Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan Concerts

October 16: Bob Dylan The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (full video)

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bob dylan 30th

 

Released August 24, 1993
Deluxe edition March 4th, 2014
Recorded October 16, 1992
Genre Rock
Length 148:24
Label Columbia
Producer Jeff Rosen and Don DeVito

The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration is a live double-album release in recognition of Bob Dylan’s 30 years as a recording artist. Recorded on October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it captures most of the concert, which featured many artists performing classic Dylan songs, before ending with three songs from Dylan himself.

The house band for the show were the surviving members of Booker T. and the MG’s: Booker T. Jones on organ, Donald “Duck” Dunnon bass, and Steve Cropper on guitar. Joining them is drummer Anton Fig filling in for the late Al Jackson, plus drummer Jim Keltner. Longtime Saturday Night Live bandleader G. E. Smith served as the musical director.

The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, which reached #40 in the US and went gold, was released in August 1993 just before Dylan was about to deliver his second folk studio set inside of a year, World Gone Wrong. The concert was dubbed “Bobfest” byNeil Young at the beginning of his “All Along the Watchtower” cover.

An after-party was held at Tommy Makem’s Irish Pavilion.

A VHS collection of the same name was released on August 25, 1993. On March 4th, 2014, the concert was released in Deluxe Edition 2-DVD and Blu-Ray sets with bonus performances and behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage, as well as a 2-CD set with two bonus rehearsal tracks.

Bob Dylan, capton & Cropper

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Tracklist:

  1. Like A Rolling Stone (John Cougar Mellencamp)
  2. Blowin’ In The Wind (Stevie Wonder)
  3. Foot Of Pride (Lou Reed)
  4. Masters Of War (Eddie Vedder/Mike McCready)
  5. The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Tracy Chapman)
  6. It Ain’t Me Babe (June Carter Cash/Johnny Cash)
  7. What Was It You Wanted (Willie Nelson)
  8. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight (Kris Kristofferson)
  9. Highway 61 Revisited (Johnny Winter)
  10. Seven Days (Ron Wood)
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  11. Just Like A Woman (Richie Havens)
  12. When The Ship Comes In (The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O’Connell with special guest Tommy Makem)
  13. War (Sinead O’Connor)
  14. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues (Neil Young)
  15. All Along The Watchtower (Neil Young)
  16. I Shall Be Released (Chrissie Hynde)
  17. Love Minus Zero No Limit (Eric Clapton)Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (Eric Clapton)
  18. Emotionally Yours (The O’Jays)
  19. When I Paint My Masterpiece (The Band)
    –
  20. You Ain’t Goin Nowhere (Mary Chapin, Rosanne Cash, Shaun Colvin)
  21. Absolutely Sweet Marie (George Harrison)
  22. License To Kill (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
  23. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
  24. Mr Tambourine Man (Roger McGuinn)
  25. It’s Alright, Ma (Bob Dylan)
  26. My Back Pages (Bob Dylan /Roger McGuinn /Tom Petty /Neil Young /Eric Clapton /George Harrison)
  27. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Everyone)
  28. Girl Of The North Country (Bob Dylan)

 

* Richie Havens’ moving “Just Like a Woman,” completely within his style
* the Clancy Brothers’ fervent conversion of “When the Ship Comes In” to an Irish folk idiom
* the swinging, countrified “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” from Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, and Rosanne Cash
* a sullen “Masters of War” by Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready on acoustic guitar
* Lou Reed went through the bootlegs to come up with the pounding “Foot of Pride,” which is perfectly suited to Reed’s declamatory style
* Eric Clapton shrugs off his diffident manner to deliver one of the most electrifying performances of his life in “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” — each guitar lick and vocal cuts angrily to the bone —
* and George Harrison makes his first U.S. concert appearance in 18 years with “Absolutely Sweet Marie.”
~Richard S. Ginell (allmusic.com)

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

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…Although the show is released as a double CD some months later, and Dylan is several hundred thousand /a couple of million dollars richer (take your pick) after the evening, on any kind of musical level the show has only served to remind that nobody sings Dylan like Dylan, and even he on occasion doesn’t sing Dylan like Dylan.
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)

-Egil

5 thoughts on “October 16: Bob Dylan The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration (full video)”

  2. I remember recording this on VHS at the time, then systematically copying the songs onto CDs. Some truly interesting stuff, and as Clinton Heylon noted, nobody sings Dylan like Dylan. A loose, fun evening, the kind that rarely happen any more, it seems.

  3. Interestingly, one of the most tender, operatically erotic performances of the evening was Sophie B Hawkins backed up by Booker T and his band and chorus. It always mystified me why her, I Want You, was left off the sound track.
    And was that band ever cooking behind her.

    Probably something to do with agents…

  4. I think I recall a young woman singing “I Want You” when I saw the original broadcast. I did not see it in your set list. Am I wrong about this?

    1. Sophie B. Hawkins. It was never included on the CD, either, and I don’t know why.

      I was watching it on TV and recording it off the radio, and the radio was having a commercial break during her performance. I recorded it off the TV (really lousy sound). I always wondered if that had something to do with it.

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