News Post: "Shades of Blue" To Be Discontinued Shortly

Good morning everyone,

Some good news and some bad news...

The good news is that Sony/Columbia are releasing the very exciting Bootleg Series Volume 12: The Cutting Edge on November 6, 2015. This will include three packages of outtakes from 1965 to 1966, including a 2 CD best-of, a 6 CD set of mostly complete takes, and an 18 CD collector's edition containing the entirety of the studio tape from this era. Pretty heady stuff. More details here.

The bad news, at least for you loyal readers/listeners, is that The Thousand Highways Collection will be one item shorter. My Shades of Blue compilation, found here, will be taken down from this website before November 6, 2015. I've been pretty clear in the past that I don't want any overlap between this website and material that can be purchased from Bob Dylan's record company, and am standing by that in this instance. I will maintain the tracklist for those of you who would like to purchase the 6 CDs and compile your own version of my set, but the links will be removed.

For the material not represented on The Bootleg Series Volume 11, I will probably publish a bonus CD in the month of November. This would be the live tracks and/or the hotel tapes. We'll see.

I hope all is well with you kind folks, and I'm looking forward to bringing you more unreleased music in the future.

XOXO,
CS

Shadows & Rust: Unreleased Live Recordings, Summer 2015

BOB DYLAN

SHADOWS AND RUST

SUMMER 2015

Duquesne Whistle - Live - Ljubljana - June 25, 2015

Where Are You - Live - Tubingen - June 21, 2015

Visions Of Johanna - Live - Lorrach - July 16, 2015

Tangled Up In Blue - Live - Cordoba - July 9, 2015

Full Moon & Empty Arms - Live - Lorrach - July 16, 2015

I'll Be Your Baby Tonight - Live - Locarno - July 15, 2015

I'm A Fool To Want You - Live - Cordoba - July 9, 2015

Early Roman Kings - Live - Ljubljana - June 25, 2015

Sad Songs & Waltzes - Live - Mainz - June 20, 2015

'Til I Fell In Love With You - Live - Mainz - June 20, 2015

Lucky Old Sun - Live - San Sebastian - July 11, 2015

Soon After Midnight - Live - Bamberg - June 23, 2015

To Ramona - Live - Tubingen - June 21, 2015

Long & Wasted Years - Live - Ljubljana - June 25, 2015

Autumn Leaves - Live - Bamberg - June 23, 2015

Love Sick  - Live - Cordoba - July 9, 2015

Link

Find yourselves a comfortable seat and get ready to listen to the definitive collection of Bob Dylan's unreleased recordings from his European Tour of Summer 2015. These were expertly taped by a variety of the great fans and generously published online for us all to enjoy.

More concerts than usual are represented in this set, since so many tapes were available in excellent quality. Even the most compromised of these, Cordoba and Tubingen, were marvelous articles. In particular, many have asserted that Cordoba affords the greatest performance of the tour; though the tape is marred by an enthusiastic crowd (all the better in person, to be fair), the performance overwhelms this concern. Tubingen, on the other hand, has an intriguing ambiance provided by heavy rain, which occasionally present a somewhat less distinct picture of the events onstage. Nonetheless, these are minor quibbles indeed once your ears hear the quality of the material presented at these shows.

Bob Dylan continued his strikingly excellent performance quality of the past couple years, marrying it to some new songs and the return of some older songs. Shadows In The Night is very well-represented, accounting for five of the sixteen songs here. Tempest is also prominent, providing four of the tracks. Of the remainder, one is a never-before-performed cover (Willie Nelsons' "Sad Songs & Waltzes") and the rest come from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1990s.

Noteworthy arrangements include a propulsive, jovial piano-driven rendition of "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," a slick salsa-like performance of "To Ramona," and the jazzy "'Til I Fell In Love With You." I'm not sure the last constitutes a distinct arrangement, but the loose performance speaks of Dylan's recent Sinatra influences - dig the repeated final words.

Stalwarts from past tours include "Duquesne Whistle," with an extended instrumental opener reminiscent of its studio recording, "Tangled Up In Blue," "Early Roman Kings," now with one less guitar and four more maracas, "Soon After Midnight," a slightly re-written "Long & Wasted Years," and the outstanding "Love Sick," moved to a closing spot. 

