Bob Dylan - The Rolling Thunder Revue - The 1975 Live Recordings [14 CD, 2019] [FLAC]

 

The Rolling Thunder Revue era in Bob Dylan’s career maintains a central place apparently. The 14-disc Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings is the third release in his catalogue to document it. The first was Hard Rain, for a 1978 television special. 2002’s double-disc Bootleg Volume 5 compiled selected performances from the first leg of the tour. This box offers five complete Dylan concerts from 1975: four from Massachusetts, one from Montreal, three discs of rehearsals, and a disc of rarities. 119 of 148 tracks were previously unreleased. 

Shows were announced shortly in advance of bookings in small venues, including a stage at a mahjong convention. The music crisscrosses Dylan’s past and present, and features a star-studded cast: Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Joni Mitchell, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Neuwirth, Scarlet Rivera, Ronee Blakley, T-Bone Burnett, Mick Ronson, Steven Soles, Rob Stoner, Howie Wyeth, and David Mansfield. Dylan’s face was covered by a mask or greasepaint, his head by an enormous gaucho hat adorned in flowers, all captured by a camera crew shooting what would become the four-hour Renaldo and Clara film. This ramble was a precursor for the ongoing Neverending Tour. It followed the release of Blood on the Tracks, and preceded Desire and Street Legal, the most musically diverse period in Dylan’s career.

Two of the three rehearsal discs from S.I.R. studios are worthy of a cursory listen, especially “Rita May,” “People Get Ready,” and incomplete takes of “Hollywood Angel,” and “Gwenevere.” The third disc is better and offers fine takes of “Easy and Slow,” “One More Cup of Coffee,” and “Hurricane.” The shows follow an equally loose format but are more kinetic. While the track list doesn’t change much night to night, arrangements do. Among the many highlights are re-visioned versions of “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll,” “I Shall Be Released,” and Blowin’ in the Wind.” Each night’s gig ended with the ensemble offering Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” as a closer — there were no encores. As concerts progress, the band gets tighter. The final two shows in Boston and Montreal deliver sometimes-revelatory performances of “Hurricane,” “Tangled Up in Blue,” “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You,” and “Isis.” There are also true gems on the final “Rare Performances” disc: Alongside “One Too Many Mornings” (captured at Gerte’s Folk City) and “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” (from the Tuscarora Reservation) are wily covers of Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and shambolic reads of the folk song “Jesse James” and Smokey Robinson’s “Tracks of My Tears.” Some material appears in Martin Scorsese’s Netflix film Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story. The concerts all have excellent sound. While this box is only essential for hardcore Dylanophiles, it’s immeasurably valuable for the way it illuminates a wildly spontaneous period in the songwriter’s career.

Discs 1-2: October 19, 1975 – S.I.R. Rehearsals, New York, NY

1. Rake and Ramblin’ Boy * +
2. Romance in Durango * +
3. Rita May *
4. I Want You # +
5. Love Minus Zero/No Limit * +
6. She Belongs to Me * +
7. Joey +
8. Isis
9. Hollywood Angel +
10. People Get Ready # ~
11. What Will You Do When Jesus Comes? #
12. Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
13. The Ballad of Ira Hayes
14. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) *
15. Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You
16. This Land Is Your Land
17. Dark as a Dungeon *

1. She Belongs to Me #
2. A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall
3. Isis
4. This Wheel’s on Fire/Hurricane/All Along the Watchtower
5. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
6. If You See Her, Say Hello
7. One Too Many Mornings #
8. Gwenevere +
9. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts +
10. Patty’s Gone to Laredo #
11. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)

Disc 3: October 29, 1975 – Seacrest Motel Rehearsals, Falmouth, MA

1. Tears of Rage
2. I Shall Be Released
3. Easy and Slow
4. Ballad of a Thin Man
5. Hurricane
6. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
7. Just Like a Woman
8. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

Discs 4-5: November 19, 1975 – Memorial Auditorium, Worcester, MA

1. When I Paint My Masterpiece
2. It Ain’t Me, Babe
3. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
4. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
5. Romance in Durango
6. Isis
7. Blowin’ in the Wind
8. Wild Mountain Thyme
9. Mama, You Been on My Mind
10. Dark as a Dungeon
11. I Shall Be Released

1. Tangled Up in Blue
2. Oh, Sister
3. Hurricane ^ *
4. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
5. Sara
6. Just Like a Woman
7. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
8. This Land Is Your Land

Discs 6-7: November 20, 1975 – Harvard Square Theater, Cambridge, MA

1. When I Paint My Masterpiece
2. It Ain’t Me, Babe # ~ ^
3. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
4. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry *
5. Romance in Durango ^ *
6. Isis
7. Blowin’ in the Wind *
8. Wild Mountain Thyme
9. Mama, You Been on My Mind ^
10. Dark as a Dungeon
11. I Shall Be Released

