BOB DYLAN : LIVE 1962-1966 RARE PERFORMANCES FROM THE COPYRIGHT COLLECTIONS

 

Disc One

  1. Blowin' In The Wind
  2. Corrina, Corrina
  3. John Brown
  4. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
  5. Bob Dylan's Dream
  6. Seven Curses
  7. Boots Of Spanish Leather
  8. Masters Of War
  9. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
  10. When The Ship Comes In
  11. The Times They Are A-Changin'
  12. Girl From The North Country
  13. Mr. Tambourine Man
  14. It Ain't Me, Babe
  15. To Ramona
  16. Chimes Of Freedom

Disc Two

  1. One Too Many Mornings
  2. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
  3. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
  4. Gates Of Eden
  5. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
  6. She Belongs To Me
  7. Maggie's Farm
  8. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
  9. Desolation Row
  10. Baby Let Me Follow You Down
  11. I Don't Believe You
  12. Ballad Of A Thin Man
  13. Visions Of Johanna
  14. Like A Rolling Stone

Label : Columbia

Release Date : July 27, 2018

Venue : various locations 1962-1966

Quality : Soundboard Recording (A+)

Review (AllMusic) : Sony began releasing collections of Bob Dylan rarities with the sole purpose of extending their claims to the copyright to the recordings in 2012, when they released The 50th Anniversary Collection: The Copyright Extension Collection, Vol. 1. The very title of the album made its intent plain, but Sony nevertheless decided to release it under the radar, slipping out a few copies to various territories in Europe instead of prepping the music as part of their acclaimed Bootleg Series. As the years passed, the Copyright Extensions became bundled into the Bootleg Series - 2014's The Basement Tapes Raw and 2015's The Cutting Edge were copyright extensions in all but name - and the notion that labels would clear out their vaults with the explicit reason of extending the copyright became accepted. Which leads us to Live 1962-1966: Rare Performances from the Copyright Collections, a collection of highlights Sony released in 2018. The double-disc set is precisely what it claims to be: 29 live tracks that were previously released as part of big clearing houses, now packaged for easier consumption. It's a smart move and a welcome one, too, as the copyright sets aren't designed for listenability, yet this compilation is, moving briskly from early folk tunes to electrified rock & roll. There may not be many epochal cuts here, but there is a surplus of first-rate performances here, particularly on the second disc, which gathers highlights from 1965-1966. For any serious Dylan fan who hasn't been willing to dive into the big copyright sets, this is an excellent way to get acquainted with the treasures that lie within.

Review (Humo) : De nieuwste release van Bob Dylan omvat twee cd?s vol liveopnames die door Sony zo?n acht jaar geleden al eens in allerijl en extreem gelimiteerd en versnipperd op de markt werden gegooid, om te voorkomen dat de copyrights erop zouden komen te vervallen. Dat was toen nog het geval voor songs die vijftig jaar lang geen offici?le release hadden gekregen ? de wetten zijn intussen aangepast. Live 1962-1966, Rare Performances from the Copyright Collections Alles is nu netjes verpakt en verzameld in een doosje en te koop voor iedereen, maar zeggen dat het de meest behapbare brok Dylan is die ons de afgelopen jaren voor de voeten is gevallen, is de waarheid geweld aandoen. Om te beginnen duurt het anderhalve cd voor er elektriciteit aan te pas komt, en geen kwaad woord over folk-Bob, maar de man is nooit een virtuoos geweest op de akoestische gitaar, en wij hebben hem altijd liever gehoord als de vonken hem rond de oren vlogen. Het is leuk om te horen hoe frivool Dylan tekeergaat op de mondharmonica in koffiebar Gerde?s Folk City in april ?62, in de oudste bewaard gebleven opname van ?Blowin? in the Wind?. Of om hem met Joan Baez in Washington D.C. ?When the Ship Comes In? te horen zingen, luttele momenten v??r Martin Luther King er zijn ?I have a dream?-speech gaf. Maar wat een feest als er eindelijk een band in zijn rug opduikt in ?Maggie?s Farm? in de Hollywood Bowl, september ?65. Nog net niet Th? Band overigens ? die volgt drie songs later ? maar wel al met Robbie Robertson op gitaar en Levon Helm op drums. Hoogtepunt is een bijzonder snerende versie van ?Ballad of a Thin Man?, op zich al geen gooi naar de Nobelprijs voor de Vrede. Interessant maar niet essentieel, dit.

Review (Irish Examiner) : Few artists have been bootlegged as extensively, while the count of official Bob Dylan live albums runs into double figures. Nonetheless, hardcore Dylan fansd of which there is no shortage ? will be keen to explore this two-disc compilation of early concert recordings, bringing together material previously only available on the limited edition 50th Anniversary/Copyright Extension LPs. Those highly-sought records were released in order to prevent the material becoming public domain. They now reach a mass audience via a collection tracing Dylan?s rise from Greenwich Village to his break-out 1963 performance at Carnegie Hall and his iconic UK tour (as already immortalised in DA Pennebaker?s documentary, Don?t Look Back). What you get, in other words, is a potted overview of what many will consider Dylan?s most vital years. His voice is cracked and wondrous on ?Blowin? In The Wind?, recorded at Gerde?s Folk City in New York in 1962, while he has fully assumed the mantle of generational spokesman on the Carnegie Hall versions of ?The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll? and ?Masters Of War?. Dylan?s duet with Joan Baez on when ?The Ship Comes In? was recorded that same summer, at the March on Washington and crackles with fervour. Less essential, arguably, are cuts from the UK tour, including a rather-by-the-numbers ?The Times They Are A-Changin??, from the Royal Festival Hall, and ?It?s All Over Now, Baby Blue?, from Liverpool?s Odeon. With a career chronicled as exhaustively as Dylan?s, it is asking too much for a new live album to add anything to our understanding of him. Yet as it teases us with snapshots of the artist he started out as and the one into which he transformed, Rare Performances becomes an intriguing portrait of one of the great 20th century enigmas.