Expecting Rain

Name a song Dylan has played during the Never Ending Tour for which the NET version is NOT the supreme, definitive performance...

I'll save you the trouble... the ONLY one is


It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, the definitive performances being from the Rolling Thunder Revue.


Next thread...

But why?

Just from the top of my head: Isis, Tell Me Momma, Abbandoned Love, Carribean Wind, Slow Train Coming. Want me to go on?

And when were any of these played during the NET?

Yes

Your typographical idiosyncrasies sometimes make it hard to follow, you know?

You may have a point... all the more reason I don't drink or do drugs... then it would next to impossible.

it is interesting that a song about continually recreating oneself has never been able to do so.

But--I do like the one from Prague in 1995.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT-ZqeQ4FHg

Mostly, though, for the hypnotizing harmonica near the end.

Would I dare say Lay Lady Lay for the 76 versions?

And the amazing voice! I just love his '93-'95ish voice and performances.

Pretty much any song played on the NET has a superior version either pre-NET or on the original recording. Terrible joke this one Mr Path.

Obviously "Tangled Up In Blue" (BS5) ... a thousand times better than this mutilated version he has played in the last couple of years.

Free healthcare should make things a lot easier for you. Hang in there.

I can't generalize, i was at only one show, with this playlist:
1.Cat's In The Well
2.Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
3.Rollin' And Tumblin'
4.Tangled Up In Blue
5.The Levee's Gonna Break
6.Girl Of The North Country
7.John Brown
8.Honest With Me
9.Just Like A Woman
10.It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
11.Workingman's Blues #2
12.Highway 61 Revisited
13.Spirit On The Water
14.Summer Days
15.Ain't Talkin'
16.Thunder On The Mountain
17.Like A Rolling Stone
All the iterpretations first seemed awful to me. Now i've got accustomed a bit, but i still think the best #9 and #17 are from the 1966 tour, the best #12 is from late 60es or early 70es, the best #4 is from the Rolling Thunder... and so on.

Like A Rolling Stone is best on the album. Ballad of a Thin Man is best on BS7. Oh Sister is best on Desire. Everything performed during the Rolling Thunder Revue

This isn't a thread for idle specualtion on what's in the vaults awaiting release. Its about the real thing, already out there and to date, nothing from an album comes remotely close to the NET performances. This has been documented repeatedly with every technological sound device known to humankind as well as a few unknown devices.
Help me out here... what would free health care have to do with any of this?

sonia golden hand, you are indeed entitled to think what you want and please understand I'm not a medical professional, but preference of the 1966 Just Like A Woman and Like A Rolling Stone could be a sign of a serious disorder for which one should see a doctor (and an audiologist as well). This appears to be further confirmed by your stated preferences for late '60s/early '70s Highway 61 Revisited and Tangled up In Blue from the Rolling Thunder Revue.

Tangled up In Blue from the Rolling Thunder Revue are good enough but they're several rungs on the ladder below performances in 2000. Likewise, the documentation on this may be found by the truck load...

Mr Path, I think that Mr Train and I are trying to make the same point - you are more than a little crazy my friend.

"I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" got its best live incarnation in 1981. My favorite versions of "Watching the River Flow" and "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" are from 1987 (though I guess it's close enough to the NET that they almost count, but not quite).

"Lay Lady Lay" has never, ever benefited from a live rendition, not even in the 1970s'.

"Shelter from the Storm" was best in 1976, though the 1995 and that one-off arrangement from 1997 (Tokyo) come REALLY close in my book.

"Like a Rolling Stone" was never better than on the album, not even in '66, and anyone who disagrees with that is that much less to fan.

I'm not really sure when "Tangled" was best, but right now I lean towards the rewritten 1984 versions. So much passion in those versions.

Those 1992 performances of "Idiot Wind" were a mess. Anyone who prefers those to the 1976 performances (the Hard Rain version being the greatest recorded performance in human history) once again doesn't get Dylan at all.

the funny thing is that i'm looking forward to the next NET version of every song more than the versions that already exist... hmmm...

^true

What's so funny about that? Haven't we strived for that during the entire NET?

The '81 I'll Be Your baby Tonight may be another exception to the Best versions being from the NET scenario... those were really good. I'm a fan of the '87 Watching the River Flow and I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine as well... but I think some of the '03 Watching the River Flow performances are better, especially the August 20 with Chuck Loeb as guest. I like the '05 I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine with Elana Fremerman on violin... very sweet and tender performances.

The Before the Flood versions were interesting but this is a song, studio and live that almost never ceases to disappoint... a well loved Bob song I can barely stand to hear... however, there were a few from the Spring 2005 that weren't bad, Chicago, April 1 coming to mind... and what's so puzzling to me is that the arrangement is so similar to the album but His Band and voice are so much better... and hence, a VERY strong argument can be made to remake all of his '60s music with his current band and voice based on this performance alone... and it would be the right thing to do for posterity.

I prefer the '95 to the '76 myself... but '76 is not bad.

A pretensiously angry Justin Bieber doing Like A Rolling Stone may be better than the '66 live performances... and the album version? The one thing it has that most live performances are missing is the opening rimshot... other than that it pales in comparison to the Before the Flood versions which are not as good as the NET through 2002 which are not as great as the Freddy Koella and Larry Campbell shows of '30 and Spring '04.

1984 was a good year for Tangled Up In Blue... I prefer the 2000 shows but one cannot go wrong with '84.

Okay, Idiot Wind doesn't quite soar to the levels one would desire after hearing the Hard Rain shows... That one escaped me when thinking of this thread... perhaps its time for Bob to dust it off and return it to the setlist. We have a Presidential campaign going on and there's is a lot of Idiot Wind blowing right now. I think a current NET performance would bring great satisfaction to us all!

That's absolutely brilliant. Never heard it before. Thanks!!