TCBDS Bobchat meetings started in 2012, and brought a blend of Dylan audio, Dylan video and Dylan chat [mostly chat] to our meetings. Before then we had our well established video nights that we'd held in pubs in and around Cambridge since 1984.

Bobchat meetings were different, they were more relaxed and brought people together to discuss Dylan, rather than just watch him on a screen or just listen to him. We started Bobchat in Cambridge pubs then when the Coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020 we moved online using Zoom software, hosted by John Nye from his home in Cambridge.

Our online meetings proved an immediate hit, bringing people together during extremely difficult times when going out was impossible. Most people liked them and many joined in with any topic on the agenda. The meetings were truly international with people coming in from UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Belgium and Sweden. It was amazing to see people from different countries and timelines talking so freely and easily, without lip synch problems or time delays, all thanks due to relatively recent advancements in internet technology. We held our online meetings on the first Thursday of every month, and carried on doing so for just over 2 years. Our last Bobchat 'agenda' meeting was held online on 5 May 2022.

Our initial intention was to keep the number of participants low at online Bobchat meetings, to ensure that everyone could relax with the Zoom software and join in, and get the most out of each meeting, but numbers soon began to swell. Our meetings also became longer. Initially our online meetings hovered around the 3 to 4 hour mark, our last online Bobchat meeting on 5 May 2022 was five and a quarter hours. People joined in enthusiastically and the time just flew by.

Post pandemic, we returned to the pub - The Red Bull, in Newnham, Cambridge - and our now regular pattern of meetings got started. For dates of future meetings and pub details see the TCBDS Meetings page here.

Our Bobchat meetings are a relaxed get-together with friends over a pizza and a pint. Of course, the latest news and views from the 'Dylan world' occupies most of the discussions. Very informal, all are welcome. JN

Dylan video, Dylan audio - and a room full of Dylan fans

Contact TCBDS: email John Stokes

Bobchat meetings [page 1]

2012

20 November 2012 - County Arms meeting

Buy Joe Woolf framed and signed original artwork, email Joe for details at joe.woolf@hydrocert.com

The first Bobchat meeting (the pilot) was held on November 20, 2012, at The County Arms, Castle Hill, Cambridge. In attendance were: Keith Agar, John Nye, Chris Cooper, John Stokes, Allen Purvis, Jonathan Fudger, Ross Cole and Adam Crothers.

2013

25 January 2013 - Red Bull meeting
Attendees of the first Bobchat meeting at The Red Bull [Friday, 25 January 2013] were: Keith Agar, John Nye, John Stokes, Allen Purvis, Chris Rolph, Armando and Rhonda Fusco, Jeff Stevens, Brian Farmer, Jonathan Fudger, Adam Crothers and Bill Dallas. Hot topic was the just-released Bob Dylan 50th Anniversary Collection.

2014

1 April 2014 - Red Bull meeting
The main discussion at this meeting related to the release of the album 'Bob Dylan in the 80s' - a covers album by various artists. This led on to a vote on what we considered to be Dylan's best album of the 80's. By a head (only just) 'Oh Mercy' came out on top, shortly followed by 'Infidels' with 'Shot Of Love' coming in third place. The order then went as follows: 'Saved'; 'Empire Burlesque'; 'Knocked Out Loaded'; 'Real Live'; Dylan and The Dead'; and, finally, 'Down In The Groove'. The Bobchat then moved on to favourite songs from the 80's and the joint winners here were 'Brownsville Girl' and 'Every Grain of Sand'. The performance of night however was 'Pressing On' from the remastered 'Saved' album. We turned the volume up so loud that the pub started to shake! JRS

