Bob Dylan In Concert
Format: 1CD
Label: Wild Wolf
Cat. nr.: 6401
Townsend nr.: T-541
Front cover: STEREO
CS 9102
CL 2302
COLUMBIA
BOB DYLAN IN CONCERT
Spines: BOB DYLAN
IN CONCERT
Disc: PERCY
WILD WOLF 6401
VERSES
& CURSES
Matrix: GZ I81909 WILD WOLF 6401
Track list:
1. Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie
2. Lay Down Your Weary Tune
3. Dusty Old Fairgrounds
4. John Brown
5. When The Ship Comes In
6. Who Killed Davy Moore?
7. Percy's Song
8. Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag
9. Seven Curses
Tracks 1, 3, 4, 8: Live, 12 April 1963, Town Hall, New York, New York,
U.S.A.
Tracks 2, 5, 6, 7, 9: Live, 26 October 1963, Carnegie Hall, New York,
New York, U.S.A.
Track 1 officially released on the CD set "The Bootleg Series - Volumes
1-3" with some words of the introduction cut out
Track 6 officially released on the CD set "The Bootleg Series - Volumes
1-3"
Total playing time: 47:20
Crazy Joe rated the overall quality A (on a scale from F to A), meaning astounding, and the recording quality 9 (on a scale from 0 to 9), meaning astounding. Here is his review:
A copy of the unreleased live album from 1963 taken
direct from acetate and in truly astounding quality. There
are the occasional pop's and clicks that are an inevitable
consequence of recording from an acetate, but if anything
they somehow add to the authenticity of the recording as
an artifact. Dylan's vocals cut through this recording with a
pureness of clarity and the guitar strings are so bright you
feel you could reach out and touch them.
The recordings were made in New York during live
performances at the Town Hall and Carnegie Hall.
Acetates of the album were prepared, cover artwork was
finalised and Columbia even issued a catalogue number,
but in the end the album was never released. A wise
decision at the time, most likely instigated by Dylan's
manager Albert Grossman. This album documents Dylan
on his "folk corcuit" and would have rooted Dylan very
firmly within that fold in the minds of his audience, when in
fact, by the time the album was due for release, Dylan had
already moved on and the recordings would not have
been in anyway representative of him as a performing
artist. Of course, from our viewpoint the recording offers a
superb snapshot of Dylan's live performance during this
brief transitionary period and documents, in particular,
performances of two songs that would otherwise be all but
overlooked masterpieces from Dylan's early cannon, Lay
Don Your Weary Tune and Dusty Old Fairgrounds. Most
of the album seeks to promote Dylan as a protest singer -
of the remaiing songs only Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag
does not directly fit this mold and as an official release it
would have dated, but as a glimpse into the past it is
invaluable. It also contains Dylan's prose/poem Last
Thoughts On Woody Guthrie - a phenomenal rambling
roller coaster of a ride.
The cover packaging mirrors the artwork for the original
album release and includes another of Dylan's
prose/poem compositions.
I (Lonesome Sparrow) remember reading a message to rec.music.dylan from somebody who wrote that on the day the album "Bob Dylan In Concert" would have been released he went to a record shop to buy it and was told that it was already sold out. He then went to all the other record shops in town, but couldn't find a copy. So it might be that a small number of copies were released before the release of the album was canceled.
This unreleased live album has been released before on unofficial CD, namely on the CD "Talking Too Much". I haven't heard that CD, but according to others the sound quality of Wild Wolf's "Bob Dylan In Concert" is significantly better than that of "Talking Too Much".
There exist several unofficial CDs called "Bob Dylan In Concert", but thus far (1 February 1999) the Wild Wolf release is the only one that mirrors the unreleased live album.
Crazy Joe calls the sound quality of this CD outstanding and many others have written enthusiasticly about it too. Having read their reviews, I was disappointed when I got to hear the CD. All the way through it is clearly hearable that its source is a record. That in itself is not so bad, but some of the pops are quite loud and therefore quite disturbing. The worst thing is that the source record actually skips during "When The Ship Comes In". During the guitar strumming that precedes the words "A song will lift as the mainsail shifts" there is a skip and one gets to hear "'ll lift as the mainsail shifts". I do agree with the other reviewers on the brightness of the sound.
Two of the tracks have been officially released on "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3", but this official CD set has not been used to improve the sound quality of these tracks. "Last Thoughts Of Woody Guthrie" gives us more of Dylan's introduction than the officially released track does, which turns out to start in the middle of the introduction.
The packaging of the CD has been well taken care of. Alan Fraser wrote
about it:
"The front cover of the CD is the original cover that was slated to appear, the rest of the artwork is from the Ted Russell pictures that appeared in Uncut #4."
The insert contains a piece of prose called "Blowin' In The Wind". Beneath the title is has "By Bob Dylan". DersUzala wrote about this:
"This piece was printed in "Hootenanny" magazine (volume 1, number 2, March
1964) Dylan and Baez are featured on the cover.
I am not sure when Dylan wrote this or if this is its first printed
appearance, or whether it was written for an album, for Hootenanny, or just
for."
