The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4 - Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert

Bob Dylan

Columbia, 1998

http://www.bobdylan.com

REVIEW BY: Sean McCarthy

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 11/07/2008

Widely regarded as the most famous bootleg in rock history, the release of Bob Dylan’s 1966 Royal Albert Hall recording took a bit of mystique out of Dylan’s famous performance. While readily available, it was still a bootleg; fans still had to seek the recording out via record store clerks, nefarious Web sites dealing with bootleg recordings, or any other back alley connection. Then, in 1998, this recording -- a recording that represented a defining moment in Dylan’s going electric -- was readily available at Best Buy, Borders, or Amazon. What took ingenuity and legwork for three decades was suddenly as easy to score as a George Foreman grill.

Dylan’s foray into electric wasn’t a shock to the audience on May 17, 1966. Dylan had already released Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. The former featured some electric experimentation and the latter was a full-out embrmy_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250 ace of the electric guitar. That didn’t make the reaction to Dylan’s new direction any less jarring to those in attendance.

The Royal Albert Hall concert is wisely divided into two discs. The first disc consists of an acoustic set, featuring solid but unremarkable versions of “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Desolation Row.” For those looking for a more gripping acoustic bootleg, the 2004 release of Dylan’s 1964 concert at the Philharmonic Hall may be a better purchase. Still, disc one is an essential link to what goes down on disc two.

For Dylan’s acoustic set, the audience in Manchester, England politely absorbed the material, clapping when appropriate and then quickly quieting down for Dylan. That all changed when Dylan and his band plugged and went into the electric portion of the concert. Divisions in the audience can easily be heard. When “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down” finishes, applause can easily be heard, but fissures start to erupt. Distraught audience members begin clapping in rhythm to disrupt the band.

The famous cries of “Judas” from a heckler helped make the Royal Albert Hall recording such a sought-after bootleg. Dylan can be heard sneering back “You’re a liar!” and then he instructs his band to “Play fuckin’ loud.” Dylan’s disdain for the audience who refused to follow him down his new path is an amazing contrast from the eager-to-please and humble Dylan from the 1964 Philharmonic Hall concert. He conveyed this new bitterness and cynicism into tracks like “Ballad Of A Thin Man” and “Like A Rolling Stone.”

Far too often, live concert recordings rely too heavily on audience cheers. The heckling and clapping that greeted Dylan in Manchester helped make Royal Albert Hall such a beloved collector’s item. The recording was a definitive moment that divided Dylan fans. But Dylan was just getting started alienating his fan base. Just as Dylan stunned fans that gravitated to the Dylan of 1964, he would again stun his fanbase by retreating further inward and embracing country after his near-fatal motorcycle accident a few short months after this landmark recording.

Rating: A-

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