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

An article by Michael (Archives) Chaiken which briefly touches on the filming of the 1966 tour:-

Archive Fever Dreams: Inside the Bob Dylan Archive - From the Current - The Criterion Collection

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I particularly enjoyed reading the lines that were edited out of "Ballad of a Thin Man": "Your face is so serious / How fantastically absurd / You ask obnoxious questions and expect answers in one word.”

I can SO easily imagine Dylan singing those lines.

 

Sorry to reply to myself, but I can also understand why he cut those lyrics. But had they turned up on, say, the Paris or RAH2 tapes, I wouldn't have been too surprised. Or complained.

 

The Sheffield gig sounds amazing. A highlight

 

I could see him cutting those lyrics because they pin the song down more than he probably wanted to be pinned down. But they're still pretty cool.

 

I am sure that this has been answered so forgive me, but is the set missing anything that has circulated before on boots? Was anything edited out of the shows?

 

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

 

Just wanted to brag that we had already put together the Westchester venue info with the P4S promo,
at least back in the Cutting Edge thread.

I'm just bragging about the great info in these threads, not trying to be pedantic heh heh

 

Thanks!

 

Interesting take on this!
I never thought about it before but I'm sure there was certainly some competitive tension in the air between these two.

 

I've listened to all 36 and will be relistening soon. Not a lot of talk about the Pittsburgh and White Plains shows - granted the sound is bad but they are interesting nevertheless. White Plains audience is the most enthusiastic of any show in the box. They applaud all the "old" numbers, applaud the harmonica solos in Baby Blue and MTM (laughing at the same time at the audacity of the repetition), laugh at lines in Johanna no other audi nice does (like "she sure has a lot of gall" and "you can tell by the way she smiles (Mona Lisa)." Reaction to Tell Me Momma is positive. No booing of any kind. Dylan must have wished all the audiences were as receptive as White Plains.

Pittsburgh electric numbers show the band, especially Robbie, are on fire. And Dylan nails the vocal to Positively 4th Street, in total contrast to Sydney's vocal.

 

And how! There's this testy conversation they had in the taxi. And later Lennon recorded some scathing parodies of Dylan, like "Serve Yourself", although he never meant to release them.

 

Folks,
I thought it might be useful to pull together a selection of forums comments on the 1966 shows, organized by concert.

My apologies if I missed some commentary or failed to note the author.

Also - don’t miss the terrific detailed reviews, concert by concert, by HominyRhodes and TyroneSlothrop.

----------------------------------------------------

White Plains, N.Y., Feb. 5, 1966

Heylin book: Apparently they played "One of us must know" once in White Plains, NY. If true, we were THIS close to having a recording. The taper got the acoustic set and 2 electric songs (only).

matt79rome89: Fascinating early recording of the tour, albeit poor quality. The audience, minus a giggling woman close to the recorder during Desolation Row, is stupendous. Completely engaged. Bob seems to feed off it and the acoustic portion is reminiscent of his energetic sets from 1963. US audiences oftentimes get a bad rap for being less enthusiastic than those across the pond or farther south, but I'll be interested to hear if any other crowd is this attentive and positive. Perhaps the Alderson tapes don't pick that up?

Anyway, the stoner 1966 voice (which I love) is already creeping into White Plains, but not nearly as noticeable as it will become later on. Kind of a hybrid 1965/1966. The crowd's reaction to Visions of Johanna (Freeze-out) as it unfolds is priceless as the tune is unbeknownst to them yet they hang on every word. Certain lines I never really gave much credence to, like "muttering small talk at the wall while I'm in the hall", take a whole new meaning here when presented to a fresh crowd. It feels like they jump out of their chairs after the Mona Lisa line. Good stuff.

The electric portion is definitely more challenging to listen to given the recording quality, but still nice to hear Tell Me Momma in its infancy. Definitely not as buttoned up as they will become, but still raw and energetic. A woman (?) close to the recorder says "I love that one, that was (?) awesome (?)" afterwards, which again speaks to how progressive this crowd is. I like the ebb and flow of I Don't Believe You, which seems a little more delicate than what it will become later. Too bad this is all we have...

