Talkin' Dylan with Andy and Renee

Some Dylanfest and Hard Rain highlights from Andy & Renee with a little help from Marty Rifkin

"May I see your references?" Part 4 - Historical figures.

"May I see your references?"  Part 3 - Fellow performers

The 18th installment of Talkin’ Bob Dylan, is entitled,“'May I see your references?' Part II: Desolation Row". in the last episode we made the observation that Bob Dylan likes to refer in his songs to previously established characters, literary, historical and mythological. This week we dive into his most extreme example and posit that the song is an apocalyptic, epic poem in which Desolation Row is perhaps an enlightened state of mind rather than a geographical place.

Episode #17 of Talkin’ Bob Dylan, is entitled,“'May I see your references?' Part I". Andy & Renee talk about references to people in Bob Dylan songs. It seems that more than any other pop writer, Dylan, in addition to creating an endless cast of original fictional characters to populate his songs, references other writers, singers, historical figures, mythological figures, and icons of the stage and screen. What does it all mean? We hear The Mighty Quinn...

In the 16th Installment of "Talkin' Bob Dylan", Andy & Renee discuss Dylanesque songwriting through the lense of both homage and parody. In the parody camp, the duo yuks it up while listening to "Arms Disguised As Legs" by Steve Della Maggoria, a wonderful artist from Napa, CA. Then Andy & Renee move into the homage realm with "Blood on the (Title) Tracks" by The Title Trackers.

#15 In their first foray into Dylan’s iconic songs, Andy & Renee discuss Blowin’ In the Wind and Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man.

#14 In their 14th Installment of Talkin’ Bob Dylan, Andy and Renee let Dylan do the talkin’. Beginning with his ten “best lines”, they invent various categories like “funniest lines”, “most insulting lines”, etc., and simply trade off reading the lyrics. The podcast includes “Shooting Star” from the album “It Takes a Lot to Laugh”.

#13 Collaboration #2. Andy and Renee discuss the surprising meteoric rise of “Wagon Wheel” to iconic Americana status, and feature two different performances of the song. The podcast ends with a live studio version of “Sweet Amarillo” – the second collaboration between Wagon Wheel composers Bob Dylan and Ketch

#12 Collaborations #1. In the 12th installment of Talkin’ Bob Dylan, Andy & Renee turn their attention to the collaborative efforts of Bob Dylan. For the last two weeks they held Bob’s feet to the fire for leaving such classics as Up to Me and Blind Willie McTell off his albums. Today, Andy and Renee discuss Bob directly working with such great artists as Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, the boys in The Traveling Wilburys, and Sam Shepard, among others. They also dive into Dylan's more "virtual" collaborations that have surfaced in "The New Basement Tapes". We hear "Silvio" from Dylanfest 26 and "Florida Key" live in the studio.

#11 In the 11th installment of Talkin’ Andy & Renee discuss Dylan’s frame of mind in the late 70’s which lead to his religious conversion. Andy recaps Dylan’s proselytizing from the stage in 1979 and the massive changes to his music during that inner shift. The two discuss Caribbean Wind and Blind Willie McTell, and the sometimes amusing excuses Bob offers for their absence from his records.

#10 As they continue to probe the question “What Was He Thinking?” our hosts turn their attention to the songs Bob recorded but left off albums. In part One of this inquiry we hear a Dylanfest performance of “Up to Me” and a live studio performance of “Abandoned love”.

Welcome to the 9th installment of “Talkin’ Bob Dylan” In the last few weeks, A &R have poked some fun at our Nobel Laureate for how little he performs some of his greatest works. They even invented an algorithm called OCO to illustrate the conundrum. Today, you’re going to be able to sit back and hear a live performance by Dave Crossland of a masterpiece that Bob has never played live. Andy & Renee are the producers of Dylanfest which is held every May in the Los Angeles area. In addition to their love of Bob Dylan we have 15 CDs including 9 CDs of our original songs. You can buy their music and find out where they're playing at our website which is www.andyandrenee.com.

