Bob Dylan "Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Tour Recordings" (14CD box set; 7th June 2019)

Perhaps they severely underestimated demand in the first place, I mean CD is dead, no-one buys CD's anymore, after all! So one could forgive them...

 

Base.com still has it for £48 (including UK postage) for any bargain hunters out there. Amazon has been awaiting new stock for the last few weeks.

Marketers know that to ensure genuinely "massive demand", advertising that the product is already in "massive demand" is a fantastic tactic.

If you want to sell 500 leftover tickets to an event, it can be helpful to proclaim "unprecedented demand - last few tickets going like hot cakes!". It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Cialdini's "Influence" is a fascinating read on this subject.

 

Mixed thoughts so far on these first few concerts - sound quality, mixes mostly. Maybe some arrangements, some performances, but still much to enjoy and a lot to process.

Anyway, I like "Mr. Tambourine Man" from Boston Afternoon Show. Maintains an even steady pace of playing and consistent phrasing with slight accentuations but really seems a direct, sincere and moving portrayal and interpretaton of the material. Free of too many improvisational frills and at times those seemingly obligatory vocal enhancements that alter pitch and timing (which can be effective, surprising, interesting, musically essential too of course, etc..).
"Oh Sister" and "One More Cup of Coffee" and "Sara" also seem nice and tight (I skipped the longish "Hurricane" for now just for reasons of time), but like MTMan, there is a welcomed, more relaxed vibe to the afternoon show performances imo. None of these seem like "performances" - they seem to me a most open and most honest expression of the material. A little more unguarded and unmasked.

 

I Shall Be Released & Mama You Been On My Mind are constant favorite songs and performances from the concerts.

Trying to get a handle on listening to these concerts in portions also.

Dylan/Baez, Dylan solo, Dylan and band closing the shows, the Desire tracks, the few other songs in the main set with the band, the 36 rehearsal performances, the other 11 assorted performances on disc 14...

 

I have been on a Hard Rain album kick with Desire set on repeat. One thing this RTR set has done is made me appreciate and like those albums even more.

 

Given all the comments here, I just ordered the box. Under $80 at Amazon. I don't know why I waited so long, the 1966 live box has brought me much enjoyment.

 

You won't be sorry you bought it.
The RTR is enjoyment of another kind. You'll love it.

 

What a great box set this is.

(Relatively) affordably-priced, nicely-packaged, and chock full of great music. I can see why many pick Montreal as the best show; it's damn near perfect up until the end, when the aggressive approach to the vocals becomes a little grating on Knockin' on Heaven's Door. I also have a soft spot for the Cambridge concert, which finds a lovely groove in the second half...

 

I've finally had a chance to absorb this set and it's fantastic from start to finish. I'm going to now go back and start grazing on the commentary in this thread.

 

You didn't find Montreal was too manic? Too fast?

 

It's definitely manic and fast. Too, though? Nah. I don't think Bob crossed any lines in this set. That "Isis" on the 13th disc, the one from one of the early shows? Its relative faithfulness to the Desire version takes some adjusting to, for sure!

 

That’s the draw. Mick Ronson letting loose all over ‘Hattie Carroll’ makes that the absolute standout version of the set.

 

True, but Ronson contributes a signature sound and style to the RTR in
general. He lopes along with the gypsy violin, too.

 

You don't break up one of the most sublime Mr Tambourine Mans with Nixon et al. It's not in the least bit clever. Feel free to cut away to parades and independence day stuff, whatever, but don't splice the soundtrack as you do it. The first few minutes of the film irk me as much as anything else that follows.

 

"Filmmaking" often steps on the toes of "the music" in these things. It's a real problem, and it ain't going away.

 

One of the things that surprised me about the box is how engaging I found each performance of Hurricane. As a long song played at every show, I expected it to be a bit of a chore, but that absolutely wasn't the case. The energy and urgency of the story really comes through.

Not sure what the best version is, but I definitely don't think it's the Worcester performance that appeared on Bootleg Series 5.

 

I listened to the studio version this week and now it feels a bit sluggish compared to the live performances!

 

Agreed.

Also:
Patti Smith’s poetry reading is the stuff of Nobel prize for literature.

 

I thought it was just me..only made it thru 5 minutes ...

 

Beat me by a minute.

 

They could have turned Patti's volume down so that we could
hear the audience chatter in the room better.

 

i didn't like the movie too much. it felt like a huge missed opportunity to me, very unsatisfying with all the cutaways. this would be fine if we already had a proper movie of the tour, but call it artistic, i call it "eh".

 

I've not yet seen the film, but this description sounds more like mimicry than art, and not what Picasso would have had in mind.

 

New book from lifelong Dylan buddy and producer of the RTR.

Dylan & Me

 

It seemed to me as if Scorsese wanted to “out-Dylan Dylan”