It's worth noting that this compilation presents a vision of the songs that is not especially rooted in the order they were played in concert. "Duquesne Whistle" functions as an ideal opener, but it was consistently played midway through the first set. No concert featured nearly this many songs from Shadows In The Night, and most shows featured more uptempto songs. For this collection, I wanted to focus primarily on the more jazz-like elements of the show. This presents a more cohesive set, but the purist will undoubtedly want to seek out a few of the complete concerts. I recommend Mainz, Bamberg, Cordoba and Lorrach for the best representation. The set changed significantly over that period as well, moving from a set heavily dependent on Tempest to one that featured more old classics like "All Along The Watchtower," "Desolation Row" and "Blind Willie McTell."

I hope you enjoy the compilation!

This release should get you European listeners ready for Bob Dylan's upcoming 2015 Fall Tour; for all the rest of us, it'll have to tide us over until the man and his band return to our own concert halls.

Next month will feature 1992's live recordings. These will be an interesting comparison to the 2015 performances, since the Fall Tour of 1992 also presented a remarkably jazz-like aesthetic. Until then, keep yourself healthy and listen to some good tunes.

Thanks,

CS

Undesirables: Unreleased Live Recordings, Fall 1991

Undesirables
Fall Tour - 1991

Maggie's Farm - Live - Indianapolis - November 10, 1991
You Don't Know Me - Live - Madison - November 5, 1991
The Man In Me - Live - Ames - November 2, 1991
Across The Borderline - Live - Ames - November 2, 1991
Shelter From The Storm - Live - Indianapolis - November 10, 1991
Trail Of The Buffalo - Live - Madison - November 5, 1991
Roving Gambler - Live - South Bend - November 6, 1991
Mr. Tambourine Man - Live - Dayton - November 9, 1991
One Too Many Mornings - Live - Dayton - November 9, 1991
20/20 Vision - Live - Austin - October 25, 1991
Folsom Prison Blues - Live - Evanston - November 4, 1991
Answer Me, My Love - Live - Evanston - November 4, 1991
New Morning - Live - Madison - November 5, 1991
Friend Of The Devil - Live - Dayton - November 9, 1991
Gotta Serve Somebody - Live - Evanston - November 4, 1991

Link - Mediafire Folder

Welcome!

Bob Dylan's 1991 tours were not well-received at the time, and have not received a critical reappraisal in the years since. Coming on the heels of his outstanding performances of 1989 and 1990, it is understandable that 1991 would suffer by comparison. While the early part of the year's live output was less than ideal, however, the Fall Tour of the United States ended up being one of Dylan's more successful efforts of the early Never-Ending Tour.

The name of this set comes from the unofficial name bestowed upon Bob Dylan's 1991 band by the members themselves after negative audience perception in Europe. Perhaps setting out to alter this opinion, both the singer and the band were firing on all cylinders in October and November.

"Maggie's Farm" received a looser, looping arrangement with a prominent slide-sounding guitar. Covers like "You Don't Know Me," "Across The Borderline," "Answer Me, My Love," "Folsom Prison Blues," "20/20 Vision," and "Friend Of The Devil" lit up the setlist with surprise. More traditional songs, including "Trail Of The Buffalo" and "Roving Gambler," were performed to great success in the acoustic slots.

One significant improvement to the nightly shows were the acoustic combo songs. These were played at the end of the acoustic set, and were foreshadowing for the arrangements Dylan would go on to use throughout the 1990s and 2000s. While the singer had performed with a single guitarist as acoustic accompaniment during the tours from 1988 to 1990, he would increasingly rely on an entire acoustic backing band as the decade would progress. Some would lament losing the experience of seeing Bob Dylan, nearly alone on stage, but the expanded band would open up intriguing possibilities for arranging acoustic songs, as you can hear on this compilation with "Mr. Tambourine Man," "One Too Many Mornings" and "20/20 Vision."

The electric performances were no less interesting, though they generally received less nuanced delivery. Exceptions include "Across The Borderline," in what is perhaps Bob Dylan's most sincere rendering of the song, and "Answer Me, My Love." While the other electric songs are delivered with slightly less care to the phrasing, the overall effect is undiminished. Listen to the exuberance of this rendition of "The Man In Me," the cool menace of "Gotta Serve Somebody," or the jaunty cascading arrangement of "New Morning," which is finally delivered excellently here after less successful outings earlier in the year.

