GREAT performance from Dylan & his trio (core of what would become the The Rolling Thunder tour band).. They were the last act this day.. the filming was running late & they didn’t get to play before 2 am. Still there is fire in Dylan’s eyes.. and he drives his band through the songs.
The result is a sound and a set of songs unlike anything Dylan or anyone else has ever done before…. The lyrics of “Sara” and “Abandoned Love” (and, for that matter, of “Isis” and “Hurricane”) could not be more perfect, but overall the triumph of Desire is musical
~Paul Williams (BD performing artist 1974-86)
Recorded in the summer lull before the first Rolling Thunder tour and released soon after it, the stand-out tracks are ‘Isis’, ‘Romance in Durango’ and ‘Black Diamond Bay’, but ‘Hurricane’, ‘One More Cup of Coffee’ and ‘Oh Sister’ are breathing down their necks.
~Michael Gray (BD Encyclopedia)
Studio E Columbia Recording Studios New York City, New York 31 July 1975 5th Desire session, produced by Don DeVito
The following night [31 July 1975], Dylan held another session, this time recording three songs. From this session, Dylan recorded the master take for “Isis” as well as master takes for “Abandoned Love” and “Sara.” Dylan’s wife Sara, the subject of the song that bore her name, also accompanied him to this session.
Fantastic material. … The sound quality of the recording is as true and clean as any ever made along the Rolling Thunder tour. The vocals are crisp, powerful, and on top of the mix. All instruments are well balanced and represented in the overall sound.
The 11th recording made along the tour, this show was recorded on the 11th day of the 11th month …. and what a magical mystery tour it is. The complex, though loose weaving and interacting of the instruments and vocals create a beautiful tapestry that will not be matched on any tour before or since. With the ‘Desire’ album to be released in a few weeks, Bob relies heavily on it for the show material. The cryptic songs of desire and despair add another layer to the thick blanket of mythography that is, was, and will forever be ‘Rolling Thunder’. …. The obscure title comes from Dylan’s introduction of the song ‘Sara’. “We want to do this one for Larry, our favorite reporter, who’s out there somewhere. He tells it like it is.”
~bobsboots.com
The Dylan/Baez set 1s extended to five songs. Tonight’s set includes the version of “The Water Is Wide” used as back- ground in the “Renaldo, Clara, and the Woman in White” scene. The concert is filmed for Renaldo and Clara. However, no footage is used, probably because Dylan uses no white face makeup, for the only time on the tour.
-Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)
Palace Theater
Waterbury, Connecticut
11 November 1975
Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar)
Bob Neuwirth (guitar)
T-bone J. Henry Burnett (guitar)
Roger McGuinn (guitar)
Steven Soles (guitar)
Mick Ronson (guitar)
David Mansfield (steel guitar, violin, mandolin ,dobro)
Bob Dylan visiting Rubin Carter in Prison, 1975 (Ken Regan)
@ Columbia Studio 1 in New York City, New York – 24 October 1975: Bob Dylan’s 6th and last Desire recording session, produced by Don DeVito.
In this session he tried Hurricane 10 times, no other songs were tried.
A splice of takes 2 & 6 was released on his great album “Desire” – 16 January 1976.
Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
Cries out, “My God, they killed them all!”
Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin’ that he never done
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world
The result is a sound and a set of songs unlike anything Dylan or anyone else has ever done before…. The lyrics of “Sara” and “Abandoned Love” (and, for that matter, of “Isis” and “Hurricane”) could not be more perfect, but overall the triumph of Desire is musical
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Vol 2: The Middle Years 1974-1986)
Recorded in the summer lull before the first Rolling Thunder tour and released soon after it, the stand-out tracks are ‘Isis’, ‘Romance in Durango’ and ‘Black Diamond Bay’, but ‘Hurricane’, ‘One More Cup of Coffee’ and ‘Oh Sister’ are breathing down their necks.
~Michael Gray (The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia)
Studio E
Columbia Recording Studios
New York City, New York
30 July 1975 4th Desire session, produced by Don DeVito
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