Well, if you’re travelin’ in the north country fair
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
Meehan Auditorium
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
17 April 1997
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
By the time we did the Australia and Europe tours we had discovered whatever this thing was. It was not light, it was not folky. It was very dynamic, very explosive and very violent.
~Robbie Robertson
By this point, Dylan, Robertson, and Co. knew instinctively that what they were doing was right, in every sense of the word. If the Hawks had been a little hesitant in their playing back in the fall of 1965, the music they were producing now was stately, immense, compelling. The sound itself had a thousand precursors, but no precedent. It was, indeed, ‘very explosive and very violent.’
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited)
Dylan’s 66 world tour is the best tour ever… by anyone. I know you all agree.
The Bob Dylan World Tour 1966 was a concert tour undertaken by American musician Bob Dylan, from February to May 1966. Dylan’s 1966 World Tour was notable as the first tour where Dylan employed an electric band backing him, following his “going electric” at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. The musicians Dylan employed as his backing band were known as The Hawks; they subsequently became famous as The Band. The 1966 tour was filmed by director D. A. Pennebaker. Pennebaker’s footage was edited by Dylan and Howard Alk to produce a little-seen film, Eat the Document, an anarchic account of the tour. Drummer Mickey Jones also filmed the tour with an 8mm home movie camera. Many of the 1966 tour concerts were recorded by Columbia Records. These recordings produced one official album, the so-called “Royal Albert Hall” concert, and also many unofficial bootleg recordings of the tour.Dylan’s 1966 Tour ended with his motorcycle accident on July 29, 1966. Subsequent to Dylan’s withdrawal to Woodstock, he refrained from undertaking a major tour until 1974. ~Wikipedia
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).
Touring is something you either love or hate doing. I’ve experienced both. I try to keep an open mind about it. Right now, I’m enjoying it. The crowds make the show. Going onstage, seeing different people every night in a combustible way, that’s a thrill. There’s nothing in ordinary life that even comes close to that.
– Bob Dylan (Edna Gundersen interview for USA Today – April 1999)
Never Ending Tour 1999
Start date
January 26, 1999
End date
November 20, 1999
Legs
5
No. of shows
98 in North America
21 in Europe
–
119 in total
Every N.E.T. junkie seems to agree that 1999 was a wonderful Dylan year. Strong performances in all 5 legs.
Pavilhão do Atlântico
Parque das Nações
Lisbon, Portugal
7 April 1999
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
Larry Campbell (guitar)
Tony Garnier (bass)
David Kemper (drums & percussion)
Tryin´ To Get To Heaven
The air is getting hotter
There’s a rumbling in the skies
I’ve been wading through the high muddy water
With the heat rising in my eyes
Every day your memory grows dimmer
It doesn’t haunt me like it did before
I’ve been walking through the middle of nowhere
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door
)