1. Simple Twist of Fate ^ *
2. Oh, Sister
3. Hurricane
4. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
5. Sara
6. Just Like a Woman #
7. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door # ^
8. This Land Is Your Land

Discs 8-9: November 21, 1975 – Afternoon – Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA

1. When I Paint My Masterpiece
2. It Ain’t Me, Babe
3. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
4. A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall
5. Romance in Durango
6. Isis
7. The Times They Are a-Changin’
8. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
9. Mama, You Been on My Mind
10. Never Let Me Go
11. I Shall Be Released ^

1. Mr. Tambourine Man ^
2. Oh, Sister
3. Hurricane
4. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
5. Sara ^
6. Just Like a Woman
7. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
8. This Land Is Your Land

Discs 10-11: November 21, 1975 – Evening – Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA

1. When I Paint My Masterpiece
2. It Ain’t Me, Babe
3. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll ^
4. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry # ^
5. Romance in Durango
6. Isis ^
7. Blowin’ in the Wind ^
8. The Water Is Wide ^
9. Mama, You Been on My Mind
10. Dark as a Dungeon
11. I Shall Be Released

1. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
2. Tangled Up in Blue # ^
3. Oh, Sister ^
4. Hurricane
5. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) ^
6. Sara
7. Just Like a Woman ^
8. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
9. This Land Is Your Land

Discs 12-13: December 4, 1975 – Forum de Montreal, Montreal, Canada

1. When I Paint My Masterpiece
2. It Ain’t Me, Babe
3. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll *
4. Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You ^
5. A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall # ^ *
6. Romance in Durango #
7. Isis # ~
8. Blowin’ in the Wind
9. Dark as a Dungeon
10. Mama, You Been on My Mind
11. Never Let Me Go # ~
12. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine *
13. I Shall Be Released

1. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue ^
2. Love Minus Zero/No Limit ^
3. Tangled Up in Blue
4. Oh, Sister
5. Hurricane
6. One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below) # *
7. Sara #
8. Just Like a Woman
9. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
10. This Land Is Your Land

Disc 14: Bonus Disc – Rare Performances

1. One Too Many Mornings (October 24 – Gerdes Folk City, New York City, New York) *
2. Simple Twist of Fate (October 28 – Mahjong Parlor, Falmouth, MA) *
3. Isis (November 2 – Technical University, Lowell, MA)
4. With God on Our Side (November 4 – Afternoon – Civic Center, Providence, RI)
5. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) (November 4 – Evening – Civic Center, Providence, RI)
6. Radio advertisement for Niagara Falls, NY shows
7. The Ballad of Ira Hayes (November 16 – Tuscarora Reservation, NY) *
8. Your Cheatin’ Heart (November 23) *
9. Fourth Time Around (November 26 – Civic Center, Augusta, Maine)
10. The Tracks of My Tears (December 3 – Chateau Champlain, Montreal Canada)
11. Jesse James (December 5 – Montreal Stables, Montreal, Canada)
12. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (December 8 – “Night of the Hurricane,” Madison Square Garden, New York, NY)

On Discs 1-13:
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
Joan Baez – vocals and guitar on “Tears of Rage,” “I Shall Be Released,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Wild Mountain Thyme,” “Mama, You Been on My Mind,” “Dark as a Dungeon,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine,” “Never Let Me Go,” “The Water Is Wide,” and “This Land Is Your Land”
Roger McGuinn – guitar and vocals on “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and ”This Land Is Your Land”
Guam: Bobby Neuwirth – guitar, vocals
; Scarlet Rivera – violin
; T Bone J. Henry Burnett – guitar, vocals; Steven Soles – guitar, vocals
; Mick Ronson – guitar
; David Mansfield – steel guitar, mandolin, violin, dobro; Rob Stoner – bass, vocals
; Howie Wyeth – drums, piano
; Luther Rix – drums, percussion, congas
; Ronee Blakley – vocals
; Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – vocals, guitar
; Allen Ginsberg – vocals, finger cymbals; Joni Mitchell – vocals

On Disc 14:
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
Joan Baez – vocals (2)
Rob Stoner – bass (2)
Eric Andersen, Arlen Roth – guitars (2)
Guam (3, 10, 12)
Larry Keegan – vocals (8)
Robbie Robertson – guitar (12)

# included in the film Renaldo and Clara (1978)
~ released on 4 Songs From Renaldo and Clara EP (Columbia AS 422, 1978)
^ released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975 – The Rolling Thunder Revue (Columbia C2K 87047, 2002)
* included in the film Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019)
+ incomplete