Sydney, April 13
-soundboard, TCN 9 TV-

Does anybody recall the show where Bob Dylan joked about playing A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall? I think someone in the audience shouted it out as a request and he responded by saying, "Hard rain...hard rain...haha". – It’s Sydney April 13, before Just like Tom Thumb’s blues.

Melbourne, April 19
- audience tape that arrived only at last minute-

Comment: Has anybody yet pointed out that the April 19 Melbourne audience recording of Desolation Row on CD 35 is incomplete? It's missing the, er, penultimate and antepenultimate verses ("Now at midnight.../Praise be...") but includes the last verse. At 9:27, it's shorter than any other version listed as 'complete'. The join occurs at about 6:53, suggesting that a 30-minute tape had run out.

Melbourne, April 20
-soundboard-

- Show after Dylan up all night due to drug bust


Stockholm
-audience

Copenhagen
-soundboard-

Comment: Richard Danko bass is way up in mix

I thoroughly enjoyed the Copenhagen show which ended with that fabulous version of LARS, you could really tell the audience loved it and Bob's joy at the enthusiastic applause is wonderful to hear.

The Copenhagen “Like a Rolling Stone” is completely unlike the 1966 ones I've heard before (RAH, Manchester.) His singing is rough and precise, and as aggressive as the music. None of those long extended phrasings. Just overall, he has a very clear head during these early discs. Clearly his dosage and dependence would increase as the tour wore on.

Dublin
-soundboard-

Comment: “I don't believe you” - played at a slower pace for only time on tour

Richard Alderson: one of the best

Belfast
-soundboard-

Comment: Belfast is one of the top electric sets from the tour. One Too Many Mornings is the definitive version.

“I don’t believe you” from Belfast was on Biograph

The Belfast acoustic set is wonderful. Could be my favorite '4th Time Around'.’’

Complete Desolation Row

Comment: Garth Hudson's best show

Bristol
-soundboard-

Fourth Time Around at Bristol is beautiful, a very nuanced performance, the guitar playing is more varied than usual

I'll add what Heylin says about the Bristol audience tape:
- someone shouts "Can you turn the volume down please?" after 'I Don't Believe You,' but is ignored.
- "tumultuous applause" after the songs, especially after 'Baby Let Me Follow You Down' - the audience is on Dylan's side. (But the press described more negative audience shouting, apparently not heard on the tape.)
- Dylan's vocals in the electric set are clear on the audience tape, despite how loud the band was and the bad acoustics (sounds like the tape recorder couldn't cope with the noise).

Somebody Naked: Desolation Row in Bristol is played significantly faster than at any other time on the tour;

Bristol is ALREADY my new favorite rendition of Ballad of a Thin Man!

Notesfrom: Yeah, I really like the sound of the Bristol show... It's the sleeper show of the set, I believe - there's just something about it. The big recorded sound, the performance. It's the runner-up to Manchester, in my book, as far as the electric portions go, despite there being five shows standing between them (Sheffield is my choice for best acoustic set; Manchester/Sheffield being shows we already knew about!, of course, but didn't realize how exemplary they were/are til a couple weeks ago).

Even the two songs from the Bristol acoustic set are great - too bad the rest is missing (audience tape aside) - with the lovely auto announcement at the end of the set. That should be a Record Store Day single or EP with two electric songs on the back. I think it was wise to leave the audience-taped acoustic portion of Bristol after the stellar soundboards recordings. I still have the audience tape somewhere in a box, but I don't remember listening to it more than once or twice close to twenty-five years ago.

The soundboard mix is fascinating to hear in the electric set - with its beginnings being bass, drums and piano-heavy - the beat in 'Tell Me Momma' really swings. Robbie almost has his licks down. The buried organ to start with doesn't hold this recording back; it kind of makes it more effective when the organ does finally rise up in the mix halfway through 'Tom Thumb's Blues' - some indication that the tapes are from the same show. Alderson was just sorting it out.

