Bob Dylan's "Hard Rain"

The Bootleg Series edition emphasis is on "Rolling" and emphasizes Thunder. They're two different years, with different bands, taking different approaches to the same general idea of lots of people on stage, doing lots of different things, but 1976 overall feels like it hits harder to me. Not saying that as a flat value judgment by any means. I wouldn't want to live without either, and it's certainly cheap and easy enough to buy both, or play them both on Spotify.

These are just two snapshots, but I like them because they have similar color palettes and angles, but still look VERY different, and I think are a nice visual reference for how I personally hear the differences.

1975:


1976:



He even LOOKS different, but the big differences are the posture. Leaning in to sing, versus leaning back to holler. I like 'em both, but I can see why some people don't care as much for the hollerin'.

As I've stated upthread, there's a trope that Hard Rain is more bitter, which I don't buy for a second. I think it's more vulnerable, and when Bob gets emotionally naked, he tends to yell. And guess which leg of the tour he was singing "Idiot Wind" on? But I think the version of "Shelter From the Storm" from the same album rocks every bit as hard and is every bit as emotionally demanding. "Lay Lady Lay" is heavy. It's performed by a rock band, rather than a troubadour like the original was, but in a good way I think. I've also stated upthread how I think that the additional lyrics make it even more tender than the original.

These juxtapositions are what makes this whole album so special to me....even if I think it would have been twice as good if they'd included all the songs that were broadcast.

Whereas the performances on the Bootleg Series Vol 5 can be lighter than air. There's LOTS of room for acoustic stuff, with relatively little acoustic stuff on Hard Rain, but really, it's the arrangements that make it take off. One of my favorite bits in all of recorded Bob-dom is an extended guitar-violin duet at the heart of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". The delicacy of it sounds exactly like the kinda thing Mick Ronson might be responsible for (having done such marvelous string arrangements for David Bowie over the years), but I honestly have no idea who's playing the guitar there - do any of you? Mick himself? Someone else?

Anyway, it follows the much more anguished alternate lyrics ("Mama wipe the blood offa my face/ I can't see through it anymore"), and a second verse sung by a very fragile sounding Roger McGuinn, sounding almost prayerful as he describes hearing God's "distant thunder roll" and hearing "them calling for my soul" -- and then almost exactly halfway through the song (starting at about 2:25), what can only be described as "liftoff": Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Live Downright sublime.

So yeah, is this lighter than air 1975 performance one of my all-time favorite things by Bob or anyone else? Yes, but so's the heavy-as-led, pedal-to-the-metal 1976 version of "Shelter From the Storm." BOTH of these albums are near the top of my most-listened to and best-loved Bob albums, and their differences are precious to me.

That's a pretty good take on the differences in super broad strokes, I think, and certainly enough to point you in potentially fruitful directions as you evaluate which you want to add next. For people who've explored Bob less rather than more, and people who know for a fact that they prefer 60s Bob, then it's 1975 in a walk. But man o man, do I love the 1976 stuff too! I sure hope Sony goes back to the well for this period for another Bootleg Series or whatever it is they call the Live 66 box. Not that we need every show, but what's been released so far hasn't come close to painting a full picture of either very different leg of one of Bob's most compelling tours.



Btw, here's a great newscast from New Jersey, July 1975 that I haven't had an excuse to post yet. It's a little story that covers the stealth nature of the shows -- arriving in town with little or no notice -- with interviews including Joan Baez, Allen Ginsburg, and Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. This really was something of a cultural phenomenon, climaxing with Bob on the cover of TV Guide with his first interview in 7 years (also posted upthread).

 

Thanks for the info and taking the time, much appreciated. I will get both shortly and probably together. I'm a little cautious of how the Blood tracks may differ from the studio versions. I'm usually open for an artist to change or tinker with live versions of stuff but I love BOTT so much at the moment, I feel I may get a bit precious about any straying from the originals!

 

Both are essential.

 

The U.S. vinyl version is very harsh, didn't realize how harsh until I compared it to the U.K. version. The original Columbia CD sounds good to me, but as I posted earlier, I may be a bit biased on that one as it was remastered to make it sound like one continuous concert, which I liked.

