Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The "Royal Albert Hall Concert"
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Free Music Notes for The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The "Royal Albert Hall Concert"
Free Music Review: and if anybody asks me, is it easy to forget . . .
Hit: 5 Stars
i would tell them, certainly not.
if you have a friend that wants to know what the big deal about bob dylan is or if you want to know what the big deal about bob dylan is, get this. get his albums [BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME, HIGHWAY 61, BLONDE ON BLONDE, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, and etc . . .] if you can, but if you only get one thing, get this. read the booklet, and listen to the album [both discs] w/out skipping any songs.
this concert is special in many ways. i won't go into the 'judas' bit [as it's already been touched upon numerous time] too much, but i'll say that dylan's between song interaction w/ the crowd throughout the electric set is brilliant - 'the judas' bit is a fitting climax.
on the first disc [which is acoustic], 4 of the 7 songs appear on the albums they were written for as electric ['she belongs to me', '4th time around', 'visions of johanna', and 'just like a woman']. i would say that i'd almost alway prefer these live versions of 'she belongs to me' and '4th time around'. while i love the live acoustic 'visions of johanna', i love the BLONDE ON BLONDE version more, and 'just like a woman' is just different - monday i might prefer the acoustic, and tuesday i might opt for the BLONDE ON BLONDE version. no matter which version of each song one would prefer, these alternate renditions are priceless.
speaking of alternate renditions, 3 of the 8 electric songs were recorded originally as folk songs ['i don't believe you', 'baby, let me follow you down', and 'one too many mornings'], and one of the songs was never put on an album ['tell me, momma']. i'd pay 15 bucks just for this version of 'i don't believe you' [w/ dylan's introduction to it].
it's been said that this is the greatest concert recording of all time. i wouldn't be able to rightfully say, but it's definitely the best concert recording i've ever heard.
i've not even mentioned how brilliant 'desolation row', 'just like tom thumb's blues' [more lively than the HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED version], and 'like a rolling stone' [too brilliant] are performed here.
get this.
see what all the fuss is about.
Free Music Review: summary
Hit: 5 Stars
Oh **, you're gonna need this one. Just don't make it your very first Dylan purchase, because somewhere between Highway 61 Revisited and the May evening preserved here Bob stopped by Mars to pick up a few pointers on being strange. He's not stoned out of his gourd (Manchester was quite probably the most sober show of the tour), but he's a million miles away from manchester during the acoustic set. During the electric set, he's very much there, and very pissed off. I thought "Hard Rain" was an angry album until I first heard this one. As far as the performances go, you've got the world's most perfect rendition of Just Like A Woman, a strung-out Baby Blue, and an epic, wholly deconstructed Tambourine Man with harp solos that come from God knows where and then evaporate back into the ether, and that's only the solo acoustic set. Then there's the madness of Bob & The Hawks on disc two, cranking out some of the best and the loudest rock and roll the world had seen in 1966 (they couldn't really hear this great music back in 1966, since the PA distorted so badly in the old music halls that nobody in the audience knew what the fuck was going on). The oldest songs are the best, with the venomous I Don't Believe You, the lilting Baby Let Me Follow You Down, and the (once gentle) One Too Many Mornings coming between the bookends of wildness. Tell Me Momma is otherwise unreleased, and must be heard to be believed. Like A Rolling Stone, of course, is preceded by the "Judas incident," leading someone (I think it was Robbie Robertson, but you can say it was Bob if you really want to believe that) to yell "Get ** loud!!" to the Band, and believe me, they did as they were asked. it's deafening rock and roll, without a net. If you've heard Stones' or Beatles' live shows from this period, get ready for the surprise of your life. Bob and the boys could hear what they were doing, and the playing is fabulous; the recording, to put it mildly, is a joy. There's also a wonderful 52-page booklet full of pictures and Lord knows what all else. A necessity.Free Music Review: Dylan Is God
Hit: 5 Stars
A wise man once said:"For the those who believe, no proof is necessary; for those who don't, no proof is possible."
This album is the exception which proves the rule. It is certain to vindicate the believers and convert the agnostics.
Anyone who has ever attended a Dylan concert will attest that it is often a frustrating experience. The great man will often mumble his way through masterworks, as if they meant absolutely nothing. But in every concert, there is a turning point, a shining moment, when Dylan reaches deep into the past, pulls out a gem and polishes it to perfection. At that moment, time stands still, and there is a sense of communion.
