BOB DYLAN: Outtakes, Alternates & Live Recordings, 1965-1966

OK, I'll see your short video clip, and raise you another one (in pretty decent quality, too):
Medicine Sunday - Bob Dylan HD 1965

 

Love this version of I Wanna Be Your Lover.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUmmabxxDEk

 

Thanks for that link. I'm hoping that all the versions of that song will be on the next Bootleg Series.

 

I also really like this live version of Positively 4th Street on his 66' tour. I think Bob had all the songs in his Royal Albert Hall concert in most concerts, but he did for some shows have Positively 4th street to replace Like A Rolling Stone and to close his show.

 

"I Wanna Be Your Lover" seems to be the quintessential Bob Dylan's "electric era" song. Seems like it should hold a similar place in a 65/66 set that "Mississippi" held for TTS.

 

"There's a fella up there looking for the savior. The savior's backstage. We have a picture of him."

Dylan really took stage banter to a another level on the '66 tour. But, really, nothing can top Dylan's combating the folks who are trying to disrupt the shows by mumbling non-sequitors into the microphone until the hecklers, apparently out of sheer curiosity, quiet down long enough for him to deliver the punchline and launch into the next song. Hope we get a few more examples of these sort of exchanges in the near future (I suspect it happened at most if not all of the UK shows).

Other stage patter highlights have to include the Tom Thumb intros heard on the Australia shows, his "drrrrrrug songs" bit, and of course his (as far as I know) solitary but wonderful introduction of his band ("They're all poets").

 

The electric set at Sydney on the whole wasn't that great (the acoustic here was far better) - Dylan seems intent on over-singing and frequently goes off-key, but this is definitely the best version of "Positively" recorded on the tour. And this whole show sounds great on the Scorpio CD referenced here in the YouTube clip.

 

You just inspired me to re-listen to this show. I'm mid-way through the acoustic show, and, yeah, you're certainly right on that count. My memory of the performance was that it marred by Dylan bumping into microphone too often (and of course the clipped opening of "She Belongs To Me," repeated on the Melbourne set as I recall) but now that I listen to it again, those things don't seem so bad. Not sure if it's because it's so much better on the Scorpio (as I recall, the Vigatone version was the one I listened to the most, as it was the first version released) or if I'm just better able to look at the big picture now but good lord am I loving this.

 

As you suggested here, it's hard to overstate how wonderful it is to get an acceptable quality "Positively 4th St" from the '66 tour. Ultimately, any additional songs from this tour (which I *think* is limited to P4S and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit") is incredibly welcome. Of course, once you expand the definition to include the '65 electric shows, the list expands.

 

Yes, it's really a shame the early electric shows in late '65 are so poorly documented on the whole (Hollywood Bowl is probably by far the best to be heard in current circulation), as not only would we get to hear a wider variety of players in the band (i.e., Levon, Bobby Gregg, Al Kooper/Harvey Brooks) but a lot more variation in the set list, which was pretty static throughout most of the '66 shows.

Of course, given Dylan's genius for nuance and impatience with performing anything exactly the same way twice, many of these shows are still very rewarding on their own terms.

 

His performance at this Newport electric breakout was excellent if you listen to the soundboards that are out there. The PA system was totally unable to cope with the volume, and all we heard was indiscernible noise. We looked at each other with the unsaid question, "What the hell is he singing?" We honestly weren't even able to tell what the songs were. I'm 100% certain he was booed for this and not because he went electric. At that stage in his career we already knew he was electric.

 

I concur! And the Sydney show that's out there is no slouch either!

 

Oh god yes. I think I could listen to an endless varieties of the '66 performances of the setlist, and still hear new things in them each time.

So, where do I sign up for that endless variety of '66 performances?

 

If the "18CD set" turns out to be all '66 Live Recordings, I'll will go on record as being a day one buyer. Strongly suspect that WON'T be the case, but just what if...

 

I hear you - for me, it's really the live performances from this whole period that hold the most interest rather than the studio outtakes - which I don't really listen to very much. But I'm really more than happy with how most of the Scorpio set sounds. The last thing I would want to have happen is that they let Calbi or someone of that ilk loose on this stuff and transform it similarly to what they did to Manchester...

 

Yep, the Scorpio set does sound good. I just wonder though, what good quality recordings of the '65/'66 tours the compilers have that we haven't heard yet, given that Pennebaker filmed a lot of the shows (witness the snippets in "Eat the Document" and "No Direction Home"...for example the scenes where the camera is up on the stage amongst the band were apparently shot only in Glasgow because Dylan afterwards objected so it wasn't done again and the Scorpio set doesn't have the Glasgow show). There must be good quality recordings existing of most of the shows that aren't already "out there". Would love for a full concert film to be made available. This is, of course, assuming that this (live shows) is part of what they have in mind.

 

This wonderful clip of Just Like a Woman was briefly shared by someone who did some work on the 1966 footage before No Direction Home was decided on. It's from Dublin on 5th May 1966, as widely known on the While The Establishment Burns disc. Seeing Dylan in closeup brings home how he really was with every word on this performance. There must be significant quantities of film sitting in a vault, but how much is useable is open to question. With luck we will soon find out!

 

Here's Chuck D and The Impossebulls' version of "Subterranean Homesick Blues."

At one point, I think Chuck D cited this song as the birth of rap. Whether folks think that is a good thing (or even accurate, given it's debt to "Too Much Monkey Business"), it still seems noteworthy.

https://soundcloud.com/blocsonic/chuck-d-the-impossebulls-subterranean-homesick-blues

 

Nice. This used to be on youtube for a long time but hasn't for a couple of years.

I thought Dylan.co would leave it up since it epitomizes so much.

Just have to admire the artistry.

 

Chuck D covering Dylan...That sounded ultra cool on paper, but for some reason, it doesn't come off well.

 

I like Chuck D, but that was a pretty bad cover.

 

Yes, but Dee, please don't think I am not grateful for you sharing that track and that info!

 

Good lord, no. I wouldn't ever object to someone having their own opinion. In fact, I wish more people would chime in with their perspective. The only times I get annoyed are when people make weird ad hominem attacks or when they post things that venture into dismissive thread crap territory (ya know, saying something here like "Dylan really sucked from '65-66!" or more broadly "Dylan can't sing!").

 

I find it kinda catchy. But not anywhere near the same league as the original.

 

I just saw that a soundtrack for True Detective is scheduled for release on 8/14/15. Sadly I haven't found a full track listing yet, so I can't say if "Rocks and Gravel" will be included. Has anyone confirmed if the version heard in the first season was unreleased version with electric overdubs? I remember being pleasantly surprised when I heard it, but since I was so blown away by the thought of a dive-bar playing a Dylan obscurity, I don't think it registered if it was a version I hadn't heard before.