50 years ago, Bob Dylan and The Band returned to the road after precisely 7 years, 7 months, and 7 days since their previous tour concluded. Having jumped from Columbia Records to David Geffen’s Asylum Records, Dylan released two albums under t...

We celebrate the 200th episode of Hard Rain & Slow Trains by first catching up with news about Bob Dylan and his fellow travelers since the previous episode in February. Then, things take an odd turn: the radio show is taken over by Ms. Mar...

In October of 1963, Bob Dylan performed one of his great shows on the stage of one of the great venues, he finished recording his third album, he performed in concert halls in Pennsylvania and Michigan, he dueted with Joan Baez in Los Angeles, ...

In August and September of 1963, Bob Dylan began appearing as a special guest at Joan Baez concerts; he had three recording sessions for THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN', his third album; he sang before a quarter of a million people at the March f...

In July of 1963, Bob Dylan traveled to Greenwood, Mississippi, final resting place of Robert Johnson, to perform at a Voter Registration Rally, traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to perform for Columbia executives, and traveled to Minnesota to p...

In May and June of 1963, Bob Dylan performed his first concert in California (where he sang his first duet with Joan Baez), walked off the set of THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, and finally saw his second album, which he had been working on for a year, a...

50 years ago, Bob Dylan recorded the soundtrack to PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, helped some friends in the studio, including producing the only non-Bob Dylan album he ever produced, began rehearsing with The Band for an anticipated concert ...

In April of 1963, Bob Dylan showcased his own songs to his largest audience yet, he finished recording for his second album, and he returned to the stages of coffee houses and clubs…until he became too big for coffee houses and clubs. Take a “H...

A happy 82nd birthday to Bob Dylan from HARD RAIN & SLOW TRAINS: BOB DYLAN & FELLOW TRAVELERS from 2019 to today!

This episode is marchin' down the line...to explore Bob Dylan's March of 1963. The 60th anniversary is the diamond anniversary – visit the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan's professional life in March of 1963...60 years ago to the mon...

Dylan is in the midst of a five-night residency at the Tokyo Garden Theater before he concludes his 11-date tour of Japan with three nights in Nagoya. To commemorate his 2023 tour of Japan, HARD RAIN & SLOW TRAINS: BOB DYLAN & FELLOW TR...

On April 6, Bob Dylan returned to the stage for the first concert of 2023...in Japan. To commemorate the occasion, HARD RAIN & SLOW TRAINS: BOB DYLAN & FELLOW TRAVELERS launches the first of a two-part series featuring "'Pearls from Jap...

It is an ice-cold, snowy, slushy-street February in New York City in 1963, which is where the “Highway of Diamonds” takes us this month. The 60th anniversary is the diamond anniversary – visit the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan's professiona...

It is a new year, which means that the “Highway of Diamonds” that takes us back 60 years – the 60th anniversary is the diamond anniversary – now takes us back to a new destination: 1963.  Visit the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan'...

We don't know what’s around the bend, but we’re heading there through 2023. This episode plays Dylan songs & those of fellow travelers dealing with what's around the bend. In "20 Pounds of Headlines," we round up news from the worl...

Our fourth annual end-of-year, year in review episode of HARD RAIN & SLOW TRAINS: BOB DYAN & FELLOW TRAVELERS looks back to the year's worth of activities of the philosopher pirate, Bob Dylan. We remember those who we lost in 2022 and a...

This episode concludes the 2022 monthly series that has been celebrating the tenth anniversary of TEMPEST with this the tenth and final episode, exploring the album’s final song, "Roll on John," John Lennon, and death as an odyssey. In "20 Poun...

In this episode we wrap up our year-long exploration of Bob Dylan's 1962. This month we are visiting December, when Bob Dylan enters Columbia Recording Studio A for the seventh and what he believed would be the final time before completing his ...

This episode continues a monthly, ten-part series celebrating the tenth anniversary of TEMPEST, featuring the eighth track on the album, "Tin Angel," necessitating a consideration of the presence of the murder ballad in Dylan's work and his nar...

Visit the pivotal developments of Bob Dylan's professional life in November of 1962 as we travel "A Highway of Diamonds" back 60 years. Dylan returns to the Columbia Recording Studio A in Manhattan to finish recording his first single and to co...

This episode continues a monthly, ten-part series celebrating the tenth anniversary of TEMPEST, featuring the seventh track on the album, "Early Roman Kings." In "20 Pounds of Headlines," we round up news from the world of Bob Dylan, which incl...

Because of the Cuban Missile Crisis, it is a fraught month, but the day before the Crisis begins — although the Crisis was not made public for another week — Dylan performs the first of what could legitimately join his (consid...

“It could have been a last waltz,” Bill Flanagan wrote, “instead, it turned out to be rock & roll's greatest half time show." Thirty years ago, Sony Music hosted Columbia Records Celebrates the Music of Bob Dylan at Madison Square ...

Last Friday, September 30, 2022 was the 25th anniversary of the release of Time Out of Mind, an album whose artistic and commercial success proved an important contributor to Dylan’s continued reinvigoration and late career success, a ...

25 years ago Bob Dylan released an album whose artistic and commercial success proved an important contributor to his continued reinvigoration and late career success, a success that has continued to this day. This episode celebrates that album...