29 May 2014 - Red Bull meeting
The Bobchatters who attended the meeting at The Red Bull on the 29th May were Dana Whitehouse, Mick Lee, John Nye, Chris Rolph, Bill Dallas, Graham Dixon, Mags, Chris Cooper, Brenda Cooper, Jeff Stevens, Roy Edgar, Allen Purvis and John Stokes. As usual there was lots of Bobstuff to chat about but in particular the new book ‘The Dylanologists’ from David Kinney and Dylan’s recently emerged cover version of the Frank Sinatra song ‘Full Moon and Empty Arms’ were considered. Both versions of the song i.e. Frank’s and Bob’s were played and this prompted a vote as to what we thought might be on a Dylan album of Sinatra songs. Our top four were ‘One For My Baby’, ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ ‘My Way’ and ‘Witchcraft’. We will just have to wait and see! John Nye brought along some interesting information about how much Dylan gets paid for gigs compared to other artists and Mags also introduced an item concerning the top ten Dylan songs in movies. Other features on the night were ‘Take Me On A Trip’ where Jeff Stevens took on us on a trip to Dinky Town (see separate tables at The Nowhere Café* for more on those items) and ‘Tap The Bobnose’ where Chris Cooper provided details of the Dylan song ‘Huck's Tune’ including a promotional video. All in all, as always, there was much to talk about and much to reminisce. And it sure felt right – on a night like this! JRS

31 July 2014 - Red Bull meeting
The Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a very warm night at The Red Bull on the 31st July were Bill Dallas, Graham Dixon, Mags, Chris Cooper, Brenda Cooper, Allen Purvis, Jonathan Fudger, Jeff Stevens, Armando Fusco and John Stokes. Many things were chatted over but one item in particular got us all drooling – Dylan’s substantial re-write of Working Man’s Blues #2 as performed at Munich on 1st July 2014. Chris brought along a recording of the song as performed which is simply outstanding. Amongst other items considered were the sale of the draft lyrics of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ which went for just over 2 million dollars; the recent death of Johnny Winter (slightly Bob related) and the discovery of 2 boxes containing 149 acetates of Dylan recordings which were found in the closet of a New York building. There was also some lively chat about the upcoming album ‘Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes Volume 1’ which involves workings by various artists of some long forgotten basement tapes lyrics written by Bob when he was hanging out in The Big Pink in the mid 60s. This lead on to a quest to nail down our own collective 5 favourite BT songs from the officially released Basement Tapes album. After some thought the order went as follows: 1: ‘Tears of Rage’. 2: ‘This Wheels On Fire’. 3: ‘Million Dollar Bash’. 4: ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’. Joint 5th: ‘Clothes Line Saga’ and ‘Nothing Was Delivered’. In addition to all this, Chris C fully answered his Tap The Bobnose question on ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ and Jeff took us on a trip to Amarillo (see separate tables at The Nowhere Café* for more on those items). All in all, as always, there was much to talk about and much to reminisce. And it sure felt right – on a night like this! JRS

25 September 2014 - Red Bull meeting
The Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a balmy night at The Red Bull on Thursday 25th September 2014 were Bill Dallas, Graham Dixon, Mags, Shaun Delavigne, John Nye, Chris Rolph, Chris Cooper, David Palmer, Allen Purvis, Jonathan Fudger, Roy Edgar, Steve Annetts, Armando Fusco and John Stokes. The evening started off with some discussion around The Bootleg Series Volume 11 with its 138 Basement Tapes songs to be released in November 2014. Chris C confirmed that about 40 songs were not previously in circulation. We then moved on to the news that Dylan is to be honoured by the Musicares Foundation and that he will be their ‘Person Of The Year for 2015’. We all hoped that Dylan will make it into 2015 as otherwise this could be embarrassing for the organisers! David Palmer read some extracts from Victor Maymudes’ book (actually completed by Victor’s son) ‘Another Side Of Bob Dylan’. David raised some issues concerning the dates set out in the book which caused some debate and which gave rise to speculation concerning the parenthood the baby born to Joan Baez! There was some good discussion concerning the recordings of the ‘Blood On The Tracks’ album and in particular the New York sessions and the track ‘Meet Me In The Morning’ (see the 'Tap The Bobnose' section at The Nowhere Café* for more information on the song). With some wonderful wizardry David P played all known versions of this song including the version performed by The White Stripes with Dylan on guitar. On the subject of ‘Blood On The Tracks’ we had an ‘Are You Ready’ session where we endeavoured to re-order the track sequence on the album. This is what we came up with: first track: ‘Buckets Of Rain’; second track: ‘Meet Me In The Morning’; third: ‘If You See Her, Say Hello’; fourth: ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’; fifth: ‘Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts’; sixth: ‘Your A Big Girl Now’; seventh: ‘Simple Twist Of Fate’; eighth: ‘Shelter From The Storm’; ninth: Idiot Wind’ and we considered that the last track on the album (on the basis that last is best and your should always leave ’em wanting more) should be ‘Tangled Up In Blue’. In addition to all this Allen Purvis gave an entertaining and illuminating talk on Dylan’s association with The Grateful Dead and Chris fully answered his ‘Tap The Bobnose’ section (see separate tables at The Nowhere Café* for more on those items). All in all, as always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right) – on a night like this! JRS

