April 12: Bob Dylan Town Hall, New York 1963
This ranks high as one of the most important boot releases of all time, and on top of that, it’s simply a thrill and a joy to just sit back and listen to. If you’re only planning on getting one bootleg this decade, this is the one. Hands down.
~bobsboots.com
Bob Dylan plays his first major solo concert at a major New York concert venue; Town Hall. He still hadn’t released his groundbreaking second album and chose only to play 3 songs from his first album. A confident young Dylan mostly playing songs unknown to the audience & ending with a long spoken poem called “Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie”.
The Town Hall was about three-quarter full…. not bad considering his only released album had been a “flop”.
It is a GREAT concert… a “must” for any Dylan fan.
The first bootleg recording (with some songs from the concert) started circulating in 1970. The full concert recording started circulating in 2008 (superb soundboard sound).
A highlight among highlights! …… It’s a tender and beautiful one with Bob’s voice going into higher registers. He starts of joking that it’s a difficult song to sing and that he might not be able to; but he pulls it of incredibly well.
~bobsboots.com (about Don’t Think Twice)
#20 – Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright
Setlist
- Ramblin’ Down Thru The World
- Bob Dylan’s Dream
- Talkin’ New York
- Ballad Of Hollis Brown
- Walls Of Red Wing
Red wing. It’s reform school. Don’t have no high school football teams though or nothing like that. No cheer leaders.
~Bob Dylan (introducing the song)
- All Over You
- Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues
- Boots Of Spanish Leather
One of the highlights of the set is this incredible world debut performance. Bob’s finger picking lays a magical carpet on which he spreads a haunting melody that carries this lamentable tale of unrequited love.
~bobsboots.com
- Hero Blues
- Blowin’ In The Wind
- John Brown
- Tomorrow Is A Long Time
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
— - Dusty Old Fairgrounds
- Who Killed Davey Moore?
- Seven Curses
- Highway 51 (Curtis Jones)
…here it is in full glory. Bob holds out the first “walkin” for a full eight seconds as well as “highway” from the second verse. He is comfortable with the song and throws everything he’s got in his arsenal into it. The vocals, harp, and guitar are perhaps more expressive here than in any song of the concert. Simply an incredible find!
~bobsboots.com
- Pretty Peggy-O (trad., arranged by Bob Dylan)
- Bob Dylan’s New Orleans Rag
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Hiding Too Long
- With God On Our Side
The audience is now putty in Dylan’s hand (as if they weren’t from the beginning of the show). He continues the powerful political statements with his final two songs. They are incredible. The audience doesn’t dare breath as they hang on every syllable.
~bobsboots.com
- Masters Of War
- Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie
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| Address | 123 West 43rd Street | | City | New York City | | Country | United States | | Designation | U.S. National Historic Landmark | | Architect | McKim, Mead & White | | Capacity | 1,495
| | Opened | January 12, 1921 | | Years active | 1921-current | | Previous names | The Hall, Town Hall |
The Town Hall is a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, in New York City. It seats approximately 1,500 people. In the 1930s the first public-affairs media programming originated here with the “America’s Town Meeting of the Air” radio programs. In recognition of this the National Park Service placed the building on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012, and designated it a National Historic Landmark in 2013.
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-Egil