Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release The 1974 Live Recordings on Friday, September 20, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s return to touring that year. Featuring all professionally recorded shows from the artist’s 1974 performances backed by The Band, the collection will be available as a deluxe box set across 27 CDs. The 1974 Live Recordings offers fans 417 previously-unreleased Bob Dylan live tracks – including 133 recordings newly mixed from 16-track tape, and every single surviving soundboard recording – along with new liner notes by journalist and critic Elizabeth Nelson.
Bob Dylan’s 1974 Tour marked his first time performing live in eight years and reunited him with The Band - who had become widely renowned in their own right since backing the artist nearly a decade earlier. Booked into arenas for the first time ever, Bob Dylan and The Band performed 30 dates in 42 days (often playing two sets per day) before an average audience of 18,500 - helping set a new standard for what rock concerts could look and sound like. And in front of those crowds, they brought an energy that Rolling Stone’s Ben Fong-Torres described as “searing and soaring, unified and precise…excellent in itself.” Music critic Robert Christgau compared the sound to Bob Dylan “running over his old songs like a truck.”
Tour ‘74 kicked off January 3, 1974, at Chicago Stadium - the largest indoor arena in the world at the time it was built - with a tense and combative rip through ultimate deep-cut “Hero Blues,” an acoustic-gone-electric outtake from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan sessions, that he had scarcely performed before - or since. Additional rarities - like a wildly reinvented “Ballad Of Hollis Brown,” “Song to Woody” (not performed since 1962) and Planet Waves outtake “Nobody ‘Cept You” - would be well received in the tour’s first nights. “We were booed off of every stage in Europe,” The Band’s Robbie Robertson recalled to Newsweek of their previous run together. “What happened tonight in Chicago is so reassuring for us.”
The reception wasn’t the only thing that had changed since Bob Dylan and The Band last toured together in 1966. Since then, The Band had released six LPs, played Woodstock and other famous stages, and recorded a series of historic sessions with Bob Dylan - from The Basement Tapes to Planet Waves. For his part, Bob Dylan had effectively retired from the road altogether following a 1966 motorcycle accident yet was still “widely regarded as the most influential and significant star in the last 10 years of American popular music,” according to The New York Times.
Though they might not have known it at the time, Bob Dylan and The Band were at the vanguard of a new era. Tour ‘74 would help create the template for the major rock tour and codify many of its shared experiences - from the sight of audiences holding up lighters en masse (as captured in the iconic cover image for Before The Flood), to the bright flash of the house lights during a show’s signal moment, in this case their performance of “Like A Rolling Stone.” Likewise, many songs performed live for the first time on Tour ‘74 - “All Along The Watchtower,” “Forever Young” and the show’s eventual opener-and-closer “Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)” - would take on a life of their own.
At the outset, the 1974 Tour was captured on a stereo soundboard mix, on both 1⁄4” tape and cassette. By tour’s end, Asylum Records’ David Geffen had commissioned recordings on multitrack tape, the standard at the time, for eventual release on Before the Flood. The 1974 Live Recordings includes it all - the cassettes and 1⁄4” tapes, and the shows that were recorded on 16-track tape, newly mixed for this collection.
