Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings - Sony 36-CD box-set - November 11th 2016

Sitting here listening to the Paris show again.... still one of my favorites.. of all the board recordings, I think this is one of the best next to the CBS recordings of course... On a lot of the other board recordings Bob's voice is way high in the mix, I think the Paris show has a sweet balance... Of course the audience interaction is priceless - "I want to get out of here as fast as you want to get out of here." "Didn't you bring a magazine to read or something?"

But damn, that cut "Desolation Row" from this show still stings like hell........

 

Gladly. Thanks.

 

Did your dog cock his leg over your cereal this morning? Don't read it if it bothers you so much. (By the way, sorry for mentioning dogs and cereal, both of which are totally irrelevant.)

 

Who gives a toss? Well, probably all those people who compulsively obsess over the minutiae of Dylan's life, recording sessions, tour schedules, garbage cans, unreleased vault materials etc. And no, I'm certainly not one of them!

 

Yes, I do, in the main! Biographies are far more interesting and revealing; the people actually behind the recorded music. Reviews of recorded music can also be very useful for assessing the potential value to the individual (assuming you cannot hear the music prior to purchase) and for providing some historic or cultural context. In general though I prefer to let the music 'speak' for itself, especially a series of identical concerts and their respective recordings. I don't need Heylin or anyone else to hold my hand through the experience.

 

Yes, even as a huge fan of Dylan's vocals, I find myself much more partial to the shows here where his voice sits comfortably in the overall mix - otherwise, to me it can be a little grating (and this is no knock on Alderson's abilities, as it's nearly mirculous he managed to attain the overall level of quality he did in most of these shows). I think it's these particular shows that I'll be returning to on a more regular basis.

 

you do often have negative things to say, about most everything

 

So? I also say positive things. The point is to comment about how one feels, surely? Or is there some memo I've missed?

 

I love Manchester, and I don't think any other electric set is going to push Manchester out of my heart. But if I have a gripe with Manchester, it's the distant/muddy vocals on "Tell Me Momma" and "Ballad of a Thin Man". With this box, it's awesome to have shows where Bob's vocal IS too far up in the mix on those two songs. So now I get to hear those vocals really really well. I used to write off the notion of ever knowing the words to "Tell Me Momma" (as nebulous as they sometimes are), but with this variety of mixes (not to mention tons of repetition), the unthinkable has occurred.

 

Here's a memo. Or a completely irrelevant film clip that I just happen to like.

 

I do believe, in the context of Dylan's Nobel and all of the controversy about honoring him in Hibbing, that a little insight into his background in small town America is interesting to some. Many people in Hibbing who are under 70 complain that he doesn't come back to Hibbing anymore, indeed hate him and castigate him for it. Younger people do not understand that it is very common for an older person whose parents are dead and gone, whose home is occupied by someone else, whose neighborhood has changed drastically, whose friends are mostly gone to NEVER want to even set their eyes on the place again. Never. That doesn't mean you are cold or a jerk. Perhaps it means you have too much heart and soul invested in the place to destroy that. Anyway, Hibbing is not just any small town. It is the only small town where the world's largest iron mine came right to the edge of the town. Those lands are now reclaimed and abandoned, as the mining shifted slightly northward. It's a healthy town, and not desolate or deteriorating as are many small American towns. And Dylan was not unusual in getting out of Hibbing when he was 18. The majority of American youth have been leaving their hometown, no matter where it is, for the last 60 years.

 

Sure, but why post the obituary of someone who might have gone to school with him? I just don't get it. If someone did that for one of my loved ones I would be furious - it's demeaning.

 

The Bristol electric set is hitting me like a baseball bat to the cortex this morning. That Baby Let Me Follow You Down is absolutely transcendent. Thin Man is as vitriolic as it is delicate. And I can never get sick of hearing the way Robbie Robertson's guitar lines evolve as the tour continues.

This set is just the best thing, you guys.

 

We get it, you're offended by this--but seem to be the only one worked up about it.

 

So you're not interested in the historical context/background?

What the musicians were doing in their lives while the music was being created/played?

How the audience reacted?

Etc....

And, in any case, Heylin's book is not a review of the music. It's the story of the tour.

 

"Calmer than you are...."

heh heh

BTW, I'd rank this movie alongside Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player.

 

For all the discussion we've had about the appropriate metadata for each 1966 concert, it should be noted that The Dude's cassette tape with "The Man in Me" on it is simply labeled "Side B: BOB".

 

I'm still several months away from deciding which is the best acoustic set and which is the best electric set and which is best vocal etc etc. My favorite night is the one I'm listening to. It's all good, or rather it's all brilliant. And it takes my mind off the news, which is sickening.

 

Completely agreed. With everything.

 

He kept in touch with some Hibbing pals for a long time after he'd left and even went to his High School reunion in 1969 (the same year Janis Joplin went to hers). Apparently, it didn't go too well as a couple of people insulted him. I hear he's not been back since.

 

Finally getting to a point where I can listen to these shows without inspecting all the elements.
Randomly had Copenhagen on while getting some work done and thought DAMN that's good.

This box isn't fallling out of rotation - EVER. The boots never drifted far from the stereo, so that's just a fact.

 

The Copenhagen LARS knocked my socks off.

 

I took the plunge and ordered this set, the box arrived today. I've never purchased any of these huge concert sets, like the ones by the Dead or any others, but I'm looking forward to digging into this set, after the 90s this is my favorite Dylan period. I guess I should just start with disc one, or maybe the Royal Albert Hall concert. Decisions, decisions...

 

Side A is a bowling tournament.