job opening at Bob center

[Chris Pyle]

man, what a cool job:

📢Job announcement: Archivist at The American Song Archives, which manages
@bobdylancenter
&
@WoodyGuthrieCtr
in Tulsa & houses the archives of BobDylan, WoodyGuthrie, PhilOchs, TomPaxton, CynthiaGooding, & other collections

[Will Dockery]

Too far for me to commute.

🙂

[President_dudley]

khematite applied, but was turned down


they said he's overqualified

[K. Hematite]

Thanks for the kind words, Prez! Truth be told though, my knowledge of Dylan is mainly a product of having been on this newsgroup a long time and of developing an ability to Google. When I got here in 1996, there were already true giants in the earth: Bill Pagel, Alan Fraser, Ben Taylor, Patricia Jungwirth, Craig Jamieson, George & Maureen LeBlanc, John Howells, Joe Cliburn, Nate Smith, Matt Zuckerman, and Seth Kulick. Deepest apologies to anyone whose name I've shamefully omitted, but those are the names I remember best for their prodigious knowledge of all things Dylan--before there even was a Google. What they knew about Dylan in the mid-1990s just blew me away.

[K. Hematite]

Nostalgia just isn't what it used to be. Still, this Reddit thread, about a year old, caught my eye today.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bobdylan/comments/q3bv6c/recmusicdylan_anyone/

Posted by
u/pfromthenc
1 year ago

rec.music.dylan anyone?
Discussion
Does anyone else remember this newsgroup? I read it religiously from the late 80s into the 1990s, and it immensely deepened my appreciation for Dylan and helped me connect with other fans for the first time. I also learned about bootlegs there, and since I lived close to NYC, was able to take advantage of the existence of a couple of shops in Greenwich Village to delve into the unreleased Dylan. In those pre-Bootleg Series days, this was pretty mind blowing.

23 Comments

LeviathanW
·
1 yr. ago
I remember it well. I was a daily reader and occasional poster during my college years (late 80s, early 90s). A while back I searched an archive and found my post about my first Dylan show. Good times.

One thing I appreciate now is that back then so many people had heard unofficial stuff that was hard to get. Now, between the Bootleg series, the Netflix doc and YouTube there is an embarrassment of riches available to all.

reprobatemind2
1 yr. ago
Yep.

Also remember phone-lines to hear the previous day's setlist.

litewo
·
1 yr. ago
Does anyone remember the guy who called himself the world's leading "Dylanalogist" (sic) and would post long rants about the War in Iraq, calling other Dylan fans "Saddam huggers"?

UncleFluffhead
·
1 yr. ago
If memory serves, that would be A.J. Weberman. When Time Out of Mind came out, he "decoded" it and came to the conclusion that Dylan was dying of AIDS.

Once a kook, always a kook.

pfromthenc
OP
1 yr. ago
I don't remember him!

I do remember a guy who had very perceptive interpretations of Dylan from a Christian perspective. I can't remember his username right off hand, though.

UncleFluffhead
1 yr. ago
rmd was probably the first place on the Internet with which I found myself obsessively checking. It was like a university experience for the twenty-something noob I was at the time.

Not only did rmd give me an unparalleled education on the worlds of Bob Dylan and his myriad influences, it introduced me to some incredible folks, some of whom remain dear friends to this day.

prudence2001
1 yr. ago
Same here, first online place where I could read and interact with top-level Dylan freaks (and I mean that in a good way, mostly). Great analysis, stories from people who were actually at events like Forest Lawn or 1966 Australian shows, which were the best boots to find and buy and trade for, and so much more that helped me become a much better Dylan fan. RMD archives are still online and are fun to read once in a while.

Slow-Wasabi
1 yr. ago
Back in the good 'ole days (mid-90's) none other than Roger McGuinn himself would hang out in rmd. It's where we all went. I miss those days.

pfromthenc
OP
1 yr. ago
Wow, I did not know that!

turlingdromes
1 yr. ago
I lived in rec.music.dylan (and rec.music.gdead) from about 94-98, but very much the lurker.

