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Bob Dylan will look back on one of the most exciting times in his half-century live performance career this fall with the release of a sprawling 27-disc chronicle of the singer's iconic 1974 tour featuring The Band as his backing group.
Bob Dylan - The 1974 Live Recordings will be released by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on September 20 as a massive set including 431 tracks -- 417 of which are previously unreleased performances -- with fans getting a sneak peek on Tuesday (July 9) via a never-released version of "Forever Young" recorded in Seattle on Feb. 9, 1974.
The set's release is timed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dylan's return to touring that year; Dylan retired from the road following a 1966 motorcycle accident. The 40-city North American outing was Dylan's first tour in eight years and it resulted in the live double album Before the Flood.
After making their name as Dylan's backing band in 1966 on the folk legend's first plugged-in tour, the group featuring Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel re-joined him in 1974 for his first arena tour. Barnstorming across North America while playing 30 shows in 42 days -- sometimes performing two sets per day -- the tour kicked off in Chicago on Jan. 3, 1974. According to the release, the outing helped "create the template for the major rock tour," cementing such live concert staples as fans holding up their lighters en masse (pre-cellphone) and the bright flash of the house lights during pivotal moments in the set.
The group performed many songs for the first time on the tour, including such beloved tracks as "All Along the Watchtower," "Forever Young" and "Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine)" as well as such rarities including "Ballad of Hollis Brown," "Song to Woody" and "Nobody 'Cept You."
A release announcing the box set noted that it will feature 133 of the recordings newly mixed from 16-track tape and every surviving soundboard recording of the tour, as well as new liner notes by journalist/critic Elizabeth Nelson.
A three-LP colored vinyl highlights release, The 1974 Live Recordings - The Missing Songs From Before The Flood, will be issued by Third Man Records featuring versions of every song from the 1974 tour not included on the original Before the Flood album.
Dylan, 83, is currently on the road as part of his "Never Ending Tour," with his next show slated for July 29 at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, CA.
January 6, 1974 (Afternoon) - The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
January 19, 1974 (Afternoon) - Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood, FL
January 26, 1974 (Afternoon) - Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, TX
6. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - released on Before the Flood
January 31, 1974 (Afternoon) - Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
8. Highway 61 Revisited - released on A Musical History (The Band)
January 31, 1974 (Evening) - Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
February 9, 1974 (Afternoon) - Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, WA
February 9, 1974 (Evening) - Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, WA
February 11, 1974 (Afternoon) - Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA
February 11, 1974 (Evening) - Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA
18. Like a Rolling Stone - released on Before the Flood
19. Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine)
20. Blowin' in the Wind - released on Before the Flood (first two verses only)
7. All Along the Watchtower - released on Before the Flood
18. Blowin' in the Wind - released on Before the Flood (last verse only)