Here follows this prose piece in its entirety:
BlOWIN' IN THE WIND
By Bob Dylan
One reason why I could never be a cop in this system under all
systems is that the persons I'd be bustin' would be committin' crimes
that ain't on any books yet - crimes that ain't on any records yet -
that nobody's got any laws for yet - Me an' a friend a mine slumped in
our seats an stared t the stage where two Negroes were well lit up an
singin' an actin' out dances that the prisoners do on the chain gangs -
their guitar player sat back inn the shadows on a perched up stool an'
played the chords to go along with their unseen hammers swingin' - The
two singers wore gold striped silk red shirts with the buttons open
pretty low and nylon pants that were kinda tight - In between the songs
they sang they told jokes ... Negro jokes - jokes about Negroes an'
cowboys - jokes about Negroes an' bears - jokes about Negroes an'
Tennessee Williams - jokes about Negroes an' Negroes - After every punch
line the audience'd howl an' laugh madly an' guzzle down more beer t the
tune a their satisfied hearts poundin' with a happy-go-lucky beat -
Then the singer'd introduce the next song an all ears'd come t attention like
some kinda school was in session...
"Black is the Color 'f My True
Love's Hair is an old slave song that we have brought up t date an
slightly arranged in a somewhat different style an we'd like t do it now
for..."
I leaned back in my chair an stared at the ceilin' an said in my
head "I don't believe this" Then the lights dimmed an a sound pierced
the air an stayed there
"Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaakkkkkkk"
I looked fast t the stage an all 'f a sudden a sweat broke
an both 'f the singers' faces an chests were streamin' an' drippin' with
fiery perspiration water - "i the color 'f my tarue love's
Haaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiirrrrrrr
rrrrr..........."
I hummed my own tune in my head an chain smoked five cigarettes an'
when the people at the next table clapped I knew the soh was done - I
listened through the next Negro joke an' heard the audience howl an
somehow pictured the little girl up front tellin' her mother "Mother,
Negrroes aren't so bad, they make fun a themselves an' everythin'..."
They introduced their next song with a smile an words somethin' like
"This next song comes from the cotten fields 'f Alabama an it's called
Rosy... it's about a girl who... an' they sing it wwhen..." Then they
both paused an stood there with their eyes closed - the audience hushed
- the singers' faces started curlin' up in anger - they started
breathin' harder - th elights dimmed they both turned sideways with half
their faces glarin' in the light - they were almost pantin' when their
arms raised slowly above their heads an' came crashin' down with a
thunderous blow that shattered their knee caps an' in the same instant
second both 'f their vocies bloated out
"Rooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooosseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Eeeee..........."
That tune lasted for about ten cigarettes an when it was over an' the
song was played out they bowed t all sides 'f the room in a drippin' wet
sweat an I could picture the girl up front again sayin' t her mother
"Mother, Negroes don' wanna hurt anybody, they just have all that rhythm
an' stuff..." But this time I'd stare at the ceilin' This time it didn't
strike me so funny It didn't strike me funny one little bit For I
couldn't help but think about people like Ivan Donaldson down in
Danville -
An' I started thinkin' about Jim Foreman who I stood next t
on a Mississippi sound truck an watched his face while he told the
people why they gotta go vote- I started thinkin' about John Lewis whose
speech was cut down in Washington cause some people were afraid t speak
on the same platform with somebody who could actually think t say "We
shall march thru the South like Sherman's Army" -
I started thinkin'about Mrs. McGee who risked her only life t lend her dusty dried
out faarm land down on Highway 82 outside 'f Greenwood for a
registration rally - I thought about Jimmy Travis who got shot up by
unknown rifles aimin' for Bob Moses - An I thought about Bob Moses who's
labeled a "dangerous outsider an agitator" every place from Clarcksdale
t Greenville t Hattiesburg t Jackson -
I thought about beautiful Bernice
an the rest a the Freedom Singers who could sweat jus' as hard an' move
their bodies jus' as good but know that they don' have t - I started
thinkin' about hundreds 'f headlines that tell stories like they were
happenin' in a far away country on tell 'm in the kinda way t make
people sit around analizin' an' discussin' an' philosophizin' an
theorizin' like some kinda college sociology problem was takin' place
an' nothin' more -
I thought about Miles Davis
An MAvis Staples
An Paul Robeson
An Diana Sands
An James Baldwin
But WORSE 'N THAT... I thought about the petty thief - the poor petty
thief who gets nailed ffor robbin' a jewelry store an' all he wanted t
do was pawn a watch so his wife an kids could get better - The poor
petty criminal who makes his statement t the world by acceptin' time out
a his life for tryin' t rob his way out 'f a rut - The poor petty robber
who never hits the entertainment section - the headline section - the
stockmarket section - the classified section - he don' even make the
funny paage section - I looked back t the stage where the lights were
dimmin' again an' I asked the mirror in my mind... "What's this word,
criminal anyway?" "Who's the biggest criminal?" "Who distorts the most
about the world?" "Who covers up the most about the way things really
are?" "Who shows more people in more ways the way things really ain't?"
"Who does the most damaage t people's heads?" "Who sets more people's
minds up so that anybody can come along an tell 'm anythin' an they'll
believe it?" Who tells the most people that in a time 'f proudness
there's nothin' a be proud 'f?" An all 'f a sudden I could see an
imaginary world in which I was a cop - An I knew what I'd do my first
night on the beat - I'd pick up my badge at the station an' head out
right away for this place I was sittin' - I'd be very cool as I walked
slowly t the door -
Then I'd crash through with my handcuffs clangin'... I'd bulldoze
through the chairs an' tables shoutin' with my finger pointin' an'my gun
wavin'... "YER UNDER ARREST... IN THE NAME A THE LAW"
Then I'd stand 'm against the wall an frisk 'm 'f their weapons 'f nylon clothes - ssnap the cuffs on - send for squad car - an hang a sign around their heads so innocent people wouldn't get too near...
"BUSTED"