Bootleg Reviews (1970's) - Agent EB's Bob Dylan page

1970's Bootlegs
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04/18/76 Lakeland, Florida : A- (B-/A)
This was the first show of the second Rolling Thunder Revue, and what a show it was! This was the only Visions Of Johanna from '76, and the live debut of If You See Her Say Hello - and it has DRASTICALLY different lyrics from the Blood On The Tracks version (both of these songs are solo acoustic!). Vincent van Gogh is an interesting cover as is Weary Blues From Waiting (this was also only performed once in '76 - and this is possibly the live debut). This is also possibly the live debut of Railroad Boy. The live debuts of the following are all from this concert: If You See Her Say Hello, Seven Days, Shelter From The Storm, and Mozambique. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, done at this concert, was only done twice in '76. Anyway, this show is very significant historically, and is just very well done. Spontaneous, but well done. Recommended for those who can put up with the sound quality not being perfect.

Disc 1:
1. Visions Of Johanna (solo acoustic) (Bob on harp)
2. If You See Her, Say Hello (solo acoustic) (Bob on harp) - some distortion from 0:18-0:19, 2:41-2:42 and a little here and there
3. Vincent van Gogh (acoustic) (sung with Bobby Neuwirth) - written by Robert Friemark
4. Weary Blues From Waiting (sung with Bobby Neuwirth) - written by Hank Williams
5. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
6. Maggie's Farm
7. One Too Many Mornings
8. Seven Days (live debut of this song from The Bootleg Series vol. #1-3) - volume gets quieter at 2:37 - gap at end
9. Railroad Boy (acoustic) (sung with Joan Baez) - written by unknown (traditional)
10. Wild Mountain Thyme (acoustic) (sung with Joan Baez) - written by unknown (traditional)
11. Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic) (sung with Joan Baez)
12. I Pity The Poor Immigrant (sung with Joan Baez)
13. Shelter From The Storm (live debut of this song from Blood On The Tracks)
14. I Threw It All Away
15. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
16. Mozambique (live debut of this song from Desire)

Disc 2:
1. Going, Going, Gone - gap between this and next
2. Lay, Lady, Lay - one second of loud distortion at 1:16 - short gap at 4:21
3. Silver Mantis (sung by T-Bone Burnett with Joan Baez) - written by T-Bone Burnett
4. Idiot Wind
5. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (sung with Roger McGuinn)
6. Gotta Travel On (sung with Rolling Thunder Revue) - written by P. Clayton, L. Ehrlich, D. Lazar and T. Six - recording sound changes at 0:39

04/76 ("The Days Before Hard Rain") : B (B+/B)
This disc contains rehearsals done in April of '76 at the Bellevue Biltmore Hotel in Clearwater, Florida. These tracks, being rehearsals, are works-in-progress, meaning that they have lyric experimentation, some stop-and-go's, etc. The opening track, I Threw It All Away, is a very interesting version of the song (it's very blues-y, like the Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and It Takes A Lot To Laugh...). You Angel You and Just Like A Woman are nice. Tangled Up In Blue sounds like it could be great, but the problem is that Bob's vocals are hard to hear as they are in the background.

1. I Threw It All Away
2. Going, Going, Gone
3. One More Cup Of Coffee - not a complete song (start is clipped and Bob ends the song early)
4. Tomorrow Is A Long Time
5. Mozambique - not a complete song
6. Lay, Lady, Lay
7. Unknown song - Bob's vocals are in the background (hard to hear - I can't identify the song) - not a complete song (this track is 0:35)
8. Maggie's Farm
9. One Too Many Mornings
10. Seven Days
11. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - static pop at end
12. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
13. You Angel You - start is clipped

filler:
14. Just Like A Woman
15. Tangled Up In Blue - Bob's vocals are in the background (hard to hear)
16. The Sun Is Shining - written by Elmore James - static pop at end
17. Seven Days

- Tracks 14-15 are from 05/22/76 Fort Collins, Colorado (rehearsals)
- Track 16 is from 04/15/76 Bellevue Biltmore Hotel, Clearwater, Florida (rehearsals)
- Track 17 is from Ram's Horn demo (probably from 04/76 Bellevue Biltmore Hotel, Clearwater, Florida (rehearsals))

05/11/76 San Antonio, Texas : C+ (C/B)
Unfortunately, the sound quality is not very good: the speed sounds a bit slow, there are gaps near the end of each track (caused by the taper who stopped recording at the end of each song and then continued at the start of the next), a bit is often cut off of the start of the songs, sometimes part of a song is on the end of the previous track, and well the sound is just not very good in the first place. Also, I really don't think this is the complete show; there was usually (if not always) something before the Joan Baez duets, and this is supposedly the show in which Bob played a solo acoustic Spanish Is The Loving Tongue, but it's not here. Nonetheless, I think that this is a fairly rare recording.

