1 Introduction

After spending some time recording material for Down In The Groove in the spring, Dylan reappeared together with The Grateful Dead for six summer shows in July. However the boyish image from last summer is now dramatically changed to the extreme opposite. Dylan is suddenly an old man, bearded, with an aching back, nearsighted, silent between songs and silent between shows. During the summer tour with The Grateful Dead and the Temples In Flames Tour in Europe in the fall he says not one single word in 36 concerts and he gives no interviews at all. Dylan 1987 - what happened?

2 1987 At A Glance

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3 The 1987 Calendar

19 February	Dylan makes a guest appearance at a Taj Mahal concert at Palomino in Hollywood, California.
February	Another sideman job, this time Dylan is playing harmonica on a Warren Zevon recording session. The released track is called The Factory and is found on the Sentimental Hygiene album, released in August, 1987.
5 March	Recording sessions for Down In The Groove start in the Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles, California.
11 March	Dylan appears at one of the tribute concerts to George Gershwin at the 50^th anniversary of his death. He performs Soon and the performance is broadcast by ZDF-TV in West Germany, 7 July 1987.
15 April	Dylan records the song Wish I Know Now What I Knew Then, supposedly an original Dylan song with Ringo Starr and his band at the Three Alarm Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. The song remains unreleased but circulates.
20 April	Dylan makes yet another guest appearance, now at a U2-concert at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
16 June	Last Down In The Groove recording session.
June	Dylan and The Grateful Dead rehearse in Club Front in San Rafael, California.
June	Dylan finds time to join U2 in Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee to record a joint composition with Bono, Love Rescue Me. It is released on the U2 album Rattle And Hum, October 1988.
July	Dylan and The Grateful Dead perform six shows together.
5 September	The European tour, named Temples In Flames starts with two shows in Israel, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
17 October	The tour ends in London, England, with four shows at the Wembley Arena.

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4 Down In The Groove

The recording of Down In The Groove took place during a number of sessions starting in March and ending in June. Most songs recorded were covers. A number of titles are probably just the sound engineer’s best guess, and these songs may or may not be Dylan compositions. There are many details missing and the summaries below give only a fragmentary picture.

Summary:

		released on
Date	Song	DITG[1]	P1 [2]	P2 [3]	BEST[4]	FLK[5]
5 March	Street People
	Side Walks
	Sugaree
	My Prayer
27 March	Sally Sue Brown	X	X	X
	Wood In Steel
	Heaven
	Shake Your Money
	Chain Gang
	If You Need Me
3, 11 April	Branded Man
	Chain Gang
	If You Need Me
	Ninety Miles An Hour (Down A Dead End Street)	X	X	X
	Making Believe
	Darkness Before Dawn
	Just When I Needed You Most
	Important Words
	When Did You Leave Heaven?	X	X	X
	Willie And The Hand Jive