4 December 2014 - Red Bull meeting
The Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a pretty chilly night at The Red Bull on Thursday 4th December 2014 were Sean Delavigne, Chris Rolph, John Nye, Jeff Stevens, David Palmer, Chris Cooper, Brenda Cooper, Armando Fusco, Frank Hopkins, Allen Purvis, Tim and Sue Smart, Bill Dallas, and John Stokes. Sean brought his guitar along to the meeting and performed a great version of ‘Its All Over Now Baby Blue’ (Savoy hotel ’65 style) to start the meeting off. We then got into some heavy debate about the strange happenings in Philadelphia during the afternoon of Sunday 23rd November when Dylan and his band put on a four song show for just one guy namely Fredrick Wikingsson. Various theories were put forward as to the reasons behind this performance and it seemed that the most popular one was that Bob did it for the money! The chat then moved on to the recently released cd ‘Lost On The River’ by the band calling themselves The New Basement Tapes and with his usual wizardry David Palmer played us various songs by other artists which had been started by Dylan and completed by others. Sean opened the ‘second half’ of the evening with a rendition of ‘Baby Let Me Follow You Down’ and then Jeff Stevens took us on a trip with Larry Charles when he related the story of when the journalist got involved with a Dylan film project. Chris and David came in to their own with the ‘Tap The Bobnose’ section (this and Take Me On A Trip are detailed elsewhere at The Nowhere Café*) and the ‘Are You Ready’ shenanigans had 8 questions concerning the last lines of songs which we all guessed right of course. All in all, as always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right) – on a night like this! JRS

2015

29 January 2015 - Red Bull meeting
The Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a wintry night at The Red Bull on Thursday 29th January 2015 were Jonathan Fudger, Sean Delavigne, Chris Rolph, John Nye, Jeff Stevens, Armando Fusco, Chris Cooper, Bill Dallas, Graham Dixon, Allen Purvis and John Stokes. The evening started off with a short tribute to Dave Dingle, a well-known Dylan fan and the founder of the My Back Pages book store, who had died recently. The talk then turned to the up and coming new album ‘Shadows In The Night’ to be released within a couple of weeks. There was some concern having heard two tracks from the album but we agreed to defer final judgment until the album was released. As a pre-cursor to the album Dylan had given an interview to the AARP magazine in the States and this was discussed – especially regarding the political references in the interview. John Nye took us on a wonderful trip to the Maida Vale studios in North London where he had attended recently with Chris Rolph at a performance by Sinead O’Connor which was broadcast by the BBC. John asked the artist a Dylan related question at this recording and his report of the day was fascinating and absorbing. John has given a full account of his adventures under the ‘Take Me On A Trip’ section at The Nowhere Café* [and here]. Chris Cooper dealt fully with his ‘Tap the Bobnose’ question regarding the complete Basements and the ‘Are You Ready’ item concerned the best Dylan out takes. It was no surprise that we voted the best out take to be ‘Blind Willie McTell’ first with ‘Positively 4th Street’ second and ‘Up To Me’ third. All in all, as always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right but cold) – on a night like this! JRS

