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Fifty years ago, Bob Dylan reunited with the Band for an arena tour where they performed 40 shows in just 42 days, often playing two gigs a night. The double live LP Before The Flood featured recordings from their concerts in New York and Los Angeles, but that represented just a tiny fraction of what they captured on tape throughout the run.
The rest is finally coming out September 20 on the 27-disc, 431-track box set Bob Dylan—The 1974 Live Recordings. It features newly mixed recordings of Dylan’s complete set at 27 concerts, along with liner notes by Elizabeth Nelson. (The Band’s own songs are excluded from this package.) Check out a preview of “Forever Young” from the February 9th, 1974, show in Seattle, Washington.
There will also be a 3-LP highlights box set released by Third Man Records in September centered around songs that didn’t appear on Before The Flood entitled The 1974 Live Recordings — The Missing Songs From Before the Flood.
The tour marked Dylan’s return to the road following an eight-year hiatus. During that time, the Band went from Dylan’s anonymous backing group to one of the most successful rock acts in America, landing hits on the charts like “The Weight,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” and “The Night The Drove Old Dixie Down.”
The feverish demand to see them back together was unlike anything seen since the height of Beatlemania a decade earlier. Promoters received 5.5 million ticket requests. As rock historian Clinton Heylin pointed out in his Dylan biography Behind The Shades, that was nearly 4 percent of the entire population of America.
This was near the height of the Watergate scandal and the waning days of the Vietnam War. A weary America was anxious to look backward to happier times in the past, as evidenced by the huge success of the George Lucas 1962 throwback movie American Graffiti, the Beach Boys hits collection Endless Summer, the Broadway musical Grease, and the new sitcom Happy Days.
Few cultural figures embodied the prior decade more than Dylan. “I was looked upon as a songwriter of a generation or mouthpiece of a generation,” he told Robert Hilburn in 1992. “That was the slogan put on me at the time. I had to meet that head-on. When I went back [to touring], nothing was working right for me. I had lost my raison d’etre. I didn’t know what I was doing out there, people throwing flowers and whatever. I didn’t know who they expected me to be. It was a crazy time.”
The tour started on January 3, 1974, at Chicago Stadium. Dylan kicked it off with the wildly obscure 1963 studio outtake “Hero Blues,” and later in the night broke out “All Along The Watchtower” and “Forever Young” for the first time in a concert setting. He also sat in with the Band while they played many of their original songs, a practice he abandoned at the second show later that evening, and never returned to throughout the rest of the tour.
Tapes were rolling throughout much of the tour in preparation for Before The Flood, which hit stores on June 20, 1974. All 40 shows were captured on tape by audience members, but the 27 professional recordings have sat in the vault for the past 50 years. They are coming out now due to a quirk of European copyright law, which stipulates that all recordings enter the public domain if they remain unreleased 50 years after their creation. This has caused the Dylan camp to release several copyright protection releases throughout the past decade. The 2016 box set The 1966 Live Recordings utilized audience recordings when a soundboard didn’t exist. This 1974 collection, however, relies solely on professional recordings.
