Spring Break
"Bob Dylan - Live 1964": A must for Dylan fans
Brian Maiers
Issue date: 4/9/04 Section: A & E
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Anytime a name like "Bob Dylan" releases anything, attention must be given. Dylan has had a prolific career over the last forty years as the most well known folk singer of our time. He was know as the "voice of a generation" and even had a brief stint releasing gospel albums in the late seventies early eighties (Third Day covered Dylan's Saved).
His latest release is the sixth volume of "The Bootleg Series", a series of live recordings Dylan has been releasing for almost a decade and a half. Vol.6 is a two-disc recording of a 1964 concert at the Philharmonic Hall in New York City on Halloween night that stretches over an hour and 40 minutes.
The concert features a young Dylan at the top of his game playing songs that were very new at the time but would become classics in the future. His charm shines though on the disc, (He responds to a request for "Mary had a Little Lamb" with "is that a protest song"). There is a guest appearance by Joan Baez on a few tracks, but the CD is mostly Dylan with his harmonica and guitar.
The 19 tracks on Vol.6 are given life by Dylan's lyrical wit and honesty. The crowed interacts with laughter, shouts, but mostly singing along to well know tracks such as "Times They are a Changing," "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."
Dylan also comments on the paranoia of the Cold War era on other songs such as "Talkin' World War III Blues" and "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," as communists turn up everywhere as mail carriers and at hot dog stands. Other standout tracks are the Baez-Dylan duet of "It Ain't Me Babe" and the haunting ballad "Gates of Eden." Other stand out tracks are "Don't think Twice its Alright," and closer "All I Really Want to Do."
The recording on this disc is extremely good for such an early recording and the rawness helps give the album a "live feel." The 55 page picture booklet included with the two disc set will ensure that Vol. 6 will be a must have for Dylan fans. You can catch Dylan tonight (Apr 9th) at the Orange Peel in Asheville N.C. but...good luck finding tickets. I guess you will have to settle for tuning to 88.3 WGWG to hear Bob Dylan and other great songwriters.
His latest release is the sixth volume of "The Bootleg Series", a series of live recordings Dylan has been releasing for almost a decade and a half. Vol.6 is a two-disc recording of a 1964 concert at the Philharmonic Hall in New York City on Halloween night that stretches over an hour and 40 minutes.
The concert features a young Dylan at the top of his game playing songs that were very new at the time but would become classics in the future. His charm shines though on the disc, (He responds to a request for "Mary had a Little Lamb" with "is that a protest song"). There is a guest appearance by Joan Baez on a few tracks, but the CD is mostly Dylan with his harmonica and guitar.
The 19 tracks on Vol.6 are given life by Dylan's lyrical wit and honesty. The crowed interacts with laughter, shouts, but mostly singing along to well know tracks such as "Times They are a Changing," "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."
Dylan also comments on the paranoia of the Cold War era on other songs such as "Talkin' World War III Blues" and "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues," as communists turn up everywhere as mail carriers and at hot dog stands. Other standout tracks are the Baez-Dylan duet of "It Ain't Me Babe" and the haunting ballad "Gates of Eden." Other stand out tracks are "Don't think Twice its Alright," and closer "All I Really Want to Do."
The recording on this disc is extremely good for such an early recording and the rawness helps give the album a "live feel." The 55 page picture booklet included with the two disc set will ensure that Vol. 6 will be a must have for Dylan fans. You can catch Dylan tonight (Apr 9th) at the Orange Peel in Asheville N.C. but...good luck finding tickets. I guess you will have to settle for tuning to 88.3 WGWG to hear Bob Dylan and other great songwriters.