Rising Tide: Live, 1994

 

Bob Dylan
Rising Tide: Live 1994

Jokerman - Live - Boston - October 8, 1994
Man In The Long Black Coat - Live - Lewiston - August 16, 1994
If You See Her, Say Hello - Live - New York City - October 19, 1994
Tears Of Rage - Live - New York City - October 18, 1994
Series Of Dreams - Live - Hiroshima - February 16, 1994
Two Soldiers - Live - Boston - October 9, 1994
Masters Of War - Live - Saugerties - August 14, 1994
The Lady Came From Baltimore - Live - Besançon - July 4, 1994
I & I - Live - Urawa - February 18, 1994
Stuck Inside Of Mobile - Live - Nashville - November 9, 1994
Train To Cry - Live - Saugerties - August 14, 1994

Bonus Tracks
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll - Live - New York City - October 20, 1994
Stuck Inside Of Mobile - Live - Nashville - November 9, 1994 (Full Version)

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Per Dylan's words in a 1991 interview with Robert Hilburn for the Los Angeles Times, “if you just go out every three years or so, like I was doing for a while, that’s when you lose touch. If you are going to be a performer, you’ve got to give it your all.” Clearly he’d made good on this approach to his art by 1994, having not spent more than a few months off the road at a time since 1987. There were highs, like the edge-of-your seat energy of 1988 and the delicate half-acoustic arrangements of Autumn 1992, as well as lows; 1990 and 1991 include many of the singer’s most controversial performances.

What’s most impressive about where Dylan arrived after six years of the so-called Never-Ending Tour is the consistency. 1993 concerts could be pretty ragged, so it’s difficult to understand just how much the tour had improved by a February 1994 stint in the Far East (Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong). Maybe that was down to disappointment with the Supper Club concerts from late 1993, which were recorded but evidently shelved at Dylan’s request. Maybe it was down to preparations for The Great Music Experience in Nara, which required Dylan to tailor his vocal approach to a symphonic backing rather than the garage bands he was used to. Whatever the case, fans could be reliably sure in 1994 that they were going to get a great show.

The tradeoff to this high level of quality was a relatively static setlist. “Jokerman” opened nearly every show, “Maggie’s Farm” closed nearly every show (before encores), and audiences were treated to approximately seven electric tracks and three acoustic tracks with the band in-between. Though a couple of songs received their first performances of the 1990s this year - “Jokerman” and “If You See Her Say Hello” - the only song played by Bob Dylan for the first time live was a cover of Tim Hardin’s “The Lady Came From Baltimore.” The singer’s latest record, World Gone Wrong, was more or less ignored.

Static setlists don’t have to be disappointing, of course. The Oh Mercy outtake “Series of Dreams” was played at over half of the Far East shows, but its minor-key rearrangement was a consistent highlight. “Man In The Long Black Coat” and “I & I” had been played frequently for years, but their menacing readings here are sure to send a chill down your spine. The rarities are still a treat too: “Tears of Rage” receives a near-definitive treatment in New York City while “Two Soldiers” wildly surpasses the middling reading it had received in-studio the previous year.

With regard to how this new release slots into the overall Thousand Highways Collection, you’ll notice that a few of the songs have been pulled from Ring Them Bells: 1994. I’ve left “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” off from the main set due to time restrictions, but included it here as a bonus track; the other bonus track is an extended version of “Stuck Inside Of Mobile,” which I had to trim a bit to ensure the core songs would fit onto a single compact disc. All other songs from the Ring Them Bells can be found on Reborn In Time.

Folks have been requesting a dedicated Live 1994 release for quite a while, so I’m happy to finally oblige and I hope this meets the standards set by my previous work. With the exception of “Masters of War,” all tracks are sourced from remasters produced by Expecting Rain’s Bennyboy in 2021 and 2022. It felt silly to reinvent the wheel when someone else had already done such an excellent job making these songs sound near-perfect. In short, this collection would simply not exist without the hard work of Bennyboy.

Until next time, keep yourself healthy and listen to some good tunes.

Cheers,
CS