Banquet speech by Bob Dylan given by the United States Ambassador to Sweden Azita Raji, at the Nobel Banquet, 10 December 2016.

Good evening, everyone. I extend my warmest greetings to the members of the Swedish Academy and to all of the other distinguished guests in attendance tonight.

I’m sorry I can’t be with you in person, but please know that I am most definitely with you in spirit and honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize. Being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature is something I never could have imagined or seen coming. From an early age, I’ve been familiar with and reading and absorbing the works of those who were deemed worthy of such a distinction: Kipling, Shaw, Thomas Mann, Pearl Buck, Albert Camus, Hemingway. These giants of literature whose works are taught in the schoolroom, housed in libraries around the world and spoken of in reverent tones have always made a deep impression. That I now join the names on such a list is truly beyond words.
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Tune in tonight at 7pm Atlantic for Tonight’s Listening Party Album: Slow Train Coming
(6pm Eastern, 5pm Central, 3pm Pacific, 11pm London, 10am Sydney)

Slow Train Coming is the nineteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 20, 1979 by Columbia Records. It was the artist’s first effort since becoming a born-again Christian, and all of the songs either express his strong personal faith, or stress the importance of Christian teachings and philosophy. The evangelical nature of the record alienated many of Dylan’s existing fans; at the same time, many Christians were drawn into his fan base. Slow Train Coming was listed at #16 in the 2001 book CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music.

We’ve also got a special treat lined up today!  Bob might not be in there for his Nobel today, but he’s no stranger to Sweden, so we’re going to play a few of his best concerts in Nobel-land!

We’ve got a special treat lined up today!  Bob might not be in there for his Nobel today, but he’s no stranger to Sweden, so we’re going to play a few of his best concerts in Nobel-land!

UPDATE: You can now watch the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature on-demand on YouTube here, and I would like to express how proud we are of Patti Smith for her performance, and even MORE proud that she stuck with it ’till the end.  She definitely earned that standing ovation!

Tune in tonight at 7pm Atlantic for Tonight’s Listening Party Album: Street-Legal
(6pm Eastern, 5pm Central, 3pm Pacific, 11pm London, 10am Sydney)

Street-Legal is the eighteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on June 15, 1978 by Columbia Records. The album was a serious musical departure for Dylan, who uses a large pop-rock band—complete with female backing vocalists—for the first time.

Following the twin successes of Blood on the Tracks and Desire, Street-Legal was another gold record for Dylan, but it peaked at only #11 on the US Billboard charts, making it his first studio album to miss the US Top 10 since 1964. However, it became his best-selling studio album in the UK, reaching #2 on the charts (his highest position in eight years) and achieving platinum status with 300,000 copies sold (the only other Dylan album to do this was The Essential Bob Dylan).

We’ve also got a special treat lined up for tomorrow!  Bob might not be at the cerimony for his Nobel tomorrow, but he’s no stranger to Sweden, so we’re going to play a few of his best concerts in Nobel-land!

Tune in tonight at 7pm Atlantic for Tonight’s Listening Party Album: Desire
(6pm Eastern, 5pm Central, 3pm Pacific, 11pm London, 10am Sydney)

Desire is the seventeenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 5, 1976 by Columbia Records.  It is one of Dylan’s most collaborative efforts, featuring the same caravan of musicians as the acclaimed Rolling Thunder Revue tours the previous year (later documented on The Bootleg Series Vol. 5). Many of the songs also featured backing vocals by Emmylou Harris and Ronee Blakley. Most of the album was co-written by Jacques Levy, and is composed of lengthy story-songs, two of which quickly generated controversy: the 11-minute-long “Joey”, which is seen as glorifying the violent gangster “Crazy Joey” Gallo, and “Hurricane”, the opening track that tells a passionate account of the murder case against boxer Rubin Carter, whom the song asserts was framed. Carter was released in 1985, after a judge overturned his conviction on appeal.

A well-received follow-up to Blood on the Tracks, Desire reached #1 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart for five weeks, becoming one of Dylan’s top-selling studio albums (currently certified double platinum), while reaching #3 in the UK. It claimed the number one slot on NME Album of the Year. Rolling Stone named Desire #174 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.