#8 What Was He Thinking? Andy & Renee take a break this week from the “types of Bob Dylan songs” discussion from the previous few weeks. They're calling these next few podcasts “What Was He Thinking?" Why doesn’t he play so many of his great songs live more often? They even invented an algorithm called OCO to illustrate the conundrum. Andy & Renee are the producers of Dylanfest which is held every May in the Los Angeles area. In addition to their love of Bob Dylan we have 15 CDs including 9 CDs of our original songs. You can buy their music and find out where they're playing at our website which is www.andyandrenee.com.

#7 The Songs of Bob Dylan #12 and 35: Black Diamond Bay” Andy and Renee discuss the song as a piece of black humor and throw other interpretations under the bus. We hear a live Hard Rain version from Dylanfest 2009 in its entirety..

#6 The Songs of Bob Dylan #12 and 35: Lay Down Your Weary Tune Part Two.  Andy has to finish up this discussion by himself since Renee has split town. Some interesting discussion of Chimes of Freedom and much development and speculation on the pre-eminence of Bob’s inner mental landscape.

#5 The songs of Bob Dylan #12 and 35: Lay Down Your Weary Tune Part One.  The song is discussed as a transitional song for Dylan, from politics and social justice to mysticism.

Andy and Renee discuss Bob Dylan and his reaction to winning the Nobel Prize. We hear "Day of the Locusts". Then A & R talk about their recent 27th Annual Dylanfest, held May 7, 2017. We hear "Every Of Grain Of Sand" from Andy & Renee & Hard Rain's CD Release, "Dylanfest Live". Renee muses on a world where Bob Dylan shows up at their annual Dylanfest. The show closes with a live version of the band playing "Tweeter and the Monkey Man." Get info on Andy & Renee & Hard Rain, their CDs and performances at www.andyandrenee.com. Hard Rain is Andy Hill, Renee Safier, Kirk Makin, Marty Rifkin, Dave Batti, Edo Tancredi, John Hoke, Jeff Delissanti, Joseph Caccavo, Davey Allen, John Rosenberg

Recorded May 9th and fresh off of their 27th Annual Dylanfest, held May 7th at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, Andy & Renee discuss the show, the torrential downpour that bifurcated the show, and the hilarity that ensued. 😊 We hear "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", from Andy & Renee's CD release, "It Takes A Lot to Laugh" and "Leopardskin Pillbox Hat" from Bellylove, the band played on as the rain poured down while the crowd held a giant blue tarp over the band's head so they could continue to play on. Andy & Renee continue to discuss Dylanfest 27 and some of the special moments that occurred during the show including a "Peace Army" of Guitars during "Blowing In The Wind". The podcast ends with a recording of "To Ramona" from "Dylanfest LIVE". Get info on Andy & Renee & Hard Rain, their CDs and performances at www.andyandrenee.com. Hard Rain is Andy Hill, Renee Safier, Kirk Makin, Marty Rifkin, Dave Batti, Edo Tancredi, John Hoke, Jeff Delissanti, Joseph Caccavo, Davey Allen, John Rosenberg

The show opens with "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)", from Renee's CD "The Fourteenth of February", which leads into a talk about the cinematic component of Dylan's music. Then Andy and Renee discuss Dylan's creative process, and offer thoughts on the subject by Robbie Robertson of The Band from his book "Testimony". A conversation about inspiration and process leads to the song, Mr. Tambourine Man, and we hear their version from Dylanfest 2015 featuring Andy & Renee & Hard Rain and vocalists Dave Crossland and John Hoke. The duo ends the podcast with information about their upcoming 27th Annual Dylanfest, an 8-hour concert held at The Torrance Cultural Arts Center Sunday, May 7th from 12-8pm. The concert features Andy & Renee & their band, Hard Rain and 55 other area musicians playing songs written by the Nobel Laureate winning Dylan. Get tickets and info for this amazing day of music and community at www.andyandrenee.com.