I hope you enjoy the set. This tour featured remarkably good recordings, so the sound should be up to standards. The tapers were, as ever, heroic in their efforts.

Next month will bring us up to 1992, which will include the addition of pedal steel guitar to the touring mix. I am trying to publish a bonus disc this month, so check back in a few weeks to see if I was successful!

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

-CS

Note: This month's compilation is broken down into the typical download pieces (Complete, AIFF, MP3, Art/Notes), but I was running behind and it was more expedient to package them all as a single link to the Mediafire folder. You can download them individually once you have clicked the link above. Let me know in the comments if this presents any challenges.

Update 2015/09/02: I forgot to mention above that "20/20 Vision" is slightly edited with a splice near the beginning. An especially boisterous audience member shouted a vulgarity very close to the taper, and I cut this through some careful modification of the tape. I can't imagine anyone would miss it, but if you do, you can seek out an unedited version.

Beneath A Diamond Sky: Unreleased Acoustic Recordings, 1989

Beneath A Diamond Sky

Acoustic 1989

She Belongs To Me - Live - Rochester Hills - July 6, 1989

Girl From The North Country - Live - Chicago - July 2, 1989

Baby Let Me Follow You Down - Live - Berkeley - September 3, 1989

Mr. Tambourine Man - Live - Boston - October 24, 1989

Lakes Of Pontchartrain - Live - Frejus - June 13, 1989

Every Grain Of Sand - Live - Athens - June 28, 1989

Love Minus Zero/No Limit - Live - Chicago - October 31, 1989

In The Pines - Live - Milwaukee - July 3, 1989

It Ain't Me Babe - Live - Glasgow - June 6, 1989

Forever Young - Live - Barcelona - June 16, 1989

[delisted]

Greetings,

This collection is not quite the revelatory set that the two other Thousand Highways Collection 1989 compilations are, but it is interesting nonetheless.

The songs consist entirely of acoustic performances from 1989. This is right in the heart of one of Dylan's most fertile periods for performing acoustic songs, alongside 1961-1966, 1975, 1995, and 1999-2002. The songs aren't as strong as those played the preceding year, but offer more intriguing renditions of the singer's own catalog; while 1988's acoustic sets were strongest when representing traditional songs, 1989's are at their best in the presentation of original material.

The summer tours make up the bulk of this set, due largely to Dylan's more limited vocal range in the Fall, and clearer tapes. The electric songs from the Fall Tour are loud enough to make it across the hiss of tape, but the acoustic songs fared less well. Even so, missing "Mr. Tambourine Man" from the Fall Tour would be a shame, so a performance from Boston graces this collection.

Notable inclusions are a very rare outing for "Baby Let Me Follow You Down," the only live acoustic performance of "Every Grain of Sand," one of only three live performances of "In The Pines," and a very beautiful "Forever Young." Note that "Every Grain of Sand" had appeared on another Thousand Highways compilation, but I thought it too good not to include here. It is, perhaps, the defining acoustic performance of the year.

"In The Pines" is intriguing, as it is said to be based on a version of the old song made popular by Bill Monroe, rather than the more familiar variant popularized by Leadbelly. I've not heard the Bill Monroe version, so I can't comment on whether this is true or not.

"It Ain't Me Babe" is the performance mentioned in Andrew Muir's One More Night, in which the singer messes around with the audience's capacity to sing along. "Lakes of Pontchartrain" is, as ever, utterly beautiful, and should be in everyone's collection. This is the performance that originally brought the song to my attention some years ago. I wish Dylan had recorded a studio cut of this at some point, but there is no evidence to suggest that he did.

The guitar work is pretty great throughout, owing to the combined efforts of the singer and the guitarist G. E. Smith, who played lead guitar in the year's electric sets. It really comes across in "Girl From The North Country," "Lakes of Pontchartrain," and "It Ain't Me Babe," but is quite pleasant throughout. Smith is one of the best accompanists that has played with Bob Dylan so far, and his talents are well-represented here.