26 March 2015 - Red Bull meeting
The Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a pleasant spring evening at The Red Bull on Thursday 26th March 2015 were Graham Dixon, Bill Dallas, Chris Rolph, John Nye, Allen Purvis, David Palmer, Chris Cooper, Brenda Cooper, Armando Fusco, Jeff Stevens, Ken Parsons, and John Stokes. We initially had a reminder that almost 50 years ago to the day (22nd March 1965) the album ‘Bringing It All Back Home ‘ was released and we had a quick vote to choose what song from the album should be played to start the evening off on a positive beat. By a vote of 5 out of 12, the preferred song was ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ and the song was played accordingly. Chris Cooper provided some fun and games with his ‘Tap The Bobnose’ question which concerned the history of Dylan’s number one albums (as ‘Shadows In The Night’ had reached number one a few weeks back) and there were some quite surprising entries (see ‘Tap The Bobnose’ section at The Nowhere Café* for further details). On the subject of ‘Shadows In the Night’, there was some heated debate concerning the credibility of the album and, despite playing an extract from a radio show featuring our friend Al Masciocchi from Connecticut, the majority of the Bob Chatters remained unconvinced! Jeff Stevens played some interesting snips of interviews with people close to Dylan and Armando Fusco took on us on a well researched and mind boggling trip into the ways that we have listened to Bob over the years. The result of Armando’s research together with some clever poetry can be found under the ‘Take me On A Trip’ section at The Nowhere Café*. All in all, as always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right) – on a night like this! JRS

28 May 2015 - Red Bull meeting
The 15 Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a warm May evening at the newly refurbished Red Bull on Thursday 28th May 2015 were John Nye, Jonathan Fudger, Allen Purvis, Jeff Stevens, Will Withecombe (welcome back Will, haven’t seen you for a while!), David Palmer, Chris Cooper, Brenda Cooper, Chris Rolph, Bill Dallas, Graham Dixon, Frank Hopkins , Sean Delavigne, Armando Fusco and John Stokes. The evening started off with a nod to the 52nd Anniversary of the release of ‘The Freewheelin'’ Bob Dylan’ album which was first in the shops on 27th May 1963. We had an impromptu vote as to our collective favourite song from the album and the winner was ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’. Sean was quickly on hand with his guitar and he gave us a great version of the chosen song. Dylan’s recent appearance on the penultimate Letterman Show was considered and there was lots of chat about the dates for the Dylan shows in October and who was going when and what kind of shows they would be. David Palmer played some interesting and newly worked songs from the current tour and there was some confused discussion about the ‘Tap The Bobnose Section’ which concerned the history of Dylan’s changing (or otherwise) set lists in recent shows. Jeff Stevens took us on an enlightening trip with Allen Ginsberg (in the nicest possible way) which led to each member of the group declaring their favourite and least favourite Dylan lines. A question put forward by Al Masciocchi about where we would rank ‘Strangers In The Night’ among Dylan’s 21st Century output created further discussion about this somewhat controversial album. . All in all, as always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right) – on a night like this! JRS

30 July 2015 - Red Bull meeting
The 10 Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a not very seasonal evening at The Red Bull onThursday 30th July 2015 were Jonathan Fudger, Allen Purvis, Armando Fusco, David Palmer, Chris Cooper, Frank Hopkins, Jeff Stevens, Brenda Cooper, Sean Delavigne and John Stokes. Mags Dixon also joined in for a brief period to give us news about Graham Dixon who was too poorly to attend. This weekend was the Cambridge Folk Festival so John Nye and Chris Rolph weren’t able to come along to The Red Bull and another regular attendee Bill Dallas couldn’t make it. The evening started off with the usual ‘Start Of Mine’ item and tonight we celebrated the ‘Desire’ album which was being recorded in New York 40 years ago to the day. We went through the track listing and by a majority vote we concluded that ‘Romance In Durango’ was the favourite track of the night – so this was duly played. Another important anniversary was also discussed, it being 50 years since Bob played that Fender Stratocaster at the Newport Folk Festival on the 25th July 1965. Talking of 1965 (which we did a lot) Chris gave the update on the 2,3, and possible 10 cd set from 1965/66 which will be the new ‘Bootleg Series’. Jumping to 1978 Chris showed us some excellent and newly surfaced video footage from Nashville of that year. The ‘Tap The Bobnose’ section (which concerned encores from the NET) provided some interesting debate and Jeff took us on an enlightening trip back to 1969 when he dipped into the new book by Ray Foulk who organised the festival of that year. All in all, as always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right) – on a night like this! JRS

