Key developments
Cover-community revival for To Be Alone With You
In a June 1 post on bob-dylan.org.uk, Jochen Markhorst spotlights Jan Barten's 2020s cover of 'To Be Alone With You' with guest vocalist Fons Havermans. The piece recaps the Nashville Skyline track's 2:06 runtime, Dylan's claim that he wrote it for Jerry Lee Lewis, and the May 17, 1970 attempt to pitch it to Earl Scruggs, later preserved in Bootleg Series Vol. 15 material. Markhorst says the song has appeared about 300 times since Shadow Kingdom in 2021, compared with 129 performances across roughly the previous thirty years.
Why it matters
It shows a once-neglected Dylan deep cut becoming both a live staple and a cover-community target.
Sources & driving stories
BOB-DYLAN · Jochen Markhorst
bob-dylan coverageBoy Drinks Ink review revisits Rough and Rowdy Ways
Boy Drinks Ink's May 31 review frames Rough and Rowdy Ways as a late-career comeback and Dylan's 39th studio album, released after his standards and Sinatra covers run. The review emphasizes the record's sparse production and dense lyricism, with 'Murder Most Foul' as the centerpiece and tracks like 'I Contain Multitudes,' 'False Prophet,' and 'My Own Version of You' singled out for their themes of contradiction, rejection, and creation.
Why it matters
It keeps Dylan's 2020 album in current critical circulation and reinforces its reputation as a major late-era statement.
Sources & driving stories
BOY DRINKS INK
Boy Drinks Ink coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Dylan singled out Zevon's Desperado Under the Eaves
Far Out's June 1 piece surfaces Dylan's 2009 assessment that Warren Zevon's standout song combines multiple layers of songwriting and emotional bleakness.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will the filmed Scruggs pitch ever surface?
The June 1 Dylan blog says the 1970 Earl Scruggs clip was filmed but left out of the documentary, so unreleased archival material may still exist.
OPEN QUESTION
Which deep cuts could get a Shadow Kingdom lift?
To Be Alone With You's post-2021 surge suggests Dylan's rewrites can dramatically change a song's live afterlife.