(And he admits in that RS interview that he was on psychedelics during that tour - the cables must have been a jumble of snakes and the sounds must have been as colorful as Pennebakers's camera-eye; Alderson had the best perspective in the house for every single show). Not even the missing portions of 'One Too Many Mornings' can detract from the brilliance of this show. Bob puts a powerful bellow forth in 'Ballad of a thin man,' and Garth's little R2-D2 beep-beep noises during the 'midget' lyrics are prophetically robotic. The prominence of the piano and organ reveals Richard and Garth playing the signature licks from the original CBS single recording of 'Like A Rolling Stone', and it is the clarion call to an age, maybe not a new one or an old one, just 'an' age; whatever Paul Griffin had in his mind was taken from an unwritten gospel songbook and spontaneously called forth into a landmark recording - these being chimes of freedom in the actual sense, and being possibly the greatest of musical lines that Dylan didn't even write, to go with and herald a piece of music and poetry he certainly did write.

Funny thing is that Manuel actually plays the line better and even more pronounced; those notes having become as much a part of the song as the words - an announcement in the song that is a great pocketful of moments whenever it’s played: and now its time for our regularly scheduled vitriolic dance number. Calls for more are met with silence and then the nautical hymn of the queendom bares its soul to the emptying out of a congregation, which would have sounded uncannily like the old national anthem 'God Bless America' to Alderson's ears, conjuring up visions of the Queen's battleships pulling into some exotic port, overlaid with F-4 Phantoms flying in formation, ready to bomb the ever-dying daylights out of some godforsaken place, bombs bursting in some one's hometown. Outrageous. How could someone just rip off that tune and write new lyrics to it as if it was just something to be done?...

Turns out they don't know who wrote 'God Save The King' anyways... I guess it's just a folk song,

Cardiff
-soundboard-

Dylan camp source: one of the best
Heylin liked the Cardiff show - "one of the best shows of the tour."

- The bonus video of 'Like A Rolling Stone' on the 'No Direction Home' DVD is definitely NOT from Newcastle, May 21 as the DVD suggests but from Cardiff, May 11.

Birmingham
-soundboard-

Birmingham is my new favorite acoustic set, despite the cut-offs. He sings beautifully.

Somebody Naked: the way that Dylan snarls "nobody has any RESPECT" in Ballad of a Thin Man in Birmingham

Wow, this set is still revealing gems for me. I listened to the Birmingham acoustic set last night and was entranced by the "Mr. Tambourine Man" performance. Listen to the singing around the second verse. Dylan almost -- veers so close -- goes into his Nashville Skyline voice. Whatever it is, his vocals here are superb, as are the circular harmonica breaks. This is my favorite version of "Tambourine Man" on the set so far.

"Dirt. A piece of dirt on the stage" he says before launching into a time-suspended Mr. Tambourine Man.

Six Bachelors: The Birmingham acoustic is quite incredible. He trundles through She belongs to me, out of tune, and starts Fourth Time Around without bothering to do a proper tune up...and then everything changes and the performance becomes ethereal...astonishing. The words each seem to last an age. Each song seems more vivid than in any of the earlier shows. The transformation from the first song and a bit into this is breathtaking.

asd35: Several posters here have commented along the same lines about Birmingham.
I forget who, but someone said he phrased the acoustic set as a Beat poet would.

He also starts the lyrics to Visions of Johanna sort of off-the-beat, or not when you think he should.

(Back when I was keeping score, Birmingham Visons of Johnna was my favorite.)

Then "Desolation Row" has the only false start (with lyrics) that I can recall from the tour.

These details can pass without notice, but when you lock-in to a show - it's quite a trip.


Liverpool
-soundboard-

Liverpool a significant sonic upgrade. "Tell Me, Momma" sounds a whole lot better than it did on The Band's A Musical History box set.

DeeThomaz:

CD 14 -Liverpool, May 14, 1966 (Soundboard)
4. Mr. Tambourine Man
5. Tell Me, Momma (Incomplete - Drop Out)
6. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)

Why is "Tell Me, Momma" listed as (Incomplete- Drop Out)? Not only do we have a fantastic recording of it from bootleg that's complete, the track was actually released officially on The Band's Musical History box, revealing no such flaws.

