Eric Clapton

Bob Dylan
1976 WHERE THE NEON MADMEN CLIMB
Pink Panther Records
Night Of The Hurricane 2 & Rolling Thunder Revue 2

As always thanks to Nellie at Expecting Rain for this compilation.

Nellie always includes an enormous amounts of excellent notes with these compilations. I usually trim them down considerably so that my posts aren’t enormous. I did the same here, but do to the nature of the Rolling Thunder Review with its wide variety of people on stage the notes are still a little unwieldy. I hope they still make sense. But if not you still wanna get this comp. – Mat

RTR Part 2 is very different to RTR Part 1. The music is tougher, heavier, edgier. At times it borders on hard rock.
There is way more to RTR 2 than the official Columbia Hard Rain live album.

There is a great breadth & depth of material here.
Bob was dealing with all sorts of personal demons at the time but it seems to just fuel the fire.
Not for the faint-hearted – it is a very bumpy ride but well worth it.

Lies, damn lies & statistics:

All the songs performed by Dylan & The Rolling Thunder Revue on tour in 1975
15 of a total of 25 concerts represented here, plus six rehearsals & one birthday party.
129 tracks.
112 different songs.
1 Bob.

Instrumental Rentals Studio
Los Angeles, California
22 January 1976
Rehearsals for the second Hurricane Carter Benefit concert.

1.You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
4.Sara

LB-3237;
Compiler: Les Kokay;
1976 Rolling Thunder Rehearsals

Instrumental Rentals Studio
Los Angeles, California
23 January 1976
Rehearsals for the second Hurricane Carter Benefit concert.

3.Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever (Don Hunter/Stevie Wonder)
4.It Makes No Difference (Robbie Robertson)
5.Silver Mantis (J. Henry Burnett/Fleming)
6.Maggie’s Farm
7.Hurricane (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
8.Oh, Sister (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan)

Rick Danko (vocal) on:
Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever,
It Makes No Difference.

LB-3237;
Compiler: Les Kokay;
1976 Rolling Thunder Rehearsals

Houston Astrodrome
Houston, Texas
25 January 1976
Night Of The Hurricane 2

9.Positively 4th Street
10.It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
11.One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
12.Ride ‘Em Jewboy (Kinky Friedman)

LB-4304;
From Les Kokay 1976 data dvdr;
Night Of The Hurricane 2;
Audience

Shangri-La Studios
Malibu, California
30 March 1976
Eric Clapton’s 31st Birthday Party

13.Sign Language
14.Adios Mi Corazon
15.The Water Is Wide (trad.)
16.Idiot Wind

The Band:

Eric Clapton guitar, vocals,
Carl Radle bass,
George Terry guitar,
Jamie Oldaker drums,
Dick Sims keyboards,
Yvonne Elliman vocals,
Marcy Levy vocals,
Sergio Pastora percussion,
Bob Dylan vocals, guitar,
Georgie Fame organ,
Ron Wood guitar,
Van Morrison vocals,
Rick Danko bass, vocals,
Robbie Robertson guitar,
Jesse Ed Davis guitar,
Billy Preston vovals, keyboards,
Garth Hudson organ,
Richard Manuel vocals, piano,
Levon Helm vocals, drums,
Wah Wah Watson guitar.

LB-11374;
From Paradise To Shangri La (Silver Horse / 7603 A-B)

Belleview Biltmore Hotel
Clearwater, Florida
12, 13 or 14 April 1976
Rehearsals before tour.

17.Blowin’ In The Wind

LB-3237;
Compiler: Les Kokay;
1976 Rolling Thunder Rehearsals

Belleview Biltmore Hotel
Clearwater, Florida
15 April 1976
Rehearsals before tour.

18.The Sun Is Shining (Elmore James)
19.Ballad Of Hollis Brown
20.Hold Me In Your Arms (trad.)
21.Isis (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
22.Rita May (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
23.Instrumental
24.Instrumental

LB-3237;
Compiler: Les Kokay;
1976 Rolling Thunder Rehearsals

Belleview Biltmore Hotel
Clearwater, Florida
17 April 1976
Rehearsals before tour.

25.Just Like A Woman
26.I Threw It All Away
27.Tomorrow Is A Long Time
28.Seven Days
29.Sara
30.Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
31.It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
32.You Angel You

1-4 may be from another session.
9, 18 are only fragments
9, 32 are instrumentals.

LB-3237;
Compiler: Les Kokay;
1976 Rolling Thunder Rehearsals

Civic Center
Lakeland, Florida
18 April 1976

T-Bone Burnett:
33.Hula Hoop

Kinky Friedman:
34.They Ain’t making Jews Like Jesus Anymore

Bob Dylan:
35.Visions Of Johanna
36.If You See Her, Say Hello
37.Weary Blues From Waiting (Hank Williams)

Roger McGuinn:
38.Take Me Away

First Rolling Thunder Revue 2 concert.

