News

On the heels of last year’s groundbreaking 18-CD box set The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12, Legacy Recordings and Columbia Records are returning to that golden period of Bob Dylan’s storied discography with an even more massive set.  Due on November 11, Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings is a staggering 36-CD box featuring every known recording from the troubadour’s 1966 concert tours of the U.S., U.K., Europe and Australia.  This follows the digital-only release last year of his 1965 live recordings, distributed as a bonus gift to purchasers of The Cutting Edge.

The 1966 Live Recordings is culled from soundboards, CBS Records mobile recordings, and audience tapes.  Most of these concerts have never circulated in any form, and only the famous Manchester concert of May 17, 1966 has been previously released in full as The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (1998).  Other than that, only a mere handful of these performances have seen the light of day including a pair of tracks on the 1985 Biograph box set.

All the songs on The 1966 Live Recordings are Dylan compositions with the sole exception of “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down,” a folk song heard in Dylan’s arrangement/adaptation.  He’s joined by future members of The Band on these performances: Robbie Robertson (guitar), Rick Danko (bass, backing vocals), Richard Manuel (piano), and Garth Hudson (organ) plus Mickey Jones (drums). Sandy Konikoff plays drums on the White Plains and Pittsburgh shows only.

Legacy President Adam Block comments in the press release, “While doing the archival research for The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12, last year’s box set of Dylan’s mid-60s studio sessions, we were continually struck by how great his 1966 live recordings really are.  The intensity of Bob’s live performances and his fantastic delivery of these songs in concert add another insightful component in understanding and appreciating the musical revolution Bob Dylan ignited some 50 years ago.”

Liner notes for this comprehensive new set have been penned by author and project consultant Clinton Heylin, and each of the individual CDs is housed in a custom sleeve featuring stills from color film shot by the legendary D.A. Pennebaker, whose footage from Dylan’s 1965 and 1966 tours formed the basis of the documentaries Don’t Look Back (1965) and Eat The Document (1966).

For those looking for a little less Bob from 1966, Columbia/Legacy will also issue the performance at the Royal Albert Hall from May 26, 1966 (Discs 28 & 29 of the full collection) as a stand-alone album entitled The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert. For years, Dylan’s concert in Manchester (featuring the notorious audience cry of “JUDAS!” and Dylan’s response of “I don’t believe you, you’re a liar!”) was incorrectly known as “The Royal Albert Hall Concert.” Now, for the first time, the actual Royal Albert Hall concert, originally recorded for a live album by CBS Records, is finally being released as newly mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Chris Shaw. The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert will be released as a 2CD collection on December 2, with a 12-inch 2-LP edition of the album preceding it on November 25 in time for Black Friday’s Record Store Day event.

Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings is due from Legacy Recordings and Columbia Records on November 11.  See below for pre-order links for both the box set and the 2-CD The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert! You can also peruse the list of concerts, with sources indicated, below!

Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings (Columbia/Legacy, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD)

Disc 1 – Sydney, April 13, 1966 (Soundboard recorded by TCN 9 TV Australia)

Disc 2 – Sydney, April 13, 1966 (Soundboard recorded by TCN 9 TV Australia)

Disc 3 – Melbourne, April 20, 1966 (Soundboard / unknown broadcast)

Disc 4 – Copenhagen, May 1, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 5 – Dublin, May 5, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 6 – Dublin, May 5, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 7 – Belfast, May 6, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 8 – Belfast, May 6, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 9 – Bristol, May 10, 1966 (Soundboard / audience)

Disc 10 – Bristol, May 10, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 11 – Cardiff, May 11, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 12 – Birmingham, May 12, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 13 – Birmingham, May 12, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 14 – Liverpool, May 14, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 15 – Leicester, May 15, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 16 – Leicester, May 15, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 17 – Sheffield, May 16, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 18 – Sheffield, May 16, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 19 – Manchester, May 17, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 20 – Manchester, May 17, 1966 (CBS Records recording except Soundcheck / Soundboard)

Disc 21 – Glasgow, May 19, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 22 – Edinburgh, May 20, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 23 – Edinburgh, May 20, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 24 – Newcastle, May 21, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 25 – Newcastle, May 21, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 26 – Paris, May 24, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 27 – Paris, May 24, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 28 – London, May 26, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 29 – London, May 26, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 30 – London, May 27, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 31 – London, May 27, 1966 (CBS Records recordings)

Disc 32 – White Plains, NY, February 5, 1966 (Audience tape)

Disc 33 – Pittsburgh, PA, February 6, 1966 (Audience tape)

Disc 34 – Hempstead, NY, February 26, 1966 (Audience tape)

Disc 35 – Melbourne, April 19, 1966 (Audience tape)

Disc 36 – Stockholm, April 29, 1966 (Audience tape)

Bob Dylan, The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Link TBD)

CD 1

1. She Belongs to Me
2. Fourth Time Around
3. Visions of Johanna
4. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
5. Desolation Row
6. Just Like a Woman
7. Tambourine Man

CD 2

1. Tell Me, Momma
2. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Have Never Met)
3. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
4. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
5. Leopard-Skin Pill Box Hat
6. One Too Many Mornings
7. Ballad of a Thin Man
8. Like a Rolling Stone