Bob Dylan -- Live 1965 - U.K. tour poll

What is your favorite concert from the spring 1965 tour of England? You can vote for two shows. State your favorite and runner-up, and then perhaps say a few words why you think so.

It has been said that Dylan didn't want to do the tour, that he was bored playing solo acoustic. Perhaps that's true, but there's no denying that once he stood before an audience, Dylan became fully engaged. Being the professional that he was, he gave the crowd more than their money's worth. These are committed and deeply felt performances sung in the flat, matter-of-fact voice heard on Bringing It All Back Home, side B. That particular voice is part a conscious choice and partly how the sungs wanted to be sung. Throughout the brief tour, Dylan is the consummate musician on guitar and harmonica. The setlist did not change, yet each performance is a different reality from the last:

The Times They Are A-Changing
To Ramona
Gates of Eden
If You Gotta Go, Go Now
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
Love Minus Zero / No Limit
Mr. Tambourine Man
Talkin' World War lll Blues
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
With God On Our Side
Sher Belongs to Me
It Ain't Me Babe
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
All I Really Want to Do
encore -- It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

The BBC concert from three weeks later is included in the poll because it is in the same spirit as the April-May shows but offers evolution in Dylan's delivery and setlist.

Further, this series of concerts would become important in the annals of rock & roll. Like Bobby Neuwirth says in DONT LOOK BACK, nobody had ever heard anything like this before. The association of ideas, the sentiments expressed, the stories being told, the intellectual content had never happened in music. These eight concerts followed by the BBC broadcast would largely be responsible for ushering in enormous cultural and social change, to say nothing of their impact on popular music.

The concerts were recorded either by Columbia or by the film crew shooting the documentary DONT LOOK BACK. They were officially released as an mp3 download for a limited time for purchasers of the Limited Edition 18-disc box-set THE CUTTING EDGE which celebrated the 50th anniversary of Dylan's milestone albums in 1965-66, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde and Blonde.

 

I really liked the Liverpool show and my other choice was the BBC were you get some different songs from those of the tour set. I can't speak for Bob but it was interesting to hear the crowd response to songs from Freewheelin indicating it was a record they knew well. For Bob that album and Times were of course ancient history. I think the UK were lucky to get this tour as when Bob finally went to Australia and Europe in 1966 they did not get any old folk/protest Dylan even though people were still buying the early albums.

 

I'm having a hard time deciding which concert I like the best. Definitely the BBC concert which may be Dylan's finest acoustic hour. But I have to choose another one, too.

"The Times They Are A-Changin'" was a hit single in England during the week of these concerts. Much to my surprise, "Talkin' World War lll Blues" gets the warmest and most enthusiastic reception of all the songs each night. Says something about the mindset of the time, people related to that talking-blues-humor with its killer line about discovering Donovan in the closet.

 

Yes they sure did like "Talkin' World War lll Blues". One of my favourite Talkin' Blues was John Birch. Wonder if Bob will ever go back and do one of those Talkin' Blues in concert again? Or write a new one? Maybe "Talkin' Steve Hoffman Audiophile Never Ending Quest For The Best Sound on CD Blues".

 

Forgot to include the setlist from the BBC concert 1 June 1965:

Ballad Of Hollis Brown
Mr Tambourine Man
Gates Of Eden
If You Gotta Go, Go Now
Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
It Ain't Me Babe
Love Minus Zero / No Limit
One Too Many Mornings
Boots Of Spanish Leather
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
She Belongs To Me
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

 

The inclusion of One Too Many Mornings and Boots Of Spanish Leather in the BBC concert tips the balance for me. Even making up for the absence of To Ramona.

 

You get to choose two concerts, you know. You favorite and a runner-up.

"To Ramona" is a highlight of the brief tour. Only the second song in the set, and Dylan juices every word each night. There is more than a hint of the cantor in his phrasing.

The lighthearted and humorous "All I Really Want to Do" and "Talkin' World War lll Blues" -- the latter always a crowd pleaser, for some reason -- are dropped from the BBC concert. The addition of Ballad of Hollis Brown -- a downbeat opener -- One Too Many Mornings, and Boots of Spanish Leather takes a step back to the folk days he's trying to leave behind, yet he delivers both songs wholeheartedly. I love the calm, meditative almost flat voice that Dylan sings in. The guitar interacts perfectly with the voice, and the harmonica soars. The performance also boasts the most measured and careful phrasing of Dylan's career. Although it's a solo acoustic performance, it's really a rock concert in spirit. I have a hunch that if the videotape is ever discovered the visual will show a brighter expression even as the voice remains steadfastly serious.

