Pod Dylan #14 – Blind Willie McTell

POD DYLAN

Episode 14 - BLIND WILLIE McTELL

Rob welcomes fellow Dylan obsessive and master podcaster Bob Fisher to talk about "Blind Willie McTell", an outtake from 1983's INFIDELS!

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6 responses to “Pod Dylan #14 – Blind Willie McTell

  1. This was a great episode, Rob and Bob–maybe your best episode yet. And the damnedest thing is: I’d never heard this song before! I knew of it by reputation, but for the life of me I’d never listened to it before this show. Such a great song, and your discussion was poignant and thought-provoking.

    Plus, now I’ve gotta find that episode of Long Play that you guys did together.

  2. Great show guys. I could feel the love, even if I didn’t know the song. I get what Bob (Fisher) is saying about the music grabbing you. I’m much the same way.

    I’m always amazed by where Mark Knopfler shows up. Dire Straits. Princess Bride soundtrack. Chet Atkins. Jimmy Buffet. And now Bob Dylan! Diverse doesn’t even begin to describe this guy’s body of work!

    Chris

  3. Great show on a song handed down from the stars. One thought on the Infidels album name. Infidel means unfaithful. The album shows him reaching down to touch the soil near the Temple Mount, a source of the Jewish faith. After his years in the wilderness, he was signaling his return to his core, his faith, his source. After the three Christian era albums, that’s why that album has such a great name.

    That doesn’t explain how Blind Willie McTell got left off. But you have to admit that it has a different, more haunting, sound than anything on Infidels. It’s a gem, no doubt. But from a different mine.

    Great show! At episode 14, I have a lot of catching up to do. But with 700 songs in the canon, you have a long ways to go too. I look forward to every one of them.

  4. Not mentioned often but we have John Bauldie to thank for the release of this song. When Bob’s office asked John to write the liner notes to the Bootleg Series Vol 1-3 (for which he got a Grammy nomination) he agreed but with the requirement that Sony included Blind Willie McTell on the release. We all owe John a huge thank you.

  5. I only recently discovered your podcast and am trying to get caught up. This episode reminded me of the first time I heard Blind Willie McTell. I can’t remember specifically when but I heard it on a bootleg series of concerts Dylan did at minor league ballparks years ago. And I remember being blown away by the music and the way he sang it. I wondered why I had never heard it before. To this day it remains one of my favorites.

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