LB-8652;
xref-01870;
Source: Cassette Master > Untracked Aiff File > Soundforge > FLAC

Visions of Johanna

LB-9273;
Taper: Bob Heyer;
Equipment: Bob Heyer’s original cassette > Reel > ADC

If You See Her, Say Hello

LB-10562;
Acoustic Thunder (Wild Wolf / 75-76);
Equipment: silver bootleg CD > CD-R (trade) > EAC wav (hard drive) >
Trader’s Little, Helper flac level 8 & torrent > HungerCity

Weary Blues From Waiting

LB-11131;
Hold The Fort For What It’s Worth (Wild Wolf)

Bayfront Civic Center Auditorium
St. Petersburg, Florida
20 April 1976

39.It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
40.Wild Mountain Thyme

Joan Baez (guitar and shared vocal) on Wild Mountain Thyme.

LB-2934;
Equipment: aud mono > ? > CD-Rs > me
removed sbe gaps/reset select cue points/speed corrected > you

Curtis Hixon Convention Center
Tampa, Florida
21 April 1976

41.Tangled Up In Blue

Official release:

Seven Days released on The Bootleg Series (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991, Volume 3, Columbia 468 086 2, 26 March 1991.

LB-12196;
Taper: Tim D;
Compiler: Lowgen;
Equipment: original cassettes > 1/2 tk 7.5 reel > AD

Starlight Ballroom
Belleview Biltmore Hotel
Clearwater, Florida
22 April 1976
Afternoon

42.The Times They Are A-Changin’
43.I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine
44.When I Paint My Masterpiece

LB-4305;
Compiler: Les Kokay (LK);
LK 76 data dvdr set

Starlight Ballroom
Belleview Biltmore Hotel
Clearwater, Florida
22 April 1976
Evening

45.One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
46.Like A Rolling Stone
47.Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You
48.Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)

LB-4306;
From Les Kokay 76 data dvdr set

University Of Florida Field
Gainesville, Florida
25 April 1976

Steve Soles:
49.Mad Man

Rob Stoner:
50.Catfish

Bob Neuwirth:
51.Alabama Dark (Hank Williams is Dead),
52.Cowboys and Indians (Bobby Charles),
53.Mercedes Benz
54.Battle of New Orleans

Kinky Friedman:
55.Asshole From El Paso

Bob Dylan:
56.Mr Tambourine Man
57.Simple Twist Of Fate (cut)
58.Dink’s Song (trad. arr. by John & Alan Lomax)

LB-1674;
Incomplete recording;
Equipment: Sony TC355, converted by “cassette deck into the A/D converter in a DAT deck,
then via optical SPDIF, into the Frontier Wavecenter PCI interface in my PC

Except Dink’s Song

LB-4308;
from Les Kokay 1976 DVDR set

Expo Hall
Municipal Auditorium
Mobile, Alabama
29 April 1976
Evening

59.I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
60.I Pity The Poor Immigrant
61.You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
62.Lay, Lady, Lay

LB-0061;
xref-01193;
Compiler: Bob Meyer;
Reworked;
Dylan portion only

Reid Green Coliseum
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
1 May 1976

63.Simple Twist Of Fate

LB-10562;
Acoustic Thunder (Wild Wolf / 75-76);
Equipment: silver bootleg CD > CD-R (trade) > EAC wav (hard drive) >
Trader’s Little, Helper flac level 8 & torrent > HungerCity

The Warehouse
New Orleans, Louisiana
3 May 1976 ñ Evening

Bob Neuwirth:
64.Sleazy

David Mansfield:
65.Flint Hill Special (Earl Scruggs)

T-bone J. Henry Burnett:
66.Werewolves of London (LeRoy P. Marinell(Waddy Wachtel/Warren Zevon)

Rob Stoner:
67.Too Good To Be Wasted (Rob Stoner)

Donna Weiss:
68.Sweet Amarillo (Tears On My Pillow) (Donna Weiss)

Mick Ronson:
69.Is There Life On Mars? (Roscoe West)

Bob Neuwirth:
70.A Lady Is Still A Lady

Dennis Hopper:
71.If (poem by Rudyard Kipling)

Kinky Friedman:
72.Rock And Roll Across The USA (Kinky Friedman/ Danny Finley (ìPanama Redî))
73.Dear Abbie (Kinky Friedman)

Bob Dylan:
74.Love Minus Zero/No Limit
75.Isis (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan)