As always, I hope you enjoy this pleasant collection. Next month will bring the Fall 1991 tour to this website. It's not one of Bob Dylan's more popular touring years, but I think a listen to this compilation might just push you into the fan camp. It's sure to be an interesting listen!

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

Thanks,

CS

The Water Is Wide: Unreleased Live Recordings, 1989

The Water Is Wide - Live 1989

Volume One

Seeing The Real You At Last - Live - Poughkeepsie - October 20, 1989

I Want You - Live - Ottawa - July 30, 1989

One Irish Rover - Live - Peoria - July 1, 1989

Dead Man, Dead Man - Live - New York City - October 12, 1989

Shelter From The Storm - Live - Milano - June 19, 1989

Queen Jane Approximately - Live - New York City - October 12, 1989

Man Of Peace - Live - New York City - October 12, 1989

House Of Gold - Live - Athens - June 28, 1989

The Water Is Wide - Live - Dublin - June 3, 1989

When You Gonna Wake Up - Live - Poughkeepsie - October 20, 1989

Trouble - Live - Atlanta - August 16, 1989

Congratulations - Live - Glasgow - June 6, 1989

Trail Of The Buffalo - Live - Atlanta - August 16, 1989

Most Of The Time - Live - Ithaca - October 29, 1989

Like A Rolling Stone - Live - The Hague - June 10, 1989

The Water Is Wide - Live 1989

Volume Two

Absolutely Sweet Marie - Live - Poughkeepsie - October 20, 1989

Tears Of Rage - Live - Patras - June 26, 1989

What Good Am I - Live - New York City - October 13, 1989

Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I Go Mine) - Live - The Hague - June 10, 1989

It Takes A Lot To Laugh - Live - New York City - October 13, 1989

John Brown - Live - Birmingham - June 7, 1989

Early Morning Rain - Live - Stanhope - July 17, 1989

Silvio - Live - Glasgow - June 6, 1989

Tomorrow Is A Long Time - Live - Rochester - July 6, 1989

I Believe In You - Live - Boston - October 24, 1989

Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - Live - Milwaukee - July 3, 1989

Ring Them Bells - Live - Poughkeepsie - October 20, 1989

Just Like A Woman - Live - Glasgow - June 6, 1989

Everything Is Broken - Live - South Kingston - October 22, 1989

Peace In The Valley - Live - Frejus - June 13, 1989

 

[delisted]

Hello friends,

Welcome to the hotly anticipated 1989 installment of the Thousand Highways Collection! Settle in, because this set is a whopping two discs long.

1989 is a very weird, intense year for Bob Dylan concerts when juxtaposed with its immediate predecessor, 1988. Not only was the scope of the tour broadened to include many more countries (1988 only hit the United States) - the musical palette was expanded considerably. This was coupled with a significant increase in the gruffness of Dylan's vocals to create a tour that looked a lot like the one before but with very little musical similarity. While 1988 represented a performer playing his music with the most energy he could muster, 1989 presents a much more edgy, experimental side of the singer and band.

Due to the large number of songs on this set (30 in total!), I will not be conducting a track-by-track review. Instead, let's focus on some of the broader trends at work.

One of the primary sounds in the palette, and my favorite aspect of the year, was an emphasis on darker, minor key songs. This was more evident in the Fall Tour, as songs from Oh Mercy made their tour debut, but was present too in the summer. "What Good Am I?", "Most Of The Time," "Tears Of Rage," and "One Irish Rover" represent the more melancholy presentation of this sound. There is a bitterness that is particularly well-served by the growly delivery associated with these ballads.

The more uptempo manifestation of this sound is perhaps even more interesting. "John Brown," "Trail Of The Buffalo," "When You Gonna Wake Up," and "Dead Man, Dead Man" are all interestingly off-kilter performances. The words are not all there, but the vibe is expertly achieved. Check out that strange klezmer-esque instrumental in "Trail Of The Buffalo" or the pulsing bass of "John Brown." Even the feedback near the end of "Dead Man, Dead Man" serves to produce this environment of dark heat.