2 1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
3 2. Lay, Lady, Lay
4 3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5 4. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
6 5. It Ain't Me, Babe
7 6. Ballad of a Thin Man
8 7. All Along the Watchtower
9 8. Ballad of Hollis Brown
10 9. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
11 10. the Times They Are A-Changin'
12 11. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
13 12. Gates of Eden
14 13. Just Like a Woman
15 14. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
16 15. Forever Young
17 16. Something There Is About You
18 17. Like a Rolling Stone
19 18. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
- Disc 17 -
1 * January 30, 1974 - Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2 1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
3 2. Lay, Lady, Lay
4 3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5 4. All Along the Watchtower
6 5. Ballad of Hollis Brown
7 6. Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Released on Before the Flood
8 7. the Times They Are A-Changin'
9 8. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
10 9. Gates of Eden
11 10. Just Like a Woman
12 11. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - Incomplete
13 12. Forever Young
14 13. Something There Is About You
15 14. Like a Rolling Stone
16 15. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
17 16. Blowin' in the Wind
- Disc 18 -
1 * January 31, 1974 (Afternoon) - Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2 1. All Along the Watchtower
3 2. Ballad of Hollis Brown
4 3. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
5 4. the Times They Are A-Changin'
6 5. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
7 6. Gates of Eden - Incomplete
8 7. Forever Young
9 8. Highway 61 Revisited - Released on a Musical History (The Band)
10 9. Like a Rolling Stone - Incomplete
- Disc 19 -
1 * January 31, 1974 (Evening) - Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2 1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
3 2. Lay, Lady, Lay
4 3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5 4. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
6 5. It Ain't Me, Babe
7 6. Ballad of a Thin Man
8 7. All Along the Watchtower - Incomplete
9 8. Ballad of Hollis Brown
10 9. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
11 10. the Times They Are A-Changin'
12 11. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
13 12. Gates of Eden
14 13. Just Like a Woman
15 14. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
16 15. Forever Young
17 16. Highway 61 Revisited
18 17. Like a Rolling Stone
19 18. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
20 19. Blowin' in the Wind
- Disc 20 -
1 * February 9, 1974 (Afternoon) - Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Wa
2 1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
3 2. Lay, Lady, Lay
4 3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5 4. All Along the Watchtower
6 5. Ballad of Hollis Brown
7 6. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
8 7. She Belongs to Me
9 8. the Times They Are A-Changin'
10 9. the Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
11 10. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
12 11. Wedding Song
13 12. Forever Young
14 13. Highway 61 Revisited
- Disc 21 -
1 * February 9, 1974 (Evening) - Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Wa
2 1. the Times They Are A-Changin'
3 2. Just Like a Woman
4 3. Wedding Song
5 4. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
6 5. It's All Right, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
7 6. Forever Young
8 7. Highway 61 Revisited
9 8. Like a Rolling Stone
10 9. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
11 10. Blowin' in the Wind
- Disc 22 -
1 * February 11, 1974 (Afternoon) - Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, Ca
2 1. All Along the Watchtower
3 2. Ballad of Hollis Brown
4 3. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
5 4. She Belongs to Me
6 5. the Times They Are A-Changin'
7 6. the Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
8 7. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
9 8. Wedding Song
10 9. Forever Young
11 10. Highway 61 Revisited
12 11. Like a Rolling Stone - Incomplete
13 12. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
14 13. Blowin' in the Wind
- Disc 23 -
1 * February 11, 1974 (Evening) - Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, Ca
2 1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
3 2. Lay, Lady, Lay
4 3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5 4. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
6 5. It Ain't Me, Babe
7 6. Ballad of a Thin Man
8 7. All Along the Watchtower
9 8. Ballad of Hollis Brown
10 9. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
11 10. the Times They Are A-Changin'
12 11. Just Like a Woman
13 12. Gates of Eden
14 13. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Incomplete
15 14. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
16 15. Forever Young
17 16. Highway 61 Revisited - Incomplete
18 17. Like a Rolling Stone
19 18. Maggie's Farm
20 19. Blowin' in the Wind
- Disc 24 -
1 * February 13, 1974 - the Forum, Inglewood, Ca
2 1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
3 2. Lay, Lady, Lay - Released on Before the Flood
4 3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5 4. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 - Released on Before the Flood
6 5. It Ain't Me, Babe
7 6. Ballad of a Thin Man
8 7. All Along the Watchtower
9 8. Ballad of Hollis Brown
10 9. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
11 10. She Belongs to Me
12 11. the Times They Are A-Changin'
13 12. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
14 13. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
15 14. Just Like a Woman
16 15. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