Roger McGuinn:
76.Eight Miles High
77.Jolly Roger
78.Lover Of The Bayou
79.Chestnut Mare

Joan Baez:
80.Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
81.(Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody) Turn Me Around
82.Love Song To A Stranger, Part 2
83.The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
84.Sweeter For Me (Red Telephone)
85.Dancing In The Streets
86.Diamonds And Rust

Bob Dylan:
87.Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
88.You’re A Big Girl Now
89.Rita May (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
90.Lay, Lady, Lay
91.Idiot Wind
92.Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton, Larry Ehrlich, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, David Lazar, Tom Six)

LB-5577;
Soundboard

Except Rita May

LB-11131;
Hold The Fort For What It’s Worth (Wild Wolf)

Municipal Auditorium
San Antonio, Texas
11 May 1976

93.Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (Charles Badger Clark)
94.Mozambique (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
95.Shelter From The Storm (PA)
96.Romance In Durango (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan) (PA)
97.You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (PA)
98.Oh, Sister (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan) (PA)
99.Going, Going, Gone (PA)
100.Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (PA)

LB Unknown;
Soundboard

Except Bennyboy:

Spanish Is The Loving Tongue,
Shelter From The Storm,
Romance In Durango.

Tarrant County Convention Center Arena
Fort Worth, Texas
16 May 1976

Bob Neuwirth:
101.Cindy (When I Get Home) (trad.)

T-bone J. Henry Burnett:
102.The Dogs (T-Bone Burnett/John Fleming/Rosana Taplin)
103.Here Come The Blues Again (Dr Hook)

Bob Dylan:
104.It Ain’t Me, Babe
105.Vincent Van Gogh (Robert Friemark)
106.One Too Many Mornings

Joni Mitchell
107.Black Crow (Joni Mitchell)
108.Song For Sharon (Joni Mitchell)

Joan Baez:
109.El Preso Numero Nueve (Prisoner Number Nine) (Antonio & Roberto Cantoral)
110.Forever Young

Bob Dylan:
111.Blowin’ In The Wind
112.Oh, Sister (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
113.You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

T-Bone Burnett:
114.Silver Mantis (J. Henry Burnett/Fleming)

Official releases:

Released on Hard Rain, Columbia PC 34349, 10 September 1976
and on Columbia CK 34349 (CD), 30 November 1976:
I Threw It All Away, Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again,
Oh, Sister (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan),
Lay, Lady, Lay

Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again released on single Columbia 3-10454, 30 November 1976
Lay, Lady, Lay released on Masterpieces, CBS/SONY 57 AP875-7, March 1978 in Japan, and later 1978 in Australia and New Zealand.

LB-11131;
Hold The Fort For What It’s Worth (Wild Wolf)

Except:

Cindy (When I Get Home),
The Dogs,
Here Come The Blues Again,
Black Crow,
Song For Sharon,
El Preso Numero Nueve (Prisoner Number Nine),
Forever Young.

LB-4321;
From Les Kokay 76 data dvdr set

And:
Oh, Sister
Bennyboy

State Fair Arena
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
18 May 1976

T-bone J. Henry Burnett:

115.Linda Lou

Bob Dylan:

116.Maggie’s Farm
117.Mozambique (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan)

Roger McGuinn:

118.Turn Turn Turn (adapted from The Book of Ecclesiastes by Pete Seeger)

Bob Dylan:

119.Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
120.I Want You

Rolling Thunder Revue 2 concert #22.

Bob Dylan (guitar & vocal), Scarlet Rivera (violin), T-bone J. Henry Burnette (guitar & piano),
Steven Soles (guitar), Mick Ronson (guitar), Bobby Neuwirth (guitar & vocal),
Roger McGuinn (guitar & vocal), David Mansfield (steel guitar, mandolin, violin & dobro),
Rob Stoner (bass), Howie Wyeth (drums), Gary Burke (congas).

Going, Going, Gone has the different lyrics:
ìI been walking on clouds, sleeping in the dust,
Now I just got to go, before itís all Diamond and Rustî

LB-4327;
Compiler: Les Kokay;
Soundboard;
Equipment: My Low Gen tape > CoolEdit > HR >
CDR > EAC > Flac (reordered to concert order)

Except Maggie’s Farm

LB-11728;
Incomplete soundboard

Henry Levitt Arena
Wichita, Kansas
19 May 1976

Steven Soles:
121.Wouldnít You Know (Steven Soles)

Joan Baez:
122.Joe Hill (Earl Robinson)

Bob Dylan:
123.One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)

