Self control is not easy for adults

Bob Dylan Don't Look Back

Since this was written in March of 2007, things have changed. See the update at the end of the article.

Self control is no easier for adults than it is for children. Usually the difference is adults have the cash or where-with-all to indulge their whims whereas children might have to wait on the largesse of others.

I’m a Bob Dylan collector. I have most of the albums as vinyl LP’s, even Love and Theft which my son-in-law gave me for X-Mass. That makes it more collectible and the large book is worth the price of admission. You can read the text which is tiny on the CD version.

Then I have the CD’s. Two years ago at Christmas I received, with only a modicum of hinting, the 16 SACD package,Bob Dylan – Limited Edition Catalog Box Set. It has better sound you know – that’s important.

I have so many Bob Dylan framed posters we ran out of wall space last year and only renovations will get them on the walls. There are Bob Dylan hats, scarves, a lovely hoodie I gave to my son (what was I thinking!), t shirts, sweaters.

Thanks to two nieces and my girl friend, I have some great Bob Dylan picture books – coffee table style. My sister bought me all Dylan’s lyrics one year, Lyrics: 1962-2001. It’s really a coffee table book.

The important book is The Definitive Bob Dylan Songbook (Bob Dylan). It has the words and music to almost everything up to 2000.

There are dozens and dozens of sheet music books. Hannah got me another Bob Dylan book: she was only 10. I’m going to mark the donor’s name inside because there are so many and I want to remember who gave me what.

Then there are more than 20 hardcover and softcover books: biographies, an autobiography, music commentaries, touring guides, recording guides, and a poetry commentary which I reviewed recently.

There are videos in VHS format, Laser disc and DVD’s plus a rare multi-media presentation for both Mac and Windows from the early 90’s, Bob Dylan Highway 61 Interactive CD-ROM. I see that a copy of that out-of-print software title is on eBay.

I have over 70 hours of concert recordings both video and audio that are hard to find.

Thanks to Eyolf Østrem, I have 500 plus songs with lyrics and guitar tabs. This is the goldmine – the first source of all research into Dylan’s music.

So is that everything? Thankfully not – they just released Bob Dylan – Don’t Look Back (1965 Tour Deluxe Edition). I have Don’t Look Back on VHS and Laser disc but this one is special. It has cleaned up video and sound. A second documentary that has been hidden for 40 years – we knew it was in Pennebaker’s possession but not ours. Plus a gaggle of extras.

The problem is I promised myself to stay off my Dylan acquisition habit for awhile. My birthday is coming up. Yes I should wait for that to roll around. I love self-control. It’s so, so, so empowering.

Oh look, they just released the Gotta Serve Somebody – The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan. That looks good.

Update May 16, 2000

Bob Dylan – Limited Edition Catalog Box Set – Generally worth having for the more open sound. You can accomplish some of the same improvement if you have Direct Audio In on your receiver. Try it. It opens up the detail in normal CDs, probably a result of by-passing all the digital processing.

The Definitive Bob Dylan Songbook (Bob Dylan). This book has some arrangements that are better than Eyolf Østrem’s tabs so it’s a must have for Dylan fans who play his music. The book is too big to use for practice so I had Kwik Copy cut the bindings off it.  Then had them bound them in coil bindings. I did that for all my song books. Now they lie flat on the music stand.

Bob Dylan – Don’t Look Back (1965 Tour Deluxe Edition) – worth the price for the cleaned up picture and sound and the 2nd documentary.

Gotta Serve Somebody – The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan. This is totally awesome. Gospel singers put the real thing into Dylan’s best gospel songs.

Bob Dylan Highway 61 Interactive CD-ROM. A copy of that out-of-print software title is on eBay. For the Dylanologist, it’s a must have for the videos and interactive menus.

Love and Theft vinyl has been discontinued but is still available on the internet.