Bob Dylan: 12 Great live versions of “You’re A Big Girl Now”

Our conversation was short and sweet
It nearly swept me off-a my feet
And I’m back in the rain, oh, oh
And you are on dry land
You made it there somehow
You’re a big girl now

You’re Big Girl Now” is startling in the originality of its musical structure as well as in the raw power of Dylan’s lyrics and the way he sings them. Each verse of this song is a separate monolog, as if Dylan were an actor stepping to the back of the stage and then coming forward again as he thinks of something else he wants to say to the lady.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Vol 2: The Middle Years 1974-1986)

Another brilliant song from the album “Blood on the Tracks”.

  • First performed @ Reid Green Coliseum, Hattiesburg, Mississippi – 1 May 1976
  • It has been performed 218 times live – last performance: Chicago Theatre, Chicago, Illinois – 29 October 2007
  • Top year was 1978 with 41 performances

Not surprisingly, the song went unattempted live after he and Sara became ostensibly reconciled. Only on the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue, in the spring of 1976, did he remember why he wrote it, playing it long and hard enough to warrant inclusion on the Hard Rain album.
~Clinton Heylin (Still on the Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan Vol. 2, . 1974-2008)

bob dylan 1976The Warehouse
New Orleans, Louisiana
3 May 1976 – Evening

  • Bob Dylan (guitar & vocal)
  • Scarlet Rivera (violin)
  • T-bone J. Henry Burnett (guitar & piano)
  • Steven Soles (guitar)
  • Mick Ronson (guitar)
  • Bobby Neuwirth (guitar & vocal)
  • Roger McGuinn (guitar & vocal)
  • David Mansfield (steel guitar, mandolin, violin & dobro)
  • Rob Stoner (bass)
  • Howie Wyeth (drums)
  • Gary Burke (percussion)

bob dylan fort collins 1976Hughes Stadium
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
23 May 1976

  • Bob Dylan (guitar & vocal)
  • Scarlet Rivera (violin)
  • T-bone J. Henry Burnett (guitar & piano)
  • Steven Soles (guitar)
  • Mick Ronson (guitar)
  • Bobby Neuwirth (guitar & vocal)
  • Roger McGuinn (guitar & vocal)
  • David Mansfield (steel guitar, mandolin, violin & dobro)
  • Rob Stoner (bass)
  • Howie Wyeth (drums)
  • Gary Burke (percussion)

“Hard Rain” version.




and-now-for-something-completely-different

bob dylan rundown rehearsal tapesRundown Studios
Santa Monica, California
January 1978

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Billy Cross (guitar)
  • David Mansfield (mandolin, guitar)
  • Steven Soles (guitar)
  • Andy Stein (sax & violin)
  • Alan Pasqua (organ)
  • Rob Stoner (bass)
  • Ian Wallace (drums)
  • Frannie Eisenberg, Katie Sagal, unidentified female singer (background vocals)

bob dylan tokyo 1978Nippon Budokan Hall
Tokyo, Japan
23 February 1978

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Billy Cross (lead guitar)
  • Alan Pasqua (keyboards)
  • Steven Soles (rhythm guitar, backup vocals)
  • David Mansfield (violin & mandolin)
  • Steve Douglas (horns)
  • Rob Stoner (bass)
  • Bobbye Hall (percussion)
  • Ian Wallace (drums), Helena Springs, Jo Ann Harris, Debbie Dye (background vocals)

bob dylan nurnberg 1978Zeppelindfeld
Nuremberg, West Germany
1 July 1978

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Billy Cross (lead guitar)
  • Alan Pasqua (keyboards)
  • Steven Soles (rhythm guitar, backup vocals), David Mansfield (violin & mandolin)
  • Steve Douglas (horns)
  • Jerry Scheff (bass)
  • Bobbye Hall (percussion)
  • Ian Wallace (drums)
  • Helena Springs, Jo Ann Harris, Carolyn Dennis (background vocals)

<

Bird on the horizon, sittin’ on a fence
He’s singin’ his song for me at his own expense
And I’m just like that bird, oh, oh
Singin’ just for you
I hope that you can hear
Hear me singin’ through these tears

Time is a jet plane, it moves too fast
Oh, but what a shame if all we’ve shared can’t last
I can change, I swear, oh, oh
See what you can do
I can make it through
You can make it too

Jones Beach Theater
Jones Beach State Park
Wantagh, New York
30 June 1988

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • G. E. Smith (guitar)
  • Kenny Aaronson (bass)
  • Christopher Parker (drums)

bob dylan 1989Panathenaíkos Stádio
Athens, Greece
28 June 1989

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • G. E. Smith (guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Christopher Parker (drums)

Love is so simple, to quote a phrase
You’ve known it all the time, I’m learnin’ it these days
Oh, I know where I can find you, oh, oh
In somebody’s room
It’s a price I have to pay
You’re a big girl all the way

The Beacon Theatre
New York City, New York
12 October 1989

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • G. E. Smith (guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Christopher Parker (drums)

bob dylan paris 1990
Paris 1990

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Portland, Oregon
21 August 1990

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • G. E. Smith (guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Christopher Parker (drums).
  • Steve Bruton (guitar).

A change in the weather is known to be extreme
But what’s the sense of changing horses in midstream?
I’m going out of my mind, oh, oh
With a pain that stops and starts
Like a corkscrew to my heart
Ever since we’ve been apart




Lyon 1994
Lyon 1994

The Orpheum Theatre
Boston, Massachusetts
9 October 1994

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • John Jackson (guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Winston Watson (drums & percussion)

bob dylan atlanta 1996House Of Blues
Atlanta, Georgia
3 August 1996

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • John Jackson (guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Winston Watson (drums & percussion)

Bournemouth 2002
Bournemouth 2002

National Exhibition Centre Arena
Birmingham, England
10 May 2002

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Jim Keltner (drums & percussion)




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-Egil

4 thoughts on “Bob Dylan: 12 Great live versions of “You’re A Big Girl Now””

  1. Great, especially the Jones Beach one. How I’d love to hear A Simple Twist of Fate from the same concert. I had an old cassette of that back in the 80s but unfortunately it broke! Thanks.

    1. Hi Niall,
      Bobby did not play “Simple Twist of Fate” @ Jones Beach June 30, 1988, BUT he played it the next day – same place.
      Here it is:

      1. Hi EM!
        Many thanks, great to hear it again. Sorry about the delay in replying.
        Niall, Dublin.

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