Richard Alderson: one of the best. He says Dylan asked for B-side of Just like Tom Thumb’s Blues from this show.

Just Like Tom Thumb’s blues – 1966 B-side single. The Liverpool version has always been incomplete. The first two bars of the single were edited on from Belfast.

“I was a baby once,” start of One Too Many Mornings

Leicester
-soundboard-

Dylan camp source views this as one of the best, according to Rolling Stone

Sheffield
-CBS tape-

Somebody Naked: Anyone who's more than a casual fan would get a huge amount from the beauty of the Sheffield acoustic set

Acoustic set great

I've always loved the acoustic set from Sheffield, especially the version of 'Mr. Tambourine Man' with the "This never happens to my electric guitar" intro. The sound on the disc is a big improvement over what already was a great sounding bootleg called 'A Nightly Ritual'.

On the Sheffield CD, you hear the audience complaining before 'Thin Man,' then suddenly it cuts to the middle of a Dylan sentence: " - say anything after the song - no boos."

Heylin heard a more complete copy, with more Dylan chatter: "Come on, come on... I'm playing this on a Bluthner piano, so you can't say anything after the song - no boos."

Maybe Heylin listened to the Columbia tape and it was more complete at that point; but Alderson's tape shouldn't be cut at that point, so I think this was just a bad digital edit, a production error.

Sheffield is similar to the Sydney tape in that Dylan's vocal is, much of the time, louder than the band, which makes it hard to listen to in places.

I'd been looking forward to this electric set since the acoustic set was so good, but it actually turned out to be one of the weaker electric sets - aside from the unbalanced mix, Dylan sounds rather tired and there wasn't as much energy that night. ('Tom Thumb' came off best, I thought.)

A couple highlights: Dylan's joking introduction to 'Tom Thumb,' and the huge audience protest after 'Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat.'

An interesting audio moment: for the first 40 seconds of 'Baby Let Me Follow You Down,' it sounds like a different source tape - kind of like an audience tape since there's lots of room echo, but then it switches back to the normal mix. (Personally I wish the rest of the show sounded like that part!) Audio switches like these occur now and then across the shows, and make me wonder whether alternate tapes were used for a few incomplete gaps in Alderson's, or if Alderson was just adjusting the mix when he put a new reel on.

I wish they'd included a song at least from the Columbia recording of Sheffield so we could hear if it's as distorted as they claim...

Godstar: The Sheffield gig sounds amazing. A highlight

Manchester
-CBS tape-

Before “Judas,” someone says, “Bob Dylan is the greatest living poet since Dylan Thomas.”

The "Just like Tom Thumb's Blues" soundcheck snippet from Manchester (included in The 1966 Live Recordings on disc 20, track) is in ETD

Glasgow
-soundboard-

Also in that article the Mojo writer quotes someone in the Glasgow audience shouting "Where's Bob Dylan?" and Dylan's reply "He's backstage, he's very sick, I'm taking his place."

"Just like A Woman" from Glasgow is spectacular, so achingly tender. And even that strange thing he does in the final chorus, emphasizing the hard "K"s at the end of a couple of the lines somehow works.

Which helps make up for the heartbreak of the previous track, in which the tape ran out literally between the words "Desolation" and "Row" in the final line of the song. Such a sublime performance cut just short of being perfectly documented.

Listen to "Like a rolling stone” from Glasgow.

Like a rolling stone - Brilliant, repeat maybe 3 times final lyrics, is very powerful and tense version

Edinburgh
-soundboard-

- Other clips from 'No Direction Home' that I noticed on this set: the beginning of 'Ballad Of A Thin Man' where Dylan says, "Richard... Richard..." is from Edinburgh, May 20

The Edinburgh Ballad of a Thin Man is mono in this set but was issued as stereo on No Direction Home. I think it's pretty clear that the NDH version is actually fake stereo, though it's hard to understand Sony taking the trouble to create a stereo version for that project.

