Bob Dylan & The Band - Boston Garden 1974 - The New England Broadcast Recording - DOUBLE LP

Bob Dylan had largely been off the road since 1966, but upon the release of ‘Planet Waves’ in January of '74, he and the Band reunited for a full-scale tour to promote the album and to roll tape on a forthcoming live release. Naturally, expectations were high for Dylan and the Band across the board and rightfully so - it had been a while since they'd first made their mark together on '65 and ’66 tours, and then recording what would come to be known as The Basement Tapes in Dylan's Woodstock outpost. Though, in the breach, the Band had grown artistically and could now claim an identity independent of their relationship to Dylan. All told, this was primetime for all involved, and after 40 concerts in 43 days, the tour culminated with three shows at the Forum in Inglewood, California (where the bulk of the tour's ultimate live document, Before the Flood, was recorded).

Along the trail The 1974 Tour blazed, and it's safe to say that at any given show these guys were capable of igniting some real fires; they even changed the set list nightly to ensure they stayed charged up. But on a night like this at Boston Garden, while the running order is positively inspired, Dylan and the Band are also four-alarm blazing, and the elements combust into a demonstration of why, when it comes to epic American roots rock, Dylan and the Band are like a fire-breathing, rock 'n' roll hydra and unbeatable combination.

The show kicks off with a barrelhouse version of "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" which sets the tone for what's about to unfold: The mood is irreverent and loose, yet between the cracks you can tell this is going to be a night of stone-serious music. Dylan himself is in rare form - full voiced and strong, maybe even atypically confident and powerful - soaring over the Band who needless to say is in the pocket. Robbie Robertson's guitar sears on "Lay Lady Lay" as much as it soothes on "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues". Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel keep pace with Mr. Jones on "Ballad of a Thin Man", while Levon Helm supplies his steady hand throughout the set.

Lest we forget Rick Danko, mid-set, the spotlight turns toward him as the Band gets to turn out their own set of songs, trading vocals and licks; Denko’s pleading "Stage Fright" and desperate "This Wheel's on Fire" provide their set with its heart, while Helm's readings of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and "Cripple Creek" give it its crunch of Memphis soul.

Segueing from there into his acoustic segment, Dylan draws largely from his folky repertoire that established his reputation rather than the relatively more recent material from ‘Planet Waves’ or ‘New Morning’ he cut during his touring hiatus. In performance you can hear the beginnings of his practice of shapeshifting his own music, adapting the older material and investing it with new meaning. Timeless acoustic offerings like "The Times They Are A' Changin'" and "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" merge with the sensitivity of "Just Like A Woman", the potent poetics of "Gates of Eden", and a stupefying "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", to become astonishingly compatible with the contemporary electric edge of the rest of the set.

TRACK LIST
SIDE A: 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)
SIDE B: Ballad Of A Thin Man / Stage Fright / The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down / This Wheel’s On Fire
SIDE C: I Shall Be Released / Up On Cripple Creek / All Along The Watchtower / Ballad Of Hollis Brown / Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
SIDE D: 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)