24 September 2015 - Red Bull meeting
The 13 Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a warm autumnal evening at The Red Bull on Thursday 24th September 2015 were Chris Rolph, John Nye, Allen Purvis, Brenda Cooper, David Palmer, Chris Cooper, Janice Dixon, Graham Dixon, Mags Dixon, Bill Dallas, Jeff Stevens, Armando Fusco and John Stokes. The ‘Start Of Mine’ section related to the ‘Time Out Of Mind’ album which was released almost 18 years ago to the day. As usual we went through the tracks on the album and, in true democratic style, it was decided that the most popular track was ‘Not Dark Yet’ which was dutifully played. The main discussion of the evening was the announcement, on this very day, of the various versions of the new bootleg series ‘Cutting Edge’ which will contain all the studio tracks from 1965/1966. David P had endeavoured to order his copy of the 18 cd set in the pub at the cost of $599 when his credit card company promptly called him to query the purchase. Chris provided a track listing of the 6 cd set and DP played the promotional video. ‘Tap The Bobnose’ concerned the opening songs of the NET and the most popular songs, as researched by Chris, were 1. Things Have Changed 2. Maggie’s Farm 3. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat and 4. Rainy Day Women. Jeff Stevens took us on a trip back to Forest Hills in 1965 and played some audio of an interview with Peter Stone Brown of his memory of the gig. There was also some discussion about a recording of the song ‘Rocks and Gravel’ which appeared on a recent ‘True Detective’ series and the group were asked to listen to some recording of the track which clearly was different to previous recordings of this song. Of course we were all anxiously awaiting the start of the European tour and the chat continued about the possible new set list. The songs from SINT remained unpopular! All in all, as always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right) – on a night like this! JRS

26 November 2015 - Red Bull meeting
The Bobchatters who attended the meeting on an unseasonably mild winter evening at The Red Bull on Thursday 26th November 2015 were Chris Rolph, John Nye, Allen Purvis, Brenda Cooper, David Palmer, Chris Cooper, Graham Dixon, Bill Dallas, Jeff Stevens, Frank Hopkins, Armando Fusco and John Stokes. We also welcomed Pat Bradley from the Southampton Dylan Group who travelled to Cambridge with David Palmer. The ‘Start Of Mine’ section related to the ‘John Wesley Harding’ album which was recorded almost 48 years ago this week. As usual we went through the tracks on the album and, in true democratic style, it was decided that the most popular track was ‘I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine’ which was dutifully played. Chris and David went to town on the Bobnose question which focussed on the 18 cd ‘Cutting Edge’ box set. The question was about 10 things that were found to be ‘new’ as a result of the album and the Bobnose boys provided us with (at least) ten new pieces of information relating to those iconic recording sessions. Jeff Stevens took us on an trip with the photographers who provided the cover shots for the three ‘Cutting Edge’ albums and one of the most interesting snippets told why Bob’s image on Blonde On Blonde is so blurred – it was because it was very cold when the photograph was taken and the photographers hands were shaking! The discussion turned to the recent shows when everything became a little heated. In fact, in view of the number of Bobchatters who didn’t rate the shows I am thinking of calling that section a meeting of The Cambridge Bob Whinging Society! But it was all good humoured and we all agreed that, with Dylan, nothing is ever straight forward. All in all, as always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right) – on a night like this! JRS