The electric half of the Edinburgh show is wild stuff, culminating in a throat-shredding performance of Like a Rolling Stone. Possibly it's a bit too wild for its own good - it certainly isn't pretty - but it's fascinating to hear Bob hurling himself at the songs with such abandon.

Newcastle
-soundboard-

Richard Alderson – Says Newcastle a great show, Bob and Band just wanted to keep playing.

“Just like a woman” introduced as “Hamlet revisited”

~complete Newcastle Thin Man is epic

The Newcastle show has an interesting exchange before 'Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat' - the audience is booing and protesting, and Dylan says, "You're talking to the wrong person.... Liar!"

It's similar to the Manchester incident, but more light-hearted, there's laughing on stage. Can anyone hear more of what's being said?

Before 'Ballad of a Thin Man,' Dylan also mutters to the audience, "I'm a sick man, come on, don't do that. Leave me alone. Shhh."
Newcastle is an all-around excellent show, by the way.

He also begins LARS here with an off-mic, almost inaudible "Listen very carefully. This next song is going to sound a little...different. Live with it" … Or maybe not.

A second "Judas" shout at Newcastle, to me, this is the most startling thing I’ve heard on the boxset. It seems some in the Newcastle audience must have read or heard about the “Judas” incident at Manchester four days earlier. As Dylan is introducing “Leopard-Skin” one or more people yell “Judas” (mixed with “Boo”). Dylan says “You’re talking to the wrong person”. Then a little later at :38 Dylan laughingly says to the band ”It’s Judas again!” and, like an inside joke, he calmly intones: “Liar” and the band has a big laugh with that. Just before the song kicks in, he says “Somebody call the press again.”


How’s the saying go: first time as tragedy, the second time as farce?

CrabbyPantalones said: I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned this yet.

Someone yells "Judas!" again, which causes Dylan to wonder if the guy has returned, and he giggles and comments to the band...something like, "Judas again...ha ha ha" and then he says "liar!" into the mic, and the band members (and audience) laugh.



Paris
-soundboard-

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........

"Like a rolling stone”:
"OK, This next song now is dedicated to the Taj Mahal.."

And when Dylan sings the words
"Do you wanna make a deal?"
With the most exquisite phrasing, you know it’s worth the price of the box itself.
Glorious.

And Paris acoustic tuning footage!! Amazing.

Piano prominent, esp. on Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat


It's so nice to hear Richard's piano loud and clear on the Paris "One Too Many Mornings." He played with such a light touch, almost sounding like glass bells at times.

Listening to Fourth Time Around. Very funny introduction - "This is a request... uh, a requestè. Bon soir.... “Good evening”

Here's some more from the Paris disc...

In the almost 6 minutes of Dylan trying to tune his guitar, he's talking to the crowd the whole time. In addition to the, "It's fun! Just watch me tune it!", he also says:

"You can't just wait, can ya? Huh? Just can't wait... You have to go to work at 10 o'clock, huh?"


"But that's folk music for you. Folk music, it does this all the time."


"Is there another guitar out there?"


"Did you bring a magazine to read, or something?"


"I can't play this guitar for you out of tune. I'll put it in tune as soon as I can. In the meantime you can... you can go to the bowling alley, or something. It doesn't matter."

He says a lot more... it's crazy. Also, the 'Like A Rolling Stone' Taj Mahal dedication seems to have begun in Paris


Zagonga:
PRIOR TO 'JUST LIKE A WOMAN'

Dylan: “This is a request, another request song
I often do a lot of request songs
I can only do so many now though

(STARTS SONG..)
GUITAR & HARMONICA

Whaaaaaaaaaaat!!??