Here is a complete track listing for Bob Dylan – The 1974 Live Recordings (which you can pre-order now):
DISC 1
January 3, 1974 – Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL
Hero Blues
Lay, Lady, Lay
Tough Mama
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
All Along the Watchtower
Song to Woody
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Nobody ‘Cept You
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 2
January 4, 1974 – Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL
Hero Blues
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Tough Mama
Ballad of a Thin Man
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Nobody ‘Cept You
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Maggie’s Farm
DISC 3
January 6, 1974 (Afternoon) – The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Tough Mama
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
To Ramona
Mama, You Been on My Mind
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Nobody ‘Cept You
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
DISC 4
January 6, 1974 (Evening) – The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
It Ain’t Me, Babe
I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
Song to Woody
Mr. Tambourine Man
Nobody ‘Cept You
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 5
January 7, 1974 – The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
It Ain’t Me, Babe
I Don’t Believe You
(She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Just Like a Woman
Girl from the North Country
Wedding Song
Nobody ‘Cept You
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 6
January 9, 1974 – Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
It Ain’t Me, Babe
It Take a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Just Like a Woman
Girl from the North Country
Wedding Song
Nobody ‘Cept You
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 7
January 11, 1974 – Montreal Forum, Montreal, Canada
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Nobody ‘Cept You
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 8
January 14, 1974 (Afternoon) – Boston Gardens, Boston, MA
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
It Ain’t Me, Babe
I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 9
January 15, 1974 – Capital Centre, Largo, MD
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Wedding Song
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 10
January 16, 1974 – Capital Centre, Largo, MD
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
One Too Many Mornings
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Nobody ‘Cept You
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 11
January 17, 1974 – Coliseum, Charlotte, NC
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 12
January 19, 1974 (Afternoon) – Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood, FL
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 13
January 21, 1974 – The Omni, Atlanta, GA
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 14
January 22, 1974 – The Omni, Atlanta, GA
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 15
January 26, 1974 (Afternoon) – Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, TX
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 16
January 26, 1974 (Evening) – Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, TX
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
DISC 17
January 30, 1974 – Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – released on Before the Flood
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) – Incomplete
Forever Young
Something There Is About You
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Blowin’ in the Wind
DISC 18
January 31, 1974 (Afternoon) – Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden – Incomplete
Forever Young
Highway 61 Revisited – released on A Musical History (The Band)
Like a Rolling Stone – Incomplete
DISC 19
January 31, 1974 (Evening) – Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower – Incomplete
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Gates of Eden
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Highway 61 Revisited
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Blowin’ in the Wind
DISC 20
February 9, 1974 (Afternoon) – Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, WA
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
She Belongs to Me
The Times They Are A-Changin’
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Wedding Song
Forever Young
Highway 61 Revisited
DISC 21
February 9, 1974 (Evening) – Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, WA
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Just Like a Woman
Wedding Song
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
It’s All Right, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Highway 61 Revisited
Like a Rolling Stone
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Blowin’ in the Wind
DISC 22
February 11, 1974 (Afternoon) – Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
She Belongs to Me
The Times They Are A-Changin’
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Wedding Song
Forever Young
Highway 61 Revisited
Like a Rolling Stone – Incomplete
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Blowin’ in the Wind
DISC 23
February 11, 1974 (Evening) – Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Just Like a Woman
Gates of Eden
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right – Incomplete
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Highway 61 Revisited – Incomplete
Like a Rolling Stone
Maggie’s Farm
Blowin’ in the Wind
DISC 24
February 13, 1974 – The Forum, Inglewood, CA
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay – released on Before the Flood
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 – released on Before the Flood
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
She Belongs to Me
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Highway 61 Revisited
Like a Rolling Stone – released on Before the Flood
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Blowin’ in the Wind – released on Before the Flood (first two verses only)
DISC 25
February 14, 1974 (Afternoon) – The Forum, Inglewood, CA
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Ballad of a Thin Man – released on Before the Flood
All Along the Watchtower – released on Before the Flood
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
She Belongs to Me
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Just Like a Woman
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Forever Young
Highway 61 Revisited
Like a Rolling Stone
Blowin’ in the Wind – released on Before the Flood (last verse only)
DISC 26
February 14, 1974 (Evening) – The Forum, Inglewood, CA (Pt. 1)
Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine) – released on Before the Flood
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain’t Me, Babe – released on Before the Flood
Ballad of a Thin Man
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Mr. Tambourine Man
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
DISC 27
February 14, 1974 (Evening) – The Forum, Inglewood, CA (Pt. 2)
She Belongs to Me
The Times They Are A-Changin’
Just Like a Woman – released on Before the Flood
Gates of Eden
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right – released on Before the Flood
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) – released on Before the Flood
Forever Young
Highway 61 Revisited – released on Before the Flood
Like a Rolling Stone
Maggie’s Farm
Blowin’ in the Wind