Dylan's 1960s material is given rather impressionistic treatment here as well. "Tears Of Rage" was spectacularly debuted in Greece, and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is as inventively arranged as Paul Williams suggests in his Performing Artist series. The author Clinton Heylin singles out this performance of "Queen Jane Approximately," played at the Beacon Theater in New York, as especially praiseworthy, and it's impossible to disagree. Evident on that song, as well as a handful of others (including a blisteringly paced "I Want You"), is the second interesting trend of the year - bizarre, rambling song endings. This sounds like a negative, and indeed sometimes it was, by the effect could be entirely mesmerizing. The end of "Queen Jane Approximately," for example, plays out like a completely different beautiful song.

This presents a challenge for the compiler, since songs had a tendency to evolve directly into the next track. I avoided this by splicing in some audience applause and using careful fades. Hopefully you won't find this intrusive!

The third trend in Dylan's sound on these tours was an increased reliance on inventive cover performances. This presents a continuity with the 1986 tour, but represents a striking break with 1987 and 1988. While the acoustic set had included covers in 1988, the electric set consisted primarily of Dylan originals. As suggested by the circulating rehearsals for 1989's touring, though, there was a distinct emphasis on performing a wide, wide ranger of covers in this year.

On The Water Is Wide, you will find "Peace In The Valley," "House Of Gold," "Early Morning Rain," and an electrified rendition of "The Water Is Wide." Of these, one is a gospel song popularized by Elvis Presley, one is a moralizing Hank Williams country tune, one is a mournful lament by Dylan's contemporary, Gordon Lightfoot, and one is a traditional English song of seventeenth century origin. He had "Early Morning Rain" and "The Water Is Wide" before, on Self-Portrait and the Rolling Thunder Revue respectively, but never performed them so effectively. "The Water Is Wide," in particular, remains one of Bob Dylan's most powerful live performances, at least to this listener.

Other intriguing bits include an uptempo country arrangement of "Tomorrow Is A Long Time," apocalyptic electric blues as represented by "Man Of Peace" and "Everything Is Broken," one of the only two airings of the Traveling Wilburys' "Congratulations," and one of the most rollicking performances of "Like A Rolling Stone" this side of 1981.

These trends would continue into 1990, and is represented by the winter London / Paris residency on the Thousand Highways Collection with a CD called Town Without Pity. I'm not sure any of the following years accomplished quite the scope of 1989, however. 

The one thing you are missing on this release is representation of the singer's acoustic sets. I will be rectifying that with an all-acoustic bonus disc later this month, so keep your eyes on the blog. The sound quality of 1989's tapes is wildly inconsistent, and favored the electric tracks, so in general the acoustic songs do not have the same impact as those in the preceding year. Still, there are some truly remarkable performances, and I'd hate for them to pass you by.

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

-CS

Update - August 3, 2015: Volume One was several seconds too long for a single disc, so all relevant links were re-uploaded tonight with altered versions of "Congratulations" and "Most Of The Time." Let me know if the problem persists.

Non-Music Resource Post

Hello everyone!

Since there is no bonus disc for the month of July, I thought you might enjoy some kind of update. In this case, it will be a brief explanation of pleasant online resources available to the diehard Dylan fans of the world. This is in the spirit of my recommended reading, which you can find here. Be aware that the following resources are in no particular order:

(1) Oloj Bjorner

This website has virtually everything you might want to know. The Yearly Chronicles section is a thoughtful analysis of Bob Dylan's artistic output (music, movies, books) divided into pages centered on specific years. It offers a remarkably detailed breakdown of live songs played on a tour, recommended shows, and even an outline of unreleased content becoming available. The Still On The Road page is my favorite part of the site, though, and functions as the primary resource from which I pull my information. It is a text list of every show played by the artist, along with songs played, band information, notable firsts or last, transcribed banter, and more. You really couldn't ask for a more helpful resource than this, and I wish more musicians had such inspired fan projects!

(2) Lossless Bob

This one is comparatively new to me, though I have been aware of it for years. It is a catalog of Bob Dylan unreleased recordings, which is each assigned a number. An analysis of the recording is presented, along with resources like relevant text files and checksum data (for my fellow archival nerds out there). This person has essentially generated a cataloging standard for unreleased recordings, and it is very helpful when you hear a concert and wonder if an alternative tape exists.

(3) Electric Ladyland

Electric Ladyland is a top-notch website for finding unreleased music. Their search feature is significantly better than Dimeadozen, and the community is very responsive to requests for reseeding concerts. Much of the second round of the Thousand Highways collection was downloaded from fellow fans on this site.