Despite the rough quality of the tape, the BBC concert might be my all-time favorite Bob Dylan performance. It is certainly one of his finest hours if not thee finest.

 

I've always wondered about this show - I have one track that's in much, much better quality than either the copyright version or commonly circulating. So some where, this exists in higher quality! Great show.

 

Which song is it?

Have you heard the upgraded fan tape of the BBC broadcast? A line recording patched into the soundbox on the TV as opposed to the commonly circulating tape of a microphone held up to a TV speaker.

If the Dylan organization has a soundboard tape, they kept it to themselves. Fortunately, the official download used the upgraded fan tape. It's an okay tape and I enjoy it. Dylan's performance is strong enough to overcome the compromise in sound quality. It's classic Dylan from his best period.

 

I have the upgraded version, the original (which was just a mic pointed at the TV speakers, I believe) and the song that sounds significantly better that I have is 'If You Gotta Go'.

 

Manchester and BBC for me.

 

Perhaps someone spread it as a teaser or the song was rebroadcast on some long-lost clipshow and that was recorded using the line-out. Who knows?

 

Hmm. Are you sure it's not from one of the other concerts?

 

Just double checked, dead certain.

 

Nice review of the BBC show. I have always loved this performance although it would not be an all time favourite. I am glad (being a grumpy old git) that 2 of the humorous songs are dropped. I agree with your observation that including Hollis Brown takes it back to the old folky days. Bob's last entirely solo show.

 

The three best-sounding shows from that download are May 1st, 5th and 7th. I chose Free Trade Hall (in a moment for foreboding, perhaps) as the best, with Birmingham the close runner-up. But the version of It's Alright Ma from Birmingham is riveting; seek out the expanded DVD (2 DVDs, book and Subterranean flip-book) of Don't Look Back for footage of this and other great performances.

 

Interesting he should have played Liverpool on May 1st.

That very day, just a few hours earlier, Liverpool had won the FA Cup for the first time in their history after 73 years of trying.

What a day to be a Red Bob fan....wonder if anyone managed to go to both Wembley and the concert?....unlikely, I suppose given the distance between the two and the fact the game went into extra time....

Sorry for the diversion...now back to our previously advertised programme....

 

Re the Manchester download...does it sound better than the old, dare I call it "legendary", bootleg?

I note that the Leicester concert exists as a silver. I presume the source is this official download. Why Leicester, I wonder? From what I have read here it's not necessarily the best sounding show.

 

There were no "bad" concerts in 1965. I don't why Leicester was chosen for an individual bootleg of the unofficial kind. I haven't seen it, but the entire 1965 Live download has been collected in a 15-CD box-set. I bought mine for a gouging $70. Then the manufacturer seems to have backed off and remaining copies now sell upwards of $700. At that rate I wouldn't be surprised if each concert comes out individually on a silver, if they haven't already. One hopes that the Dylan organization will take note of the demand and high prices and put the unofficial bootleggers out of business by releasing Live 1965 properly and upgrading it in the process.

 

I wasn't asking whether Leicester was the best show or a bad one. In fact, I never suggested that there were any "bad" 1965 concerts.

My query was whether it was the concert that had the best sound on the officially released MP3s.

I'm very happy you responded to my post but why do you begin with a rebuttal to a suggestion that was never made?

PS: Ironically, as I write this, Leicester is the only show in the poll that has zero votes!

 

I might have worded that better.

Leicaster is a professional line recording in perfectly acceptable quality, but it is neither the worst nor the best sound in the Live 1965 download. I don't know how to rate it, actually, except to say that it would sound a lot better if it were not an MP3. I'm not happy with the sound on any of the officially released MP3's. The MP3's downgrade the quality of the recordings and diminish Dylan's performances.

That having been said, I enjoy Leicester. Dylan works hard on that stage. The performance is fine and the audience responds enthusiastically.

This poll needs more votes and more people posting their thoughts on the sound, the performances, etc.

 

Yes! The other thing they could consider is leaving in the on stage Bob talk ... from memory, that was excised on the free gift release.

 

Good suggestion.

It was hardly necessary, cutting the audience ambience and on-stage remarks.

 

I changed my vote, from Sheffield to Liverpool.
The recording sparkles insofar as the mp3's allow and you can hear nuances in Dylan's delivery clearly.
The Beatles were in their box at stage left, eating their hearts out.

 

Who else would buy Brimingham or Free Trade Hall on vinyl?