(TUNES & PICKS AT GUITAR)
AUDIENCE MURMURINGS

I'm doing this for you, I don't care

(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER & APPLAUSE)

If you want to hear it that way, I'll play it for you that way

AUDIENCE SHOUTING

(DYLAN LAUGHS)

Oh Merci, Merci, ha

(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER & APPLAUSE)

You just can't wait can ya, huh ?
Just can't wait

You have to go to work at 10 o' clock huh?
All, it drags me too you know
But that’s folk music for you
Folk music it does this all the time

(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)

Do we have another guitar ?
Is there another guitar out there?
Does anybody have another guitar?
Have another guitar?
Can I have your guitar?
My guitar is broken, it broke on the way here

(TUNING)

Its happened many times before
Its nothing to be alarmed about
Didn't you bring a magazine to read or something?

AUDIENCE SHOUT.

Oh I love you, ha ha
You're so wonderful, ha ha
Do you have that guitar or not?
Do you have it?
Do you have the guitar?
You said you had one
You were just
You were fooling me huh?

Well I'll play this guitar
But I can't play it for you out of tune
I can't, I can’t play this guitar for you out of tune
I'll put it in tune as soon as I can
In the meantime you can
You can go to the bowling alley or something

(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)

And it doesn't matter....

Is it true that one, one French man is worth a thousand lives?
I've always thought that....

(STARTS SONG AGAIN)
GUITAR & HARMONICA..

Oh come on I wouldn't behave like this if I came to see you, now don't do this
It’s not right
I'm very sorry, well, ah
Wait...

Why must you?
Oh don't be so bored..!
Please!
It’s fun just watch me tune it

AUDIENCE LAUGHTER

I'm not trying to kill time
I want to get out of here as fast as you want to get out of here
I'm just trying to...

Richard - there's no mic on time..

SINGS....
"Nobody feels any pain.....


Zagonga:
JUST LIKE TOM THUMB'S BLUES.

Dylan:
'Down in North Mexico.
There's this painter, he's so notoriously famous, his name is Tom Thumb.
And he's quite well known around the vicinity there, not too far away, he's... If you go up past the border he's not too well known.
Except of course for lots of tablecloths which some of the Mex..Texans bring back from Mexico.
But he's about 135 years old, and his name is Tom Thumb and he's a great, great, great artiste.
And he's great at all he does.
And like all great people like that, he too had his blue period.
And he went through his blue period quite a few years ago.
And this is, I just, this is dedicated to him when he was going through his blue period of course.
We don't know too much about it, nowadays.
But we can just sorta take a stab at what was the truth and which is not the truth.
And this is all about when he was in his blue period, and It’s called 'Just like Tom Thumbs blues'.......'

SINGS :
"When you're lost in the rain
in Juarez and its Easter-time too
And your gravity's down and negativity don't pull you through..."



London, May 26
-CBS tape-

This is the show released on LP.

The sound on 5/26/66 is really sweet (so nice to hear the stereo separation on "Tell Me Momma" after all those mono recordings)

Somebody Naked: the fruitless dilemma of trying to decide which night in London was the arena for the greatest version of Visions of Johanna that you've ever heard...

London, May 27
-CBS tape-

Somebody Naked: the fragile, stoned wonder that is “Just like a woman” from the second Albert Hall show;

Somebody Naked: the fruitless dilemma of trying to decide which night in London was the arena for the greatest version of Visions of Johanna that you've ever heard...

5/27/66 is an absolute hoot, but Bob's voice is blown out (particularly obvious on the electric set).

Dylan talks about his songs not being “drug songs.”

The 5/27 RAH show, while not the best musically, is a treasure trove of stage chatter and audience interaction. There's no single incident that tops the "Judas!" moment, but I'd say that it's actually better than Manchester overall. It's got the "Drug songs" speech, it's got the "Poets" band introduction, and a lot of VERY interesting bits in between.

I'll give a little ***spoiler warning here*** in case anyone wants to hear it all for themselves first.

I really loved the little speech he gives after “Tell Me Momma”:
A couple snippets:


"I like all my old songs. I never said that they are 'rubbish'. I don't use that word. It's not in my vocabulary. I wouldn't use it if, uh, like if it was there on the street to pick up and use for free."