LB-4314;
Compiler: Les Kokay (LK);
From Les Kokay 76 data dvdr set

Colorado Hotel
Fort Collins, Colorado
22 May 1976
Rehearsal

124.Just Like A Woman

LB-3237;
Compiler: Les Kokay;
Rolling Thunder Rehearsals

Hughes Stadium
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
23 May 1976

125.Railroad Boy (trad.)
126.Deportee (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos) (Woody Guthrie)
127.Tangled Up In Blue
128.TV Broadcast Intro
129.A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall

Official releases:

Blowin’ In The Wind released on Joan Baez: Rare, Live & Classic, Vanguard VCD3-125/27, 31 August 1993.
Released on Hard Rain, Columbia PC 34349, 10 September 1976 and on Columbia CK 34349 (CD), 30 November 1976:

Maggie’s Farm,
One Too Many Mornings,
Shelter From The Storm,
You’re A Big Girl Now,
Idiot Wind.

Included in the TV film Hard Rain, first broadcast by NBC Network 14 September 1976:

Maggie’s Farm,
One Too Many Mornings,
Mozambique (Bob DylanñJacques Levy/Bob Dylan),
Blowin’ In The Wind,
Railroad Boy (trad.),
Deportees (Woody Guthrie),
I Pity The Poor Immigrant,
Shelter From The Storm,
Idiot Wind,
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.

Idiot Wind released on Masterpieces, CBS/SONY 57 AP875-7, March 1978 in Japan, and later 1978 in Australia and New Zealand.
Source: Various TV broadcasts.

“Barometer Soup” – Jimmy Buffett
from Barometer Soup

I once played this song at a party where my Trinidadian friend was in attendance. Upon hearing Buffett’s white boy take on her native Caribbean beats she could only shake her head in disgust.

By no means am I a Parrotthead. Buffett gets very repetitive and annoying, yet there is something soothing, playful, and even lovely in some of his music. This is one of my favorites. It’s got a lilting rhythm accentuated by steel drums.

The lyrics are simple, hopeful, and full of not exactly wisdom but soothing in their own cheesy kind of way.

The wisdom of Buffet goes something like this:

Sail the main course
In a simple sturdy craft
Keep her well stocked
With short stories and long laughs
Go fast enough to get there
But slow enough to see
Moderation seems to be the key

Besides anyone who bases his life on sitting on the beach, drinking margaritas, and having fun can’t be all that bad.

“Running on Faith” – Eric Clapton
from Unplugged

This is a song that had more weight for me a few years back than it does now, but it still moves me down to my bones.

Tis a song filled with loneliness from someone left with nothing but the hope of love, a hope that is slowly running out. For many a year, I felt just exactly like that. And though today I have a true love, I remember the loneliness, the pain, the wondering longingly if there was someone out there just for me.

Put in the hands of Eric Clapton and an acoustic guitar and the song just aches. Listening to this song for the first time in a very long time just now fills my eyes with tears and a pain in my heart. Loneliness is a bastard, sometimes even when you’re not alone.

“Rocket Man” – Elton John
from Honky Chateau

They say this is based on a Ray Bradbury short story. With all the imagery of space and that lonely synth playing, one can easily see how.

I’ve mentioned before on Random Shuffle how I’ve really begun to dig into the early years of Elton John. This song fits right into that spectrum, and I certainly dig the crap out of it, though I’ve certainly known this song for many a year.

The lyrics “Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids/In fact it’s cold as hell” just gets me every time.

“Angel from Montgomery” – Bonnie Raitt
from Road Tested

This was written by John Prine, but Bonnie Raitt has really made it her own over the years. There is a version that appears on both Prine and Raitt’s disks where they duet on this song, which is just jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Prine’s rasp fits perfectly into Raitt’s soulful mourn of a voice. When Raitt sings

How the hell can a person
Go to work in the morning
Come home in the evening
And still have nothing to say?

Breaks my heart every time. The lyrics tell the story of an old woman to perfection.

This is another live version with guys like Shawn Colvin and Bruce Hornsby playing along. Not that you can tell because they don’t do much more than sing backup. Here, Raitt speaks the verses rather than sing and though she still has soul, it just can’t compare to the duet with Prine.

You owe it to yourself to seek out that version.

“Absolutely Cuckoo” – Magnetic Fields
From 69 Love Songs

Stephen Merritt, the brains and main performer for the Magnetic Fields wanted to create an album of 100 love songs. But after considering how long that would actually be he settled for the next best number when considering love.

The three-disk set that comprises 69 Love Songs is a rare and beautiful thing made up of quirky instrumentation and ironic, funny lyrics.

This song wraps lyrics around each other with a fast, almost pulsating instrumentation. At just under two minutes it is quite short (most of the songs on the album are) but it moves along like a snowball rolling down a steep incline. It’s not the best song on the album, but it fits perfectly well amongst all the quirkiness.