Dylan Sunday - XFM Radio Show #1

Bob Dylan, Theme Time Radio Show (XFM Radio Show #1) (unlimited downloads)

[Update: This is a new, working link. Sorry for the confusion, but sendspace was being wack.]

[Here is an extra, limited yousendit link, just in case]

I told ya I was gonna bring the heat with the next Dylan Sunday. Per request, here is the complete broadcast of Bob Dylan's first radio show for satellite radio station XFM. News that Bob would be hosting his own radio show came out a few months ago, and I was filled with excitement. The only fear that I had was that this would be a gimmick, something with Bob's name on it but little of his time or effort.

All I can say is that I was gloriously wrong on that front, as this is Bob all the way. For real, this is one of the best things I've heard in a long time, a chance to have Bob Dylan DJ for the listener. It's an amazing chance to get into the tastes and knowledge of a man who clearly lives and breathes music, schooling us on a wide range of musics from the past. The show is done according to theme, with Bob choosing the songs to coincide with said theme. On this first episode, the theme is weather, so we get lots of great rainy day songs, evocations of sunshine, you get the idea. Right from the get-go, Bob takes everyone to school and it doesn't really let up for the next 50 minutes or so. I hadn't heard most of the songs on here, or hadn't known the original version. Personal favorites are The Prisonaires' "Just Walking In The Rain", Irma Thomas' "It's Raining" and Fats Domino's "Let The Four Winds Blow."

In case you are wondering, Bob does speak a decent amount on the show. Like any good radio DJ, he knows that the listener wants to hear music, not talking, so usually you get about 30 seconds of Bob between songs. Ironically, I actually would want to hear him ramble on a bit more, as he is so funny and witty on the short intervals he speaks. I think my favorite part comes after the Muddy Waters songs at the beginning, when Dylan discusses the fallacy of Chicago as "The Windy City." Or when he discusses the different types of clouds before playing The Consolers' "After the Clouds Roll Away." Oh, and for those who don't like Dylan's voice today, I'll say that it is made for radio, so deep, gravelly and real. Maybe it'll help people get a better handle on the way the man now sounds.

Okay, enough of my blabbing. Go and download the show above and take this rainy, windy Sunday to listen to Bob Dylan talk and play lots of songs about rain, wind and snow. Let me know what you think, curious if people are as excited as I am about this. Now, if we can just get Dylan to spin at 700 Club or The Khyber upstairs.