"We've all been playing this music since we've been 10, 10 years old ON. And, uh, folk music just, uh, happens to be a thing which, uh, which interrupted, uh, uh, which was very useful, you know. Uh, because of, uh, frankly ("Frankie"?), you know, the rock and roll singing in the United States was (laughs) forgive me (laughs), forgive me (laughs). Uh, anything I say now, please don't hold against me."


Before “Just like Tom Thumb's Blues,” the little Tom Thumb "painter" story takes a very interesting turn. I won't go into it all here, except to say that he does NOT get through the painter story as usual, and winds up yelling "J.D. Salinger!" into the mic after the band has already started the opening notes of Tom Thumb.

It starts to really get ugly before Ballad of a Thin Man.

"Why don't you just all say what you wanna say for a minute? Oh, come on, say anything you wanna say for a whole minute. I'll give you one minute. You got a watch? Anybody got a watch?"

“I don’t believe you (She acts like we never have met)”
5/27/66
Dylan:

"Ah, this is one, this is a song I wrote about err...three years ago.. three years ago..
I like all my old songs, I've never said that they are (impersonates Northern English accent) 'rubbish'
I don't use that word, it’s not in my vocabulary..
I wouldn't use it if err, like if it was there on the street to pick up and use for free..
I would not use the word 'rubbish'..
And I like all my old songs, it’s just that things .I change all the time, everybody knows that...And err..


(AUDIENCE APPLAUSE)



And this music here right now that you're gonna hear, no matter what it is, ah... I mean if anybody is out there that could offer any suggestions how it could be either err played better or the words could be improved on, we appreciate all the suggestions...but err...but err...
Other than that...other than that, like we like all these songs... I like all my old songs very much..
I'm saying this only because it’s the last night we're here, and I love..
And I love England, ha...you know, like a lot.

But like we did all this in the States from September on..
And we've all been playing this music since we've been 10..10 years old...on...

And err folk music just happens to be a thing which err which interrupted err....which was very useful you know because of err Frankie...the rock n roll thing in the United States was...Ha ha (Cracks up with laughter)...Forgive me...

Forgive me...
Anything I say now please don't hold against me, this is err...


But err.. I realize it’s loud music and all that kind of thing, but like if you don't like it I mean like err well ..that's err, you know… that's fine..
If you've got some improvements you could make on it, that’s … that's great..




But err...err...the thing is that it is not English music you are listening to, it’s a shame that we are here now and it might sound like English music to you if you have never really heard American music before.


But err...The music is ....
is er...
is er...
is er...
is er...
is er... you know...


I would never venture to say what it is...


(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)



I can’t, I can't really say but..
What you're just hearing here now is the sound of the songs, you're not hearing anything else except the songs...sound of the words...and the sounds..
So you know you can take it or leave it like, it’s up to you, you know..
It doesn't matter to me..


(AUDIENCE APPLAUSE)


I mean...like it really doesn't…I love all of you, ha...and if you don't, you know...if there's something you disagree with, that's great but I'm just...I'm not going to disagree with you and fight you on it or anything...and discuss it with you...

(AUDIENCE SHOUT)


Shhhhhh....


Anyway this happens to be an old song I wrote a long time ago...
And it’s called 'I don't believe you'..
Now, it used to go like that, but now it goes like this...
And rightfully so...


SINGS :

"I can't understand she let go of my hand and left me here facing the wall..."





Zagonga:
“Just like Tom Thumb’s blues”:

Dylan:
" There's a long story behind this song, this song has to do with a..


With a .. with a... with a painter.
Who err.. this here, this certain painter is just a wonderful cosmic painter.
Who is completely unknown to universe and err, and he lives in Mexico City and travels between there and Del Rio, Texas, which is.which is one of the United States..err...one of the bigger ones.
And err, this happens to be all about him, he's a,...of course he's an inspiration into this song...I'm just telling you this so you don't think that there's anything you're MISSING. You understand, I don't want you to think that you're OUT of it..


And I'm SICK of having people thinking what does that mean?
It just means nothing you just…you know..

(AUDIENCE APPLAUSE)

This is, I mean it’s impossible to explain what this means because obviously it’s only...

