of a giant of popular music . "
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On October 4 , 2011 , Dylan 's label , Egyptian Records , released an album of previously unheard Hank Williams songs , The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams . Dylan had helped to curate this project , in which songs unfinished when Williams died in 1953 were completed and recorded by a variety of artists , including Dylan himself , his son Jakob Dylan , Levon Helm , Norah Jones , Jack White , and others .
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On May 29 , 2012 , U.S. President Barack Obama awarded Dylan a Presidential Medal of Freedom in the White House . At the ceremony , Obama praised Dylan 's voice for its " unique gravelly power that redefined not just what music sounded like but the message it carried and how it made people feel " .
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On September 11 , 2012 , Dylan released his 35th studio album , Tempest . The album features a tribute to John Lennon , " Roll On John " , and the title track is a 14 minute song about the sinking of the Titanic . Reviewing Tempest for Rolling Stone , Will Hermes gave the album five out of five stars , writing : " Lyrically , Dylan is at the top of his game , joking around , dropping wordplay and allegories that evade pat readings and quoting other folks ' words like a freestyle rapper on fire . " Hermes called Tempest " one of [ Dylan 's ] weirdest albums ever " , and opined , " It may also be the single darkest record in Dylan 's catalog . " The critical aggregator website Metacritic awarded the album a score of 83 out of 100 , indicating " universal acclaim " .
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On August 27 , 2013 , Columbia Records released Volume 10 of Dylan 's Bootleg Series , Another Self Portrait ( 1969 – 1971 ) . The album contained 35 previously unreleased tracks , including alternate takes and demos from Dylan 's 1969 – 1971 recording sessions during the making of the Self Portrait and New Morning albums . The box set also included a live recording of Dylan 's performance with the Band at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1969 . Another Self Portrait received favorable reviews , earning a score of 81 on the critical aggregator , Metacritic , indicating " universal acclaim " . AllMusic critic Thom Jurek wrote , " For fans , this is more than a curiosity , it 's an indispensable addition to the catalog . "
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On November 4 , 2013 , Columbia Records released Bob Dylan : Complete Album Collection : Vol . One , a boxed set containing all 35 of Dylan 's studio albums , six albums of live recordings , and a collection , entitled Sidetracks , of singles , songs from films and non @-@ album material . The box includes new album @-@ by @-@ album liner notes written by Clinton Heylin with an introduction by Bill Flanagan . On the same date , Columbia released a compilation , The Very Best of Bob Dylan , which is available in both single CD and double CD formats . To publicize the 35 album box set , an innovative video of the song " Like a Rolling Stone " was released on Dylan 's website . The interactive video , created by director Vania Heymann , allowed viewers to switch between 16 simulated TV channels , all featuring characters who are lip @-@ synching the lyrics of the 48 @-@ year @-@ old song .
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On February 2 , 2014 , Dylan appeared in a commercial for the Chrysler 200 car which was screened during the 2014 Super Bowl American football game . At the end of the commercial , Dylan says : " So let Germany brew your beer , let Switzerland make your watch , let Asia assemble your phone . We will build your car . " Dylan 's Super Bowl commercial generated controversy and op @-@ ed pieces discussing the protectionist implications of his words , and whether the singer had " sold out " to corporate interests .
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In 2013 and 2014 , auction house sales demonstrated the high cultural value attached to Dylan 's mid @-@ 1960s work , and the record prices that collectors were willing to pay for artefacts from this period . In December 2013 , the Fender Stratocaster which Dylan had played at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival fetched $ 965 @,@ 000 , the second highest price paid for a guitar . In June 2014 , Dylan 's hand @-@ written lyrics of " Like a Rolling Stone " , his 1965 hit single , fetched $ 2 million dollars at auction , a record for a popular music manuscript .
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On October 28 , 2014 , Simon & Schuster published a massive 960 page , thirteen and a half pound edition of Dylan 's lyrics , Lyrics : Since 1962 . The book was edited by literary critic Christopher Ricks , Julie Nemrow and Lisa Nemrow , to offer variant versions of Dylan 's songs , sourced from out @-@ takes and live performances . A limited edition of 50 books , signed by Dylan , was priced at $ 5 @,@ 000 . " It ’ s the biggest , most expensive book we ’ ve ever published , as far as I know , " said Jonathan Karp , Simon & Schuster ’ s president and publisher .
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On November 4 , 2014 , Columbia Records / Legacy Recordings released The Basement Tapes Complete by Bob Dylan and The Band . These 138 tracks in a six @-@ CD box form Volume 11 of Dylan 's Bootleg Series . The 1975 album , The Basement Tapes , contained some of the songs which Dylan and the Band recorded in their homes in Woodstock , New York , in 1967 . Subsequently , over 100 recordings and alternate takes have circulated on bootleg records . The sleeve notes for the new box set are by Sid Griffin , American musician and author of Million Dollar Bash : Bob Dylan , The Band , and The Basement Tapes .
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