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)
The 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)
The last three songs on the album (“You’re a Big Girl Now,” “I Threw It All Away,” and “Idiot Wind“) are as powerful and exciting as anything Dylan has done (comparable, for instance, to the May 1966 versions of “Ballad of a Thin Man” and “Like a Rolling Stone”). As phenomenal as every aspect of each of these performances is, the unique orchestration of guitars, keyboards, violin, drums and voice on “Big Girl” must be singled out for particular praise. Stoner’s bass-playing while Dylan sings “Down the highway, down the tracks, down the road to ecstacy” on “Idiot Wind” will have a special place in my heart as long as I live.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Vol 2: The Middle Years 1974-1986)
Fantastic concert from the penultimate show of Rolling Thunder Revue 2. Five songs from this show were chosen to be included on Bob Dylan’s brilliant live album “Hard Rain”: Maggie’s Farm, One Too Many Mornings, Shelter from the Storm, You’re a Big Girl Now & Idiot Wind.
Hughes Stadium Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 23 May 1976
Bob Dylan’s second recording session for Blood On The Tracks continued on September 17, 1974. Another important day in the studio.
Here are some quotes, facts & music….
We cut the entire album in one day like that. Now that blew my mind. I was 19-years-old and trying to learn how to make art. The style of the time was set by guys I was working with like Paul Simon, who would take weeks recording a guitar part only to throw it away. I thought that was the way one was supposed to do it: one note at a time and a year to make an album. Dylan cut the whole thing in six hours on a Monday night. I was confused. It was like the floor, barely built under my young soul, was being ripped apart, board by board. Then Dylan came back in on Tuesday, and recorded most of the album again.
~Glenn Berger (Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks: The Untold Story)
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
~Bob Dylan (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)
..‘You’re a Big Girl Now’ presses on still further with the unsparing examination of whether a decaying relationship can withstand the strains of time and other lovers
~Michael Gray (The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia)
1974 is an important year in the life of Bob Dylan.
I’ve put together a list of the ten best songs recorded (studio or live) this year. One rule applies: it has to be officially released in some form. I’ve nominated 25 songs & I challenge everyone reading this to set up their own “Bob Dylan – Top 10 songs recorded in 1974”. Feel free to ignore my nominated songs list and please use the comments section to share lists & thoughts.
…and by the way lists are fun.
Relevant albums
Before The Flood Released June 20, 1974 Recorded February 13–14, 1974, in Los Angeles,
except track 4: January 30, 1974, in New York
Blood On The TracksReleased January 20, 1975
Recorded September 16–19, 1974, at A&R Recording in New York,
New York and December 27–30, 1974, at Sound 80 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
BiographReleased November 7, 1985 Recorded November 1961-August 1981
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3
(Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991Released March 26, 1991 Recorded November 1961 – March 1989
Blood on the Tracks – New York Sessions source: Original test pressingRecorded 16 September – 8 October, 1974 Bootleg
The Warehouse
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