2016

28 January 2016 - Red Bull meeting
The Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a particularly windy winter evening at The Red Bull on Thursday 28th January 2016 were Jonathan Fudger, Chris Rolph, John Nye, Jeff Stevens, Armando Fusco, Chris Cooper, Brenda Cooper, Bill Dallas, Graham Dixon, Frank Hopkins and John Stokes. Apologies for their absence were received from Allen Purvis, who was poorly, and from David Palmer, who was double booked. The evening started with the introduction of ‘The Leopard’ a ‘musical’ instrument constructed with inspiration arising from the Leopard-Skin Pill - Box Hat outtake on Disc 13 of the deluxe Cutting Edge box set. There was a thus a ring, ring, who’s there? Hoot, hoot start to the evening! The ‘Start of Mine’ section focussed on Dylan’s first album ‘Bob Dylan’ which was released 55 years ago. After the usual round robin of preferences we chose the track ‘Song to Woody’ to be played. Jeff Stevens then took us on a very interesting trip back to 1965 and in particular the release of the Criterion Collection of the film ‘Don’t Look Back’. Jeff played various audio extracts relating to the film and we also watched some video out takes. Chris dealt fully with the Bobnose question and played some 1978 Japanese footage. Chris also took a detailed look at the songs ‘Let’s Keep It Between Us’, ‘Yonder Comes Sin’ and ‘Caribbean Wind’ which were discussed among the group. John Nye also talked about the Copyright set and in particular his complaint, which was shared by all others, regarding the editing of the concert material on the release. Further discussions were held as to all manner of Dylan news and views before the evening ended with a farewell from ‘The Leopard’. As always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right) – on a night like this! JRS

31 March 2016 - Red Bull meeting
The Bobchatters who attended the meeting on a warm spring evening at The Red Bull on Thursday 31st March 2016 were Jonathan Fudger, Chris Rolph, John Nye, Pat Bradley, Jeff Stevens, David Palmer, Chris Cooper, Brenda Cooper, Bill Dallas, Graham Dixon, Allen Purvis and John Stokes. The celebration of the Leopard started the evening off and the Start Of Mine was (incorrectly) chosen as John Wesley Harding when it should really have been Nashville Skyline which had been released almost 47 years ago. Notwithstanding, we had the usual round robin and ‘Dear Landlord’ was chosen as the favourite track. Jeff then took us in a trip with Dave Stewart and read extracts from Stewart’s book ’Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This’ with particular references to the Dylan sections. Allen Purvis provided more information about the Dylan archive collection to be based at Tulsa, Oklahoma and when the chat turned to the subject of the proposed new album ‘Fallen Angels’ things got a little haywire, but we all remained good friends despite the observations from Andrew Muir on Expecting Rain regarding Dylan fans in their 60’s! The main meat of the evening was provided by Chris Cooper when he reported at some length as to the outcome of his communications with the ‘powers that be’ in the Dylan world. Not much can be reported here about that but it made for a very interesting debate. Further discussions were held as to all manner of Dylan news and views before the evening ended with a farewell from ‘The Leopard’. As always, there was much more to talk about and much more to reminisce. And it sure felt good (and right) – on a night like this! JRS

26 May 2016 - Red Bull meeting
This is written a long time after the meeting took place. Most of the topics discussed that night are now forgotten. The only one that lingers is concerning the then just released new Bob Dylan album 'Fallen Angels'. The album was not well received by some at the meeting, and Bobchat temporarily descended into Bobargument. However, the meeting ended well, and everyone parted as friends. JN

28 July 2016 - Red Bull meeting
Intro and outline of the night's agenda from John Nye  ●  Brief talk about The Cambridge Bob Dylan Society website, again by John Nye, which now includes a large section for Freewheelin'-on-line  ●  John Stokes put 'Another Side of Bob Dylan' under the spotlight and we played 'To Ramona'  ●  Allen Purvis looked at Dylan and motorbike accidents - he's had a few! One ended his 66 tour, and spawned a whole new musical direction for him  ●  Jeff Stevens gave a topical look at Eric Andersen, a Dylan contemporary from the 60s Greenwich Village folk scene  ●  David Palmer talked briefly about Dylan's most recent studio recordings  ●  Chris Cooper and David Palmer on the newly-surfaced 1985 audio of Dylan in the studio and in rehearsal  ●  Chris Cooper then discussed Bob Dylan as chauffeur in the film Paradise Cove (1999) and how we all missed it  ●  Chris Cooper on a newly-sourced BBC Madhouse On Castle Street audio  ●  We also played a previously unknown version of Dylan singing Masters of War from Root Hog Or Die, a 6 LP [vinyl] collection released in January and featuring 100 of Alan Lomax's finest field recordings to celebrate his 100th birthday - a centennial tribute  ●  David Palmer on Blonde on Blonde and more proof that the UK release date was not in May, as widely celebrated earlier this year, but may have been as late as August  ●  Chris Rolph ended the evening on the trials and tribulations of collecting Bob Dylan vinyl bootlegs. He showed some rare items from his vast collection. JN