RMD is actually still going, albeit a shadow of itself (3 posts since Monday): https://groups.google.com/g/rec.music.dylan

plong42
1 yr. ago
I used the local BBS to access rec.music.dylan, developed a huge tape-trading collection, eventually CDr trading. Mostly in the 90s, but the CDr trading continued into the early 2000s. Made many good friends that way.

Bittorrent pretty much killed the community aspect of trading.

skelters2000
1 yr. ago
I was the same then torrents came along and trading cd's died off.

sexyviolence
1 yr. ago
Dylanpool was the best Dylan board in the early 2000s. Nothing was more exciting than staying up late, refreshing the screen as real time setlists were revealed. I remember how everyone lost their shit when Bob introduced the keyboard and an INSANE setlist at Red Bluff 2002. It was surreal. Who the hell would ever think he would cover Brown Sugar? Old Man? All the Zevon covers- Accidentally Like a Martyr was a true highlight of the fall tour. Also, that tour has never been matched in terms of setlist and following multiple shows. I was lucky enough to catch the Elmira performance that November. It was a revelation.
A close second to the religious experience that was Niagara Falls 2003. The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 included Highwater from the unbelievable performance. The air was thick with anticipation as Dylan & crew stormed the stage just as the sun set on the falls- the backdrop of the stage was one of the Wonders of the World. Another wonder was on stage jackhammering Tombstone Blues throughout the intimate garden that surrounded us. I saw four shows that tour- all unique and memorable. The shows with the Dead was a trip. The duets Bob had with Joan Osborne on Tears of Rage. Dylan covering Samson & Delilah was my favorite surprise that summer. Bob joining the Dead on classic barn burners of Alabama Getaway and West LA Fadeaway. Everyone on stage packed in like sardines. All in sync and reeling. It felt special and those couple years defined my Bob Dylan fandom. I was 15 years old when I starting going to multiple shows on a tour. I went to college in 2005 and the bootlegs/obsessiveness slowed to a crawl for a few years. Anyhow 2002-2003 was an intoxicating time to be a Bob Dylan fan. There's nothing that is comparable anymore and that is unfortunate for all new Bob Dylan fans.

skelters2000
1 yr. ago
Probably more cover versions done in 1988-89 than 2002-2003.

timmyd4unme
1 yr. ago
Was never on the rec.music.dylan but I feel that way about the bobdylan.com message board before it got shut down. That plus the Dylanpool.

pablo_blue
1 yr. ago
Yes, I regulaly frequented rmd back in the day.

Dylan-fan
1 yr. ago
I remember it and also made my entry into finding the stores that would handle the bootleg music. Got the setlists for his new shows within hours of performing them as well as reviews. Saw him for the first time in 95 in St. Louis and had no idea what to expect. Loved his show.

[deleted]
1 yr. ago
I remember, how about the free Dylan Tape Library. Some guy had huge collection of bootlegs. He would make anyone a free copy as long as you mailed the exact right blank tapes, labeled exactly right with exactly corect self addressed stamped envelopes. Got some of my first bootlegs like this

Zimmy68
1 yr. ago
YES! I forgot all about it and saw this thread and my mind almost broke.

Used to visit everyday.

JumpCuts
2 yr. ago
Oh man I haven't thought about that in YEARS!

I just went and looked up my old posts from 2000 when I was a teenager and now I feel nostalgic.

[Will Dockery]

Fascinating, thanks, K.

🙂

[Chris Pyle]

Yes, thanks for posting this. I use to be so intimidated when I would peek in.

[Willie]

Peter Stone Brown also comes to mind. And of, course, Olof Björner.
Then came the Days of Contention. The Bloomfield Buddy, Poisoned Rose, Mr. Jinx, Stephan Pickering, Really Real, Grave Digger bickering, with sane interjections from Gemini Jackson and the Just brothers (JK and JW).

[Just Walkin']

Thanks for the remembrance, Willie! Hope all is well with you and the family.