(4) Bob Dylan Official Website

This official website may have seen its best days in the 1990s and 2000s, when its staff was publishing unreleased and rare content via downloadable files, but it's still one of the better artist pages out there. You will find a list of every Bob Dylan song, and a little exploring will take you to lyrics and a list of times the song was played live. It's updated pretty frequently, and features some cool multimedia content (music videos, articles, etc.).

(5) Searching For A Gem

Searching For A Gem is, like Lossless Bob, a wonderful resource for tracking official releases. In the case of my blog, this has sadly led to a handful of intended tracks not making it onto compilations, since they have been officially released in very obscure ways. The orchestral "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," for example, was released on a European version of the MTV Unplugged Dignity single. Happily, being aware of these releases keeps the material on this website from stepping on anyone's toes and making it fall into more problematic content. I am always impressed at the capacity for comprehensiveness of the contributors to Searching For A Gem.

I hope you enjoy these links. Let me know if I missed anything!

-CS

A Voice Without Restraint: Unreleased Live Recordings, 1986

A Voice Without Restraint

Live Recordings - 1986

Let The Good Times Roll - Live - Reno - June 11, 1986

All Along The Watchtower - Live - Philadelphia - July 19, 1986

Clean Cut Kid - Live - Chicago - June 29, 1986

I'll Remember You - Live - New York City - July 15, 1986

Shot Of Love - Live - New York City - July 17, 1986

Lenny Bruce - Live - Nagoya - March 8, 1986

Union Sundown - Live - Saratoga Springs - July 13, 1986

I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know - Live - Sydney - February 24, 1986

Band Of The Hand - Live - Chicago - June 29, 1986

When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky - Live - New York City - July 15, 1986

I Dreamed I Saw Saint Augustine - Live - Philadelphia - July 19, 1986

Red Cadillac & A Black Mustache - Live - Chicago - June 29, 1986

Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - Live - Nagoya - March 8, 1986

I & I - Live - New York City - July 17, 1986

In The Garden - Live - Los Angeles - August 3, 1986

One Too Many Mornings - Live - Chicago - June 29, 1986

Rock 'Em Dead - Live - Los Angeles - August 3, 1986

House Of The Rising Sun - Live - New York City - July 17, 1986

Links

Complete Edition

AIFF Version

MP3 Version

Art, Notes and Bonus

Good morning/afternoon/evening, folks!

Welcome to the 1986 Bob Dylan show. This is one of the more intense years of touring, in terms both of shows performed and style of performance; it bears a striking resemblance to 1978 in its nearly unprecedented (until that point) number of concerts, and is quite similar to 1974 and 1988 in the forceful vocal delivery. Don't let that put you off, though! There's plenty of gold in these shows, in spite of the singer's own admission of feeling adrift in 1986 in his autobiography.

Of particular thematic interest is the year's emphasis on 1950s rockabilly songs. These are represented on this compilation by "Let The Good Times Roll," "Red Cadillac & A Black Mustache," and "Rock 'Em Dead." The first is a very well-known early rock tune, but the second and third have more peculiar histories.

"Red Cadillac" was written and recorded by Warren Smith in 1957, but went unreleased until 1973. Others recorded the song between those two years, and Dylan recorded and played live a version of the song in 1986. He would also go on to record a very different version for a Sun Records tribute in 2001, but that is off-limits for the blog since it has been officially released.

"Rock 'Em Dead" is also rather bizarre. Though the song is often referred to as "Uranium Rock," it bears little resemblance to that Warren Smith recording. Notably, it makes no reference to uranium! Instead, it is fairly representative of a writing technique employed by Dylan in the mid-1980s. Much like his re-write of Roy Head's "Treat Her Right" into "Shake," and his re-write of his own song "Someone's Got A Hold Of My Heart" into "Has Anybody Seen My Love," this was largely a revision of a pre-existing song into something different. Arguably, this is the root of the writing technique that the singer would go on to use to excellent effect on "Love & Theft" and "Modern Times."

