There was a time in America when the buffalo herds ruled the Great Plains. If you knew the right Indians, you could go to a spot and sneak up on a hill overlooking their route and watch miles and miles of 'em thundering across the country for as far as you could see. A huge, fury, brownish tsunami of muscle and force shaking the earth as it waved across the planet. That thunder is one that cannot be experienced again, and its impression would be burned into the marrow of your soul if you had been privileged enough to witness it just once. Sometimes, it would be nice to go back - just once - and feel that rumble one more time.
From the opening clap of the percussion and "krrraaang!" of the guitar as Dylan snarls "Throw my ticket in the WEEE-UUND!!…." this CD screams: "..this is gonna kick ass!" Which it does from the opening note to the last echo, front to back, one CD to the next, each performance a jewel. Bob underscores this as he changes the original lyrics to yell: "GET READY!!…'cause to-night I'll be staying here with you!" Indeed. This band is the tightest collection of musicians I've heard in a live performance - much less those associated with any previous Dylan recording. These guys had been playing live for while by the time they recorded these takes - and it shows. They are like dogs in the bomb squad. You can tell that they're on their toes every second - listening to everything everyone else is doing, waiting to hear the next new, brilliant improvised twist of melody or rhythm that they can all jump on and ride like a pony express horse. This band breaks speed records like Michael Johnson, clears hurdles like Edwin Moses, then turns on a dime and pirouettes like a prima ballerina. They're all over the place - and the pure energy and ecstasy they feel playing this stuff leaks all over this recording like a thick coating of the best honey you ever had.
The album opens with rocking versions of "Tonight, I'll be Staying Here with You", "It Ain't Me, Babe", "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and the socially conscious "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll". The band turns the previously somewhat monotonous "Hard Rain" into a galloping rocker that revitalizes it and gives "Hattie Carroll", always one of my favorite Dylan "protest" songs, a whole new reading - building it beautifully into an epic. In similar fashion, they turn "It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry", which Bob introduces as "an autobiographical song", into a brief, but wonderfully crafted rocker.
The solo acoustic selections are delivered with dripping pathos. Particularly "Tambourine Man", "Baby Blue" and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit". As a special treat, there are four duets with Bob and stoney Joanie Baez performed with a small subset of the full band. They're marvelous. Joan's harmonies lend a softness to Bob's vocal delivery and help to underscore the lyrics. My favorites are a dobro-soaked version of "Mama, You Been On My Mind" and a wonderful cover of the traditional "The Water Is Wide".
Another immediately noticeable quality of these recordings is the presence and surprisingly melodic delivery of Dylan's vocals. He is in the best voice I have heard him recorded in since "Nashville Skyline". Actually singing instead of barking or reciting his brilliant lyrics. In addition to this, his creativity in interpreting his lyrics burns throughout these sessions. He squirts new lyrics out like seltzer water off his thumb from a shaken soda bottle. He adds a lot of references to "thunder" in these performances, and the verses of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" in this version see the light of day for the first time here. His writing craft was at the peak of its powers at this time as evidence by the lyrical changes he peppers these performances with - each one enlightening and shedding new light on his stories. He was also writing the songs for the "Desire" album during this time and showcases a number of them here. These performances far outshine the versions that ended up in vinyl on the "Desire" album. They seen to have aged by the time they got there. Just listen to the versions of "Hurricane", "Isis" or "Oh, Sister" on this CD set and compare them to the studio versions. The freshness and excitement of this band in unveiling brand-new Dylan material colors the performances on this CD and gives the songs a definition that doesn't come through in the studio versions.
It's hard to pick a favorite moment in this set, but for me, it probably comes with the last two songs after an audience member yells out "Just Like a Woman!" and Bob responds - "…yeah, I guess we can try that…" He croons the opening verse, as the pedal steel guitar slides in behind him like a sleigh on a gentle winter ride down a soft-snow covered slope. You have to hear this one to believe how in-synch the band is. If that's not enough, he follows it up with the quintessential version of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". As a Deadhead, I always had it in my heart that Jerry and the boys had a handle on juuust the right version of this song, and we'd all hear it on one of the "vault" releases. Not so - turns out Jerry was on the wrong track. This is the version of "Knockin'" from your dreams. Roger McGuinn sings the second, never-before-heard verse of this one and the band's soulful playing - a continuation from the previous version of "Just Like A Woman" - explores the intricacies of the melody in a yellow-brick road of notes that brings the whole thing full-circle.
This set is a gift. Unlike with the buffalo, it's a permanent record that you can use to sneak back up on that hillside and watch the power of this herd as they roll by - and what a glorious rumble they made!