"Like A Rolling Stone" Dylan & The Band 1966

[GorDoom]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xO0gSJGJ7Fs

[DscribeDC]

Anything from this tour is incredible.

[GorDoom]

Actually, now that I've seen footage & heard both the released & bootlegged versions of this tour I have to say it's overly romanticised in a wave of nostalgia.

Dylan was at the apex of his drug & booze intake & The Band wern't exactly choir boys either. Granted the music is very passionate & intense but frankly, Dylan's singing & The Band's sloppy playing leave quite a bit to be desired.

The tour & the times are legendary but the singing & the playing certainly are not. For instance, the Rolling Thunder tour & recordings are far, far, superior.

GorDoom

[DscribeDC]

At least part of that has to do with the state of concert PA, which, until the Stones "Get Yer Ya Yas Out" tour in 1970, was pretty slapdash and shoddy. A better comparison would be the Dylan 1966 tour recordings and "Got Live If You Want It" by the Stones or Kinks Live. All 60s live records were kind of lame.

It's like choosing the power puncher vs. the boxer. It all depends on whether you like, sloppy, ragged, passionate and confrontational; or slick, tight, professional and polished. Each have their advocates.

[GorDoom]

I wasn't talking about the quality of the sound at all. That is not germane to what I meant. I was talking about the quality of the musicianship. The Band & Dylan are playing sloppy. Compare this version of The Band to the one 10 years later in, "The Last Waltz"

No comparison

By then The Band was as tight & efficient as The Stones.

My point is, is that tour has been mythologised so much in the legend & lore of Rock & Roll but musically it doesnt hold up to the legend. The guys are all loaded out of their minds, Dylan is careening out of control behind his demons, drugs & alcohol before his "motorcycle accident" a few months later & his 2 year hiatus from the public eye until he came back with the superb, "John Wesley Harding" album in the winter of 68.

So yes, Dylan & The Band were raw & passionate in the legendary '66 tour but the musicianship was just plain erratic. & compared to The Stones version they sound like a garage band by comparison.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't love the music on that tour, because I do. I'm just trying to be realistic about the ACTUAL quality of the musicianship.

GorDoom