Prior to the beginning of the Never-Ending Tour in 1988, Dylan played his 1980s songs with regularity, so those are emphasized on this set. "I'll Remember You" and "Lenny Bruce" are offered here in definitive performances. The latter features a lengthy introduction comparing the song's titular figure to Tennessee Williams in their influence and lack of recognition in their own lifetimes.

"Union Sundown" is sadly a bit incoherent, aside from the chorus, but the emphatic nature of the rendition makes up for its lyrical confusion. "Clean Cut Kid" and "Band Of The Hand" are quite spirited too, and in the same vein as Dylan's other 'rant' songs from the '80s like "Foot Of Pride" and "The Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar." Perhaps unfortunately, this is a style he wouldn't generally return to after this decade (excepting perhaps "TV Talkin' Song" from 1990).

"When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky" is more suggestive of the direction Dylan would be headed with the early Never-Ending Tour in 1989, with its dark sound and darker themes. It is a bit more atmospheric than the interesting version played in 1987, but no less rocking. "In The Garden," too, is a bit atmospheric, and represents my favorite arrangement of this intense gospel song. Along with "I & I," this song is heavily dependent on the background vocals.

I believe that Dylan's vocal relationship with his backup singers came to its peak in 1986. Though he had a trio singing behind him since 1978, he seems to have improved in complementing them as the years went by. In this year of touring, particularly, he weaves around their well-structured harmonizing in a very intriguing fashion. Listen to how he simply leaves aside vocalizing certain lines in "I & I" and "In The Garden," favoring instead the emphasizing of a final word or phrase. It's pretty interesting stuff, no doubt. One technical note - I have spliced out the lengthy repetition of the chorus phrase at the conclusion of “I & I.” According to Olof Bjorner’s website, a few days earlier “sees my face and lives” was repeated 56 times! You can’t hear the splice, but in case someone would prefer a purer version, and un-shortened version is included as bonus material alongside the art and notes.

Though the 1980s material is emphasized, Bob Dylan's 1960s songs are present here as well. "All Along The Watchtower" is featured in a fairly unique slow arrangement that sounds a bit similar to "When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky." "I Dreamed I Saw Saint Augustine" is an absolutely beautiful rendition, as is the acoustic "One Too Many Mornings." Paul Williams described the singer as having seemingly dedicated himself fully to performances of "One Too Many Mornings" on this summer tour, and it's hard to argue with that assessment. Interestingly, this would essentially mark the end of Bob Dylan's solo acoustic performances, since from 1988 his acoustic sets featured, at minimum, one additional guitarist. Finally, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a notable one-off from the 1986 tour. If you listen closely, you can actually hear Dylan calling out the chords during the song's opening. Unsurprisingly, it comes off a bit under-rehearsed, but is a beguiling performance nonetheless. It's one of my favorite songs, so I was glad to hear that it was played at least once with the Heartbreakers.

A few more covers round out the set. "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know," which was recorded for and published on Self Portrait in 1970, appeared with regularity on this tour. It works largely due to Tom Petty's subtle harmony on the title line. "House Of The Rising Sun" is also presented here in a rare outing. It would go on to be played less successfully in 1987, but here it is simply sublime. Though it is not present on this edit, after playing the song Bob Dylan explained to the extremely receptive New York City crowd that the band was into overtime and could not keep playing! They certainly earned a break, having played a full 23 songs that night.

Please note that a handful of absolutely wonderful songs are not present on this set, but are available elsewhere in the Thousand Highways Collection. In particular, "Lucky Old Sun" is on the One More Night compilation, and "Emotionally Yours," "Across The Borderline," "We Had It All," and "Lonesome Town" can be found on Ashes & Dust: 1985 - 1986.

I hope you enjoy the set. Having not enjoyed the 1986 shows for a long time, I was converted by the Wasteland Of Your Mind compilation, created by Expecting Rain member Nellie. While a fair number of recordings from this year suffer from being performed in the early days of digital recording and feature a rather harsh, metallic sound, it is possible to find some rather outstanding tapes; I like to think that A Voice Without Restraint presents the best of this material.

Next month, we will jump forward to a rather extensive compilation concerning Bob Dylan's ambitious 1989 tours. There is some very cool, very intense music there, so don't forget to check back in on August 1! Until then, keep yourself healthy and listen to some good tunes.

Thanks,
CS