29 September 2016 - Red Bull meeting
Intro and outline of the night's agenda from John Nye  ●  News of the sad passing of Rita Miller, a long-time friend of TCBDS, who - together with her husband Eric - used to be a regular at our video nights before retiring to Hunstanton  ●  John Stokes put 'Under The Red Sky' in the spotlight and 'Born In Time' won the vote  ●  Allen Purvis talked briefly about a new exhibition of Dylan art coming to Cambridge in October  ●  John Nye started the discussion on 'The 1966 Live Recordings', the 36 CD boxset being released by Sony in November  ●  Jeff Stevens talked briefly about Glenn Horowitz, the man who brokered the deal that set up The Bob Dylan Archive in Tulsa, and played extracts from a radio interview with the archive's curator Michael Chaiken  ●  John Nye played two videos showing deliveries being unboxed and examined at The Bob Dylan Archive in Tulsa  ●  John Stokes on 'The Desert Trip', where Dylan shares a line-up with The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Roger Waters, The Who and Neil Young - and they do it twice over two weekends!  ●  Chris Cooper with memories of seeing Bob Dylan in Bristol in 1966  ●  Mark Makin talked about Dylan in Manchester at the Free Trade Hall in 1966  ●  It's the 30th anniversary of the film 'Hearts Of Fire' - Chris Cooper and Mark Makin were extras in the audience at Colston Hall, Bristol, during the filming and both told their stories  ●  Chris Cooper introduced two new videos from the 'Hearts of Fire' filming - Dylan signing autographs from the stage at Colston Hall, Bristol, and a complete unused take of 'Had A Dream About You, Baby'  ●  Mark Makin on taking those now famous and iconic 1966 'Judas' pictures at Manchester's Free Trade Hall and the legal battle that followed decades later after publication. JN

24 November 2016 - Red Bull meeting
Intro and outline of the night's agenda from John Nye  ●  John Stokes put the 1973 album 'Dylan' under the spotlight and we played 'Spanish Is The Loving Tongue'  ●  John Nye and John Stokes on the critics-eye view of Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize for Literature - The Good, The Bad and The Funny  ●  The Beaten Path - train tracks and country roads with a US backdrop. Allen Purvis looked at Bob Dylan's new art exhibition currently in London  ●  Jeff Stevens read from David Remnick's 'New Yorker' profile on the late Leonard Cohen, which includes recent Dylan comments on Leonard Cohen's work  ●  David Palmer on Bob Dylan's just finished US tour, including semi-pro video of Dylan and the band at The Desert Trip 1 concert [7 Oct 2016] performing High Water (For Charley Patton)  ●  The 40th anniversary of The Last Waltz concert at the Winterland Arena, San Francisco on 25 November 1976, plus video of Hazel, from the concert  ●  'Bob Dylan - The 1966 Live Recordings: The untold story behind the recordings' - the official promo video for the 1966 box-set  ●  Chris Cooper on Clinton Heylin's new book 'Judas!'  ●  In 1966 there was... well now we know! The 36 CD box-set with Chris Cooper looking at all its twists and turns  ●  'Rumours and assorted facts' surrounding the next big mega CD package from Sony - the Gospel years, 1979-1981. JN

15 December 2016 - Red Bull meeting
A pre-Christmas video night - not a Bobchat meeting. Nearly 2 hours of semi-pro video of Bob Dylan and his band at The Desert Trips 1 and 2 [7 and 14 October 2016, Indio Polo Club, Indio, CA]. JN

*The Nowhere Café can be found here.

●  For Bobchat, page 2 [2017-2019] click here.

●  Links to other websites may not still be active.

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