It is essential to note that The 1974 Live Recordings is not an entry in the (still?) ongoing Bob Dylan archival initiative known as The Bootleg Series. Instead, This project was conceived and executed to retain the copyrights on the now fifty-year-old recordings and thus prevent them from entering the realm of public domain (similar such releases, of which there are two more, began in 2013).
If that were not the case, the performances of The Band on their own from the twenty-seven shows would no doubt have been included (the iconic group appears here only in performances with Dylan). And there most likely would’ve also been a smaller set of CDs available, over and above the mammoth twenty-seven compact disc collection that comprises the main edition (sold out of its limited run on the artist’s website a week to ten days before street) plus the correspondingly smaller vinyl set.
Be as that all may be, it’s also worth saying that, in the wake of all the fanfare for the reunion of Bob and The Band–it had been eight years since they toured together–there were some less than wholly favorable observations on the event(s). Not all reviews were positive on the concerts themselves and the resulting double live album Before The Flood: a writer for Creem Magazine likened Dylan’s vocal delivery to that of a ‘drunk Italian tenor.’
And the Nobel Laureate himself cast more than a bit of aspersion on the whole phenomenon in later years, alluding to feeling overwhelmed by it all on stage and off (perhaps the reason he hit the road on his terms late in the very next year with the Rolling Thunder Revue). The rush of events involving Dylan and The Band for the tour and studio recording that begat Planet Waves no doubt got in the way of formulating new arrangements for vintage material (or reaffirming the old ones).
Or perhaps the informality of the rehearsals, as related by Robbie Robertson, leaves more than a few tandem performances sounding too impromptu for their own good. Whatever the case, what becomes apparent listening to these multi-track recordings remastered by Steve Addabbo (with mixing by Chris Shaw) is precisely that perception that took time to emerge from seeing and hearing these musicians live and on record five decades ago: their performances apart from each other were largely superior to those when they played together.
There’s no question there’s a palpable intensity emanating from performances of “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” for instance. But within “It Ain’t Me Babe,” to name just one selection, there’s also a readily discernible sense that these six musicians still were not entirely sure how to approach the material and their own musicianship as a unit with more than a little history together. The ensemble doesn’t emphatically nail the latter number but instead seems to be reaching for it and failing to grasp it.
In contrast, when Dylan plays by himself, The Bard sounds like he is very much rediscovering the emotional value of compositions such as “She Belongs to Me.” The difference may lie in the reality he avoids self-consciousness in this setting. He cannot be with the group. Similarly, “Wedding Song,” recorded before the tour, has a more personal sort of emotional baggage than tunes from a decade or so in the past: the sense of abandon sounds healthy rather than forced. Likewise, “Forever Young,” which has sometimes sounded mawkish over the years, comes across nothing less than statuesque in expressing healthy sentimentality during a version from Seattle, Washington.
It is probably no accident then that such newer material sounds better suited to the generally spontaneous approach applied by Dylan and The Band. “Something There Is About You,” for instance, finds both the author and his accompanists inhabiting the song more fully than the vintage likes of “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)” from 1966’s Blonde On Blonde. In their backup role, the group once known as ‘The Hawks’ expend great effort to do justice to songs like “Maggie’s Farm” (as well as the man who wrote them); there, as on “Highway 61 Revisited,” the unified skills of the iconic fivesome are readily apparent.
Most apparent are Robbie Robertson’s succinct yet raw guitar work and the multicolored sounds of Garth Hudson’s keyboard accompaniment. But the unobtrusive support from pianist (and sometimes drummer) Richard Manuel, bassist Rick Danko and drummer Levon Helm may be just as impressive: while these musicians occasionally strain, they still never waver in their purposeful exertion(s).
In keeping with their steadfast approach, Dylan masters lengthy, involved selections such as “Desolation Row” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” While both he and his comrades can seem lost in the middle of more than a few familiar songs, Bob remains focused and intent on the complex internal rhythms and the often surreal imagery of the aforementioned pair. While it’s not fair to say it would be worth having The 1974 Live Recordings solely for such performances, they are consistently a cut above (too) much of what surrounds them.
Multiple configurations of this concert collection reflect that fluctuation. The aforementioned deluxe box set of 431 tracks also includes liner notes by journalist and critic Elizabeth Nelson that are, in the end, arguably less revelatory than the setlists for each tour stop, plus photos juxtaposed with the prose. Meanwhile, Jack White’s Third Man Records vinyl compendium, The Missing Songs From Before the Flood that seems contrived as much or more for that demographic as any credible collectibility.
As with the various configurations of Neil Young’s Archives, such corresponding packages can result in comparable consumer and fan confusion levels. And no doubt unintentionally, the overall concept and execution of this archival title of Bob’s only clarifies what a herculean task it can be to aim at completism when it comes to artists like him and his Canadian counterpart (or actually any artist with a sizable body of work).
Suffice it to say, The 1974 Live Recordings constitutes a listening experience almost as frustrating as it is rewarding. As such, it is very much in line with virtually all of Dylan’s work over the last sixty-some years, thought-provoking in the extreme, if nothing else.
One Response
Desolation Row is not on the “1974 Live Recordings”.