Disc 1:
1. Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic) (sung with Joan Baez) - lots of hiss and start - gap near end
2. Railroad Boy (acoustic) (sung with Joan Baez) - written by unknown (traditional) - last few notes cut off - gap near end
3. Deportee (acoustic) (sung with Joan Baez) - written by Woody Guthrie - gap near end
4. I Pity The Poor Immigrant (sung with Joan Baez) - dropouts at 1:42 and 4:27 - gap near end
5. Shelter From The Storm - gap near end
6. Romance In Durango - dropout in right speaker at 1:57 - gap near end
7. I Want You (Bob on harp) - dropout at 0:07 - gap near end
8. You're A Big Girl Now - gap near end
9. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go - gap near end
10. Oh, Sister - gap near end

Disc 2:
1. Lay, Lady, Lay - lots of hiss and start - gap near end
2. Going Going Gone - lyrics cut off at start - gap near end
3. Idiot Wind - lyrics cut off at start - gap near end
4. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (sung with Roger McGuinn) - lyrics cut off at start - gap near end
5. Gotta Travel On (sung with Rolling Thunder Revue) - written by P. Clayton, L. Ehrlich, D. Lazar and T. Six - lyrics cut off at start - gap near end

05/16/76 Fort Worth, Texas ("Hold The Fort For What It's Worth") : A- (A-/A-)
The two opening solo acoustic songs are beautifully done. The clapping is edited out from between the tracks, which almost makes it sound like there are gaps between each track (because the audience is quiet when they aren't clapping). Rita May is nice to have here (it's a filler track); this is the live debut and the only known live version of this song that was written by Bob. You're A Big Girl now is also very powerful. I love this I Want You (it's also a filler track). A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall is from the video Hard Rain.

Disc 1:
1. Mr. Tambourine Man (solo acoustic) (Bob on harp)
2. It Ain't Me, Babe (solo acoustic) (Bob on harp)
3. Vincent van Gogh (acoustic) (sung with Bobby Neuwirth) - written by Robert Friemark
4. Maggie's Farm - small skip at 1:37
5. One Too Many Mornings
6. Mozambique
7. Isis
8. Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic) (sung with Joan Baez)
9. Railroad Boy (acoustic) (sung with Joan Baez) - written by unknown (traditional)
10. Deportee (acoustic) (sung with Joan Baez) - written by Woody Guthrie
11. I Pity The Poor Immigrant (sung with Joan Baez) - small gap at 4:26
12. Shelter From The Storm - gap at end
13. I Threw It All Away
14. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again - small gap at 3:22
15. Rita May (live debut of this song)
16. Oh, Sister

- Track 15 is from 05/03/76 New Orleans, Louisiana

Disc 2:
1. You're A Big Girl Now - gap at end
2. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
3. Lay, Lady, Lay - gap at 4:24
4. Silver Mantis (sung by T-Bone Burnett with Joan Baez) - written by T-Bone Burnett - small gap at 7:10
5. I Want You (Bob on harp)
6. Going, Going, Gone
7. Idiot Wind
8. Knockin' On Heaven's Door (sung with Roger McGuinn) - first line is cut out, sound quality is worse with a high-pitched noise throughout, next song starts but ends with gap
9. Gotta Travel On (sung with Rolling Thunder Revue) - written by P. Clayton, L. Ehrlich, D. Lazar and T. Six - very poor sound quality

filler:
10. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (sung with Joan Baez) - distortion from 5:58-6:00, 6:07, 6:09
11. The Sun Is Shining - written by Elmore James
12. Weary Blues From Waiting (sung with Bobby Neuwirth) - written by Hank Williams

- Track 5 is from 05/18/76 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Track 10 is from 05/23/76 Fort Collins, Colorado
- Track 11 is from 04/15/76 Bellevue Biltmore Hotel, Clearwater, Florida (rehearsals)
- Track 12 is from 04/18/76 Lakeland, Florida

05/18/76 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ("Blood And Thunder") : A- (A-/A-)
This show is sourced from soundboard. However, according to Olof's Chronicles, this bootleg is missing 12 songs from the May 18 concert and some of the songs on this bootleg appear in the incorrect order. And yet, at the Monica's Dude page, DEEP is quoted as saying: "A complete...recording". Anyway, this is a great show. Maggie's Farm and Isis are both very well done. I Want You makes this bootleg worth getting by itself. Going, Going, Gone is great, especially with the lyric changes. From the filler, I love You're A Big Girl Now. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall is the same as shown on the video "Hard Rain". The technical problems (which are all on the original) are a dropout in tracks 1 and 15, only the first verse is present in track 4, tracks 14 and 15 are both the same song (with a track division for no apparent reason), and there are some crackle noises in tracks 14 and 15.

1. Maggie's Farm - dropout at 1:22 (this is on original)
2. Isis
3. Mozambique
4. One Too Many Mornings - this track ends after the first verse (this is on original)
5. I Pity The Poor Immigrant (sung with Joan Baez)
6. Shelter From The Storm
7. Oh, Sister
8. You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
9. Lay, Lady, Lay
10. I Want You (Bob on harp)
11. Going, Going, Gone

filler:
12. You're A Big Girl Now
13. Idiot Wind
14. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (sung with Joan Baez) - continued on track 15 - there are a few crackle sounds (these are on original)
15. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (sung with Joan Baez) - there are a few crackle sounds - dropout in right speaker for a second (these are on original)

- Tracks 12-13 are from 05/11/76 San Antonio, Texas
- Tracks 14-15 are from 05/23/76 Fort Collins, Colorado

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