The most memorable example in my experience is a 1989 concert in Canada, where Dylan sped through classics at warp speed, then traded his electric guitar for an acoustic. He played a few warmup tunes, then started It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding). You could hear a pin drop during each verse, but in between verses, there was warm and heartfelt applause. By the time that Dylan sang, "It's alright if I can't please them", the response was deafening, and the irony delicious.
As Dylan ended the song, and sequed into Gates of Eden, bringing the crowd to a moment of epiphany, a young fan (no more than 18) turned to me and plainly asked, "What was that last one called? I've never heard it before, but it is absolutely amazing!"
Well, listening to this album will fill you with the same sense of wonder and appreciation. Appreciation of the great man's genius, his ability to anger, challenge and delight, and above all, his vision and courage to pursue it, regardless of the costs. This is Dylan at the zenith of his power, a uniformly brilliant performance.
Never have so many -- fans, critics and artists famous and unknown -- owed so much to one man. And everyone with ears owes it to themselves to buy this album, and see the great man in concert -- talent like this comes once in a millennium.
Free Music Review: Rather long drooling session over a faboulastic record.
Hit: 5 Stars
True fans [or rather: true fans with enough money :-)] already have these records of course. The famous 'Royal Albert Hall Bootlegs', finally officially released on CD. These two CD are like a time warp, taking you back to 1966 England, where Dylan gives his last concerts before his motor accident, returning to his r&r roots, much to the dismay of many of his fans, folk fans.On the first disk we hear the old Dylan, protest- and folk singer, briliant as ever. 'Visions of Johanna' weaves an image of strangeness. 'Desolation Row' reaffirms its position as one of my favourite Dylan songs ever with this version, slower than the one on 'Unplugged' and the oldest live version of it. A mumbled and ruffled but still beautiful version of 'Mr Tambourine Man' concludes this disk and with it both the first half of this legendary concert and an era in Dylan's career.
The second disk starts with the rhitmical, catching 'Tell Me, Momma', a worthy start, and continues with an electrical version of 'I Don't Believe You'. Ignoring the clapping and cat calls, Dylan rocks on, full of energy and rhytm, but ever the image-weaver. [Yes, dammit, I'm getting lyrical, that's what fans are for! :-)] After 'Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat', the audience starts clapping and jeering, but Dylan efficiently deals with that by starting to tell a tale, mumbled and whispered and when everybody shuts up enough to hear him, all they hear is "If only you wouldn't clap so hard." before he sets in 'One Too Many Mornings', a 'modern' version of a very fit song, since 'You are right from your side and I am right from mine. After the haunting ' Ballad of a Tin Man', a member of the audience yells "Judas!" at the stage, to which Dylan replies: "I don't believe you. You're a liar.". He then turns to the band with the words "Play fucking loud." and they throw 'Like a Rolling Stone' into the hall, leaving the audience dazzled [and me a drooling pile of fangirl putty :-)]
Free Music Review: Dylan '66: The Best Vintage Around
Hit: 5 Stars
Columbia has kept Dylan's 1966 concerts down in the cellars for 32 years and now that the yield's been released we can say that, musically, it's a bumper crop. In a year when most other releases just seem to be going through the motions (read: Sheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, Blues Traveler), emitting sickeningly lush glam pop (read: Celine, Mariah, Shania), or are not very interesting to begin with (read: Barenaked Ladies, Marilyn Manson), Dylan's phenomenal set - coupled with his superb autumnal Time Out Of Mind (1997) - remind us that rock music's true power used to be its vitality and emotional resonance and not its marketability. Live albums typically feature less interesting recaps of studio work; Dylan's Live 1966 shows Bob and the Hawks reinventing already wonderful tunes into something more thrilling and encompassing. Live 1966 is a summation of Dylan's career to that point and here he relives the folk persona that he had ditched the year before (and to which he made a return in 1968's John Wesley Harding)and defiantly defends his turn to rock music. The lovely acoustic side shows that Dylan was already "rediscovering" his folk side long before his motorcycle accident and his Basement Tapes retreat and his unplugged versions of "Visions of Johanna", "Just Like A Woman", and "She Belongs To Me" are top-notch. On the rock side, "Tell Me Momma" is just about the most scorching kick-off tune I've ever heard and the album hurtles toward ever-intensifying degrees of anger, defiance, and exhaltation. It's hard to think of any other live set which so astonishes and exhilarates the listener - Otis Redding's Monterey Pop performance and James Brown's 1962 Apollo show are worthy companions - but it's about time this splendid concert was brought out for public consumption. Given this swilling year in music (Lucinda Williams notwithstanding), Live 1966 is like getting an entire case of Bordeaux red all to yourself.