 

Here's an electric version of "Tangled Up In Blue" from the 1976 show in Fort Collins that didn't make the TV show... Also playing that white guitar..

65 Tangled Up In Blue (Electric) (76-05-23 Fort Collins).mp3

 

Same band. Some kind of magic trick.

 

It cooks nicely, but the similarity to the arrangement of Maggie's Farm is obvious. I like the way he breaks things down for the one verse.

 

yes, it certainly is impossible to imagine Seven Days coming out of the earlier band
The other version everybody has Bob in full yell mode

 

I'd truly love, love love to see the complete live show be released on DVD, Blu-ray, and CD...please, please, please...

 

There have been rumours of a Scorsese-directed Rolling Thunder sequel to No Direction Home documentary for some years now....but who knows....

 

Thanks for that. Almost sounds how Neil would have done it.

 

What an amazing performance! Thanks for sharing! But to me it starts full-on Rolling Stones rather than Neil. Almost Brown Sugar-y.

That's Rolling Thunder 1976. Here's "Tangled Up in Blue" from Rolling Thunder 1975. Quiiiiiiiite a bit different! Since it's an official Bob Dylan Vevo clip, it may actually stay online for a few days but I still wouldn't dilly-dally before hitting play....

 

An expanded Hard Rain album is basically needed. A full 1976 tour box would be welcomed, however!

 

I remember calling TVTV (Top Value Television) in San Francisco in 1978 or so to see if they were going to put out a VHS tape of The Bob Dylan Hard Rain Special (1976).

A Women said No, but also that the house Demo tape they had of the Concert kept disappearing.

Their are some good boots of the concert floating around out there, along with the rejected Clearwater, FL version.

 

Absolutely loved 'Lay Lady Lay' and 'Idiot Wind' off this album, equally loved how 'Masterpieces' had these two together at the end of disc one. Sixteen minutes of pure classic live Dylan. 'At Budokan' was such a pedestrian affair for me after 'Hard Rain'. Oh well, Dylan will be Dylan...

 

Railroad Boy and Deportee on the 76 tour were amazing. Totally agree.

 

Just been reading Behind the Shades about these two tours. The quick summary is that the 75 tour was good humoured and the 76 tour unhappy. By Heylin's account, the emotion in Hard Rain is 100% genuine. Though also by Heylin's account, many of Dylan's wounds are self-inflicted.

Tim

 

MOV remastered this LP a few years ago (a unique mastering?) and it sounds better than the original UK LP or any of the subsequent CD's. If you have a turntable, just buy that and be done with it.

 

Probably from the 2013 remasters, I have an original LP and the remastered CD which is far far better than the old CD. In a byegone era I used to love annoying my housemates by playing Maggie’s Farm really really loud.

 

And the original LP sounds cack.

 

I'm not sure it's from the 2013 remasters? IIRC when they first reissued it, there hadn't been ANY remastering of the album for digital since the late '80's? That is what piqued my curiosity about the release when I first saw it.

 

The version on Complete Collection is a different mastering.

Tim

 

Sorry, I missed your post on my first 'cruise through' this thread. You are indeed correct when you say the MOV LP is the one to get. You must be as you now agree with me!

 

If we're completely honest none of his officially released live albums were very successful at capturing the essence of the tours they were culled from. The compilers failed every time and as time went on things only got worse culminating in the truly forgettable "Dylan And The Dead" fiasco. It's largely been down to Sony Legacy 'archival' product / 50th Anniversary Copyright Extension sets and of course the Bootleg Series that we now have some decent (and representative) Dylan live material officially released. However, as canon live albums go, "Hard Rain" simply sinks all the others; it's definitely the most raw, powerful, passionate and honest of the bunch.

 

Just got Hard Rain yesterday. I'm somewhat of a Dylan novice. Love BoTT and Desire and the 1975-6 period lots. It's great that Bootleg Series 5 doesn't make Hard Rain obsolete. You need both.
I also found the whole TV special online in great quality, with Japanese subtitles!