17 16. Forever Young
18 17. Highway 61 Revisited
19 18. Like a Rolling Stone - Released on Before the Flood
20 19. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
21 20. Blowin' in the Wind - Released on Before the Flood (First Two Verses Only)
- Disc 25 -
1 * February 14, 1974 (Afternoon) - the Forum, Inglewood, Ca
2 1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
3 2. Lay, Lady, Lay
4 3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5 4. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
6 5. It Ain't Me, Babe
7 6. Ballad of a Thin Man - Released on Before the Flood
8 7. All Along the Watchtower - Released on Before the Flood
9 8. Ballad of Hollis Brown
10 9. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
11 10. She Belongs to Me
12 11. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
13 12. the Times They Are A-Changin'
14 13. Just Like a Woman
15 14. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
16 15. Forever Young
17 16. Highway 61 Revisited
18 17. Like a Rolling Stone
19 18. Blowin' in the Wind - Released on Before the Flood (Guitar Break and Last Verse Only)
- Disc 26 -
1 * February 14, 1974 (Evening) - the Forum, Inglewood, Ca (Pt. 1)
2 1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) - Released on Before the Flood
3 2. Lay, Lady, Lay
4 3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
5 4. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
6 5. It Ain't Me, Babe - Released on Before the Flood
7 6. Ballad of a Thin Man
8 7. All Along the Watchtower
9 8. Ballad of Hollis Brown
10 9. Mr. Tambourine Man
11 10. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
- Disc 27 -
1 * February 14, 1974 (Evening) - the Forum, Inglewood, Ca (Pt. 2)
2 1. She Belongs to Me
3 2. the Times They Are A-Changin'
4 3. Just Like a Woman - Released on Before the Flood
5 4. Gates of Eden
6 5. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Released on Before the Flood
7 6. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - Released on Before the Flood
8 7. Forever Young
9 8. Highway 61 Revisited - Released on Before the Flood
10 9. Like a Rolling Stone
11 10. Maggie's Farm
12 11. Blowin' in the Wind
Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release The 1974 Live Recordings on Friday, September 20, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bob Dylan’s return to touring that year. Featuring all professionally recorded shows from the artist’s 1974 performances backed by The Band, the collection will be available as a deluxe box set across 27 CDs. The 1974 Live Recordings offers fans 417 previously-unreleased Bob Dylan live tracks – including 133 recordings newly mixed from 16-track tape, and every single surviving soundboard recording – along with new liner notes by journalist and critic Elizabeth Nelson.
Bob Dylan’s 1974 Tour marked his first time performing live in eight years and reunited him with The Band - who had become widely renowned in their own right since backing the artist nearly a decade earlier. Booked into arenas for the first time ever, Bob Dylan and The Band performed 30 dates in 42 days (often playing two sets per day) before an average audience of 18,500 - helping set a new standard for what rock concerts could look and sound like. And in front of those crowds, they brought an energy that Rolling Stone’s Ben Fong-Torres described as “searing and soaring, unified and precise…excellent in itself.” Music critic Robert Christgau compared the sound to Bob Dylan “running over his old songs like a truck.”
Tour ‘74 kicked off January 3, 1974, at Chicago Stadium - the largest indoor arena in the world at the time it was built - with a tense and combative rip through ultimate deep-cut “Hero Blues,” an acoustic-gone-electric outtake from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan sessions, that he had scarcely performed before - or since. Additional rarities - like a wildly reinvented “Ballad Of Hollis Brown,” “Song to Woody” (not performed since 1962) and Planet Waves outtake “Nobody ‘Cept You” - would be well received in the tour’s first nights. “We were booed off of every stage in Europe,” The Band’s Robbie Robertson recalled to Newsweek of their previous run together. “What happened tonight in Chicago is so reassuring for us.”
The reception wasn’t the only thing that had changed since Bob Dylan and The Band last toured together in 1966. Since then, The Band had released six LPs, played Woodstock and other famous stages, and recorded a series of historic sessions with Bob Dylan - from The Basement Tapes to Planet Waves. For his part, Bob Dylan had effectively retired from the road altogether following a 1966 motorcycle accident yet was still “widely regarded as the most influential and significant star in the last 10 years of American popular music,” according to The New York Times.
Though they might not have known it at the time, Bob Dylan and The Band were at the vanguard of a new era. Tour ‘74 would help create the template for the major rock tour and codify many of its shared experiences - from the sight of audiences holding up lighters en masse (as captured in the iconic cover image for Before The Flood), to the bright flash of the house lights during a show’s signal moment, in this case their performance of “Like A Rolling Stone.” Likewise, many songs performed live for the first time on Tour ‘74 - “All Along The Watchtower,” “Forever Young” and the show’s eventual opener-and-closer “Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)” - would take on a life of their own.
At the outset, the 1974 Tour was captured on a stereo soundboard mix, on both 1⁄4” tape and cassette. By tour’s end, Asylum Records’ David Geffen had commissioned recordings on multitrack tape, the standard at the time, for eventual release on Before the Flood. The 1974 Live Recordings includes it all - the cassettes and 1⁄4” tapes, and the shows that were recorded on 16-track tape, newly mixed for this collection.
