Bob Dylan - Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

I concur with the OP. I have been floored by this recording/song/performance more than a few times. It is one of the "THE" defining rock and roll moments.

Chills many times...

 

I don't know that I've heard Dylan doing it, live or studio, but the Gordon Lightfoot cover from '65 is a great version and a Canadian radio staple.

 

..and your gravity fails you and negativity won't pull you through...

Tis nice to come back here and see all this love for olde Tom Thumb. All these years I thought I was his only fan...


So, best studio versions of this epic odessey on Lp and CD?

The DCC CD for stereo--rocks!

Maybe MONO original Columbia for vinyl for me...



cheers,

 

just saw bryan ferry play it tonight ! its a stone cold classic!

 

That's not exactly true, as I understand it. The liner notes to LIVE 1966 provide a detailed rundown on the tape sources. There are several soundboard recordings circulating from the 66 tour, but for the LIVE 1966 set, the source for the acoustic half is the mono Nagra line feed (aside from a couple instances where there Nagra tapes run out), but the electric portion is from a 3 track stereo tape recorder (which also supplies the brief, somewhat boomy portions of the acoustic set that the Nagra missed).

There are also CBS 3 track stereo recordings of the Sheffield and the two (actual) Royal Albert Hall shows. Sony could easily assemble a pretty amazing box set with these three shows, the early unreleased mix of the Free Trade hall show, and a DVD/Blu-ray of all the extant video footage of this tour. Despite the identical set lists, there would be nothing tedious about such a set, in my opinion.

 

Thanks for the correction, it's been a long time since I read the liner notes of Vol.4...I agree entirely with your box set idea (having all of the "out there" discs and don't tire of them, the differences of interpretation, especially as regards the accoustic songs). I take it that you mean the unreleased mix of Free Trade Hall as on "Guitars Kissing....."?.

 

Yes, indeed. I go back and forth on which mix I prefer. But if they were to do a 1966 TOUR release, they might as well offer an alternate mix to that heard on LIVE 1966 that anyone purchasing such a set would almost certainly already possess. At the very least, the clarity of the rejected mix gives it a very different feel.

And I couldn't agree more with your point about the acoustic shows. My goodness, they each have such a distinct character, but they are all mesmerizing. It's amazing how Dylan seems to be teetering on the edge of lucidity, but he always delivers word-perfect renditions of his most sprawling, ambitious lyrical epics (and long before the era of teleprompters on stage), not to mention his harmonica tour-de-forces.

 

didn't the Scorsese documentary make use of a lot of that footage? Or am I remembering it wrong?

 

Isn't it amazing that, after about 40 years, the "Judas!" moment turned out to be captured on film? As far as I know, that wasn't even rumored To be the case.

 

Best version is on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6. It's even in tune.

 

Yes, that was a surprise and no, it wasn't even rumoured to be the case. Surprising in a way, given that Pennebakers' crew were filming almost constantly....I suppose that no-one expected that any of the footage still in Pennebakers' possession would ever see the light of day. There must be a load of film from that tour still in the vaults.

 

As amazing as it was to have the "Judas!" moment turn up on film, you have to dial the Wayback Machine to July 1966. Imagine what it must have been like for the Dylan fan who bought the "I Want You" 45 to turn to the flip side and hear that intense, unexpected live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" from Liverpool, and recorded less than 60 days earlier in concert. Dylan himself must have known how special the performance was, or someone in his entourage did, because it is also highly unusual for such a quick turnaround of live material to turn up on a 45 release. I can't think of another single example like it during the 60s...

Today, with the immediacy of the internet, we would learn about a major artist's performances quickly. OTOH, 45 years ago, that live "Thumb" must have been a shock, as in, "Holy ****, what the heck is this?!? Where did THIS come from?!?".

It was that small slice of music officially released by Columbia that led to the legend of that 1966 tour becoming an omnipresent part of the Dylan legend.

 

In tune because it's silent?

I don't think it can be heard on this album...

 

If you're trying to correct someone, could you please give some information? Wrong boot series? I forget which one's which too.

 

I wasn't actually sure if botley was serious or not, so I wasn't trying to correct him necessarily. My reply may've come off as somewhat smarmy but that really wasn't my intention and I apologize if it was taken that way.

Anyway, the Live '66, which was the one most commonly discussed in this thread is Vol. 4. Volume 6 is the '64 Carnegie Hall Concert and JLTTB is not mentioned in the track listing.

 

No, but the concept of a solo acoustic "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" certainly makes the mind (and pulse!) race! Just keep Joan Baez away from the mic!

 

I remember it well, and the "b" side was played more often than the "a" in my house, amazing recording.

 

A great, great song live or studio, one of my Dylan favs. I loved seeing Neil do it live at Bobfest at MSG back in Oct, '92 (HS was that really almost 20yrs ago!!!???) & he kept repeating the classic last line "I'm going back to NYC, I do believe I've had enough!" to the delight of the crowd!!!

Wondering if anyone else knows the story about Dylan's best bud at the time Bobby Neuwirth coming up with the classic 1st line - "When your lost in the rain in Juarez, and its Easter time too!" - which always reminded me of "Busted Flat in Batton Rouge, feeling faded as my jeans" -which was also rumored to come from him (Sorry Kris) as well when he was Janis' boyfriend and they all hung out. Then writing "Mercedes Benz" 4 her also on Pearl!

 

On the subject of overlooked Highway 61 classics, has anyone heard Dylan do a live version of Queen Jane?

 

Back on 11/11/99, I attended a Dylan show in Augusta, Maine where it was played. That's the only time I've heard it in person.

Thinking back, I've heard almost all of H61 live. Only "It Takes A Lot To Laugh" and "From a Buick 6" to go before I can call it a complete set. But I'm not holding my breath on the later.

 

"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" certainly makes the list of my Top 5 Dylan songs, though I'm only deeply familiar with the studio version on Hwy 61. Tremendous song.

 

You've not heard Live '75?

That's a killer version, as is the one on Bootleg 1-3.

 

I meant in person, but yeah, the LIVE 1975 take is incendiary.

 

Oh yeah, my bad! I meant Vol. 7, the No Direction Home soundtrack. Great outtake. Vastly preferable to the studio version IMO.

 

Well, thanks for pointing that out. It just goes to show how much attention I pay to my CDs. I forgot that the song was on that soundtrack!