Live 1961-2000 ˜Thirty-nine years of great concert performances

by

Bob Dylan

Edit

This CD contains 16 tracks of live concert recordings, eleven of which are labeled, "rare or previously unreleased." Three of the songs are traditional songs and one, "Grand Coulee Dam," was written by Woody Guthrie. The sound quality is exceptional and you really get a feel for the excitement in the air as Dylan takes the stage.

My favorite track is "Wade in the Water." This has an incredibly gutsy sound. Close your eyes and see if you can't imagine an aging blues singer from the South or maybe a smoky Chicago blues club. Open them to see a skinny white dude from Minnesota!

What is especially nice about this collection is the choice of songs; a little bit country, gospel, folk, blues and if all goes well in a few weeks, an academy award winner as well. What is missing are the old standbys, "Like a Rolling Stone," "Rainy day Women," "All Along the Watchtower," all of which are available on other recordings. Instead we get to hear some songs not often included in collections like this. Highly recommended.

The rest of the jacket art reads, "Thirty-nine years of great concert performances." They could have done better. First, a complete track list:

Somebody Touched Me 2:42 (2000 Portsmouth, England) - Previously Unreleased / Wade In The Water 2:59 (1961 Minneapolis, MN) - Previously Unreleased / Handsome Molly 2:47 (1962 Gas Light) - Previously Unreleased / To Ramona 4:27 (1965 Sheffield, England) - "Don't Look Back" Outtake / I Don't Believe You 6:00 (1966 Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England) / Grand Coulee Dam 2:56 (1968 "A Tribute To Woody Guthrie, Part I") / Knockin' On Heaven's Door 3:49 (1974 "Before The Flood") / It Ain't Me, Babe 5:16 (1975 film "Renaldo & Clara") - Promo only EP / Shelter From The Storm 5:25 (1976 "Hard Rain") / Dead Man, Dead Man 3:56 (1981 New Orleans) - Cassette Single B-side / Slow Train 4:59 (1987 "Dylan and the Dead") / Dignity 6:35 (1994 "MTV Unplugged") Cold Irons Bound 6:49 (1997 Los Angeles, CA) - "Love Sick" import single bonus track / Born In Time 5:19 (1998 NJ) - Sorry, can't think of the name of the single. This is a bonus track off of another import single from the "Time Out Of Mind" record / Country Pie 2:48 (2000 Portsmouth, England) - Previously Unreleased / Things Have Changed 5:52 (2000 Portsmouth, England) - Previously Unreleased

(TRT 72:49)

I guess I'll complain first. If you have the "Don't Look Back" DVD, you duplicate "To Ramona." If you have the JP "Love Sick" or the Australian "Time Out Of Mind" with the extra disc, you will duplicate "Cold Irons Bound." Five more tracks are straight off regular releases. That wouldn't bother me if they had remastered the tracks on this CD. I don't own any of those records because of how bad they sound. I'll stop complaining now.

On the plus side, it's nice having "Dead Man" and the Guthrie tribute track on CD. The Portsmouth tracks are pretty darn good. Actually, "Somebody Touched Me" is outstanding, as are "Wade In The Water" and "Handsome Molly." The booklet is rather thick, with some good color pics, and all the lyrics in both JP and English.

I would have given this five stars if they had simply remastered the regular released tracks. They whole Dylan catalog is going to get overhauled. There simply is no excuse.

This disc would be a steep introduction. For someone who may not have all the live records, here's a sample of some of the performances, and their wretched mastering. In short, Dylan worshippers need to belly up to the bar, while the casual fan may actually come out ahead using this as a sampler before making further purchases. For the merely curious, I would first suggest a greatest hits package (or two).