(AUDIENCE SHOUT)

Oh come on...

So this, this specific...


(AUDIENCE SHOUTING)

You're talking to the wrong person man..
He's talking. any case this is gonna to take a second, this is gonna take a second...and I'm the last person in the world to, to explain any of these songs, but I want to do this because it’s the last concert here..


I mean if you don't want me to do it, just say so and I won't and I don't care. I couldn't care less..

(LOUD AUDIENCE SHOUT)


OK...Well then we'll just do, we'll just play the music and leave…and then

that'll be alright OK..


And you just...and you, and you.., you can just go out and read some books...

(BOOTS BEAT OUT THE BEAT OF THE SONG ON THE STAGE)

Read er...


(THE BAND SLAM INTO THE SONG)


(DYLAN SHOUTS TO BE HEARD):

Read J. D. Salinger..!!

SINGS:

"When you're lost in the rain in Juarez…



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

John Lennon was asked about Dylan's show a couple times in 1966.
He told Melody Maker, "All that stuff about Dylan being booed has been exaggerated. I saw the London concerts and about five or six people booed. That's all - and everyone else in the audience were shutting them up. The newspaper writers got it completely wrong. They didn't know what they were talking about."
And asked about the London show by Datebook: "They wrote about it the next day saying they were all booing him. Well, about four people booed when the group came on. He shut them up quick enough, and the rest of the audience was saying 'shut up,' too. He just said, 'This is American music. Some of you may have heard it before.' He just told them what he was doing and it was a great concert. He went down great. They just wrote rubbish because he won't see the press. He's fed up with being asked the same [questions]. He doesn't have to answer those inane questions... He doesn't want to, and he never will."
George Harrison added, "Dylan is so good that the average listener doesn't get it because he goes right over their heads, and they put it down. They don't realize that he's going over their heads, so they think he's writing rubbish and sending them up. But he's not. Bob Dylan just says more things in one song than I could say in ten years."
Paul McCartney also praised Dylan to Flip magazine in May '66: "Dylan is a fantastic composer. At first I didn't understand. I used to lose his songs in the middle but then I realized it didn't matter. You can get hung up on just two words of a Dylan lyric. 'Jealous monk' or 'magic swirling ship' are examples of the fantastic word combinations he uses. I could never write like that and I envy him. He is a poet."

 

Thinking for a minute outside the box: the Ginsberg-taped electric half of the Berkeley show on 04 December 1965 has plenty of enthusiasm from the audience also.

 

"Since I had the incredible fortune of being named curator of the Bob Dylan Archive....."

This maybe the one phrase in the whole wide universe that I would love to be able to truthfully write !

 

Man, Belfast electric set is smoking.

 

@ ZebraC

Thank you for your synopses! I have started to s-l-o-w-l-y explore the set (not my favorite Dylan period), so I appreciate a short-cut to what folks have been saying.

Funny enough though, I've been listening to Leicester (complete and utter random choice) and your synopsis reveals next to nothing, leastwise in terms of "readers' comments" . . . it sounds pretty good to my ears!

 

P.S.
I am too damn lazy, and it's too straining on my eyes, to keep the CDs in sequence in the box, so I am kind of plucking them out (the CDs, not my eyes) in any old order and putting them back randomly. Funny thing is, Leicester keeps coming up.

P.P.S.
I need a Temporary Secretary who can file my Dylan collections.

 

50 years on and we get this utter arsefest:

 

50 years later and we still get people complaining about his stylistic changes.

 

No, its not the 'stylistic changes' that do my nut in, its the singing.

 

I don't think this thread benefits from discussion about the upcoming album (my apologies if I have done so myself). Especially when there is already a thread devoted to it:

"Triplicate" - New Bob Dylan album March 31, 2017

 

Bob still evolving.
People still booing.

"Bob Dylan was a bastard in his 70's"

 

Heads up, the 1966 box set is in an Amazon UK lightning deal, this evening, from 19:40 GMT (30 minutes earlier, if you are a Prime member). Not sure yet how much they'll knock it down to, but definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01LXC8X05/