Bob Dylan - Live in 1971

The flood of Bob Dylan material continues! Dylan got in a motorcycle accident in 1966, and was burned out from the fame and pressure of stardom by that point anyway. He'd toured a lot prior to the accident, but didn't tour again until 1974. During those years, I believe the only concert appearances he made was playing a few songs at a Woody Guthrie tribute concert in 1968, then playing a full concert at the Isle of Wight in 1969, then three appearances in 1971. It's those 1971 appearances that are the subject of this album.

The first two of the 1971 concerts took place on the same day. These were the early and late shows for George Harrison's "Concert for Bangladesh" benefit concert. His late show set was included on the official album of the concert that was released a year later, so people are more familiar with that. The early set consisted of the same songs, done the same way, except there was one more song, "Love Minus Zero/No Limit." That got an official release on an expanded version of the Bangladesh concert decades later.

Also, in the rehearsal for the concert, Dylan sang a duet version of "If Not for You" with Harrison. This was later released on a DVD of the concert, though not on any version of the album yet. Both Harrison and Dylan had included this Dylan original on their most recent studio albums. Although it's only a rehearsal and there's no audience applause, I've added it to the start of the album because it's a great performance that doesn't fit anyone else. (I've also included it on the "Fear of Flying" album of Harrison stray tracks.)

The third 1971 concert was a reunion with his previous backing band, simply known as the Band. They had become very famous in their own right since they'd stopped closely working with Dylan. They put on a big series of concerts in New York City which were recorded for a live album. Dylan showed up to play in an encore on the last night. Although it was the Band's show, such was Dylan's stature that he sang lead on three of the four songs he took part in, and sang co-lead on the fourth one. These songs weren't released on the Band live album at the time (called "Rock of Ages"), but they did get released on an expanded version decades later. 

(Technically, Dylan performed with the Band shortly after midnight on New Year's Eve, 1971. So that made it a 1972 concert appearance. But I still consider it from 1971 since it was mainly a December 31, 1971 show that ran into the late hours a little bit.)

It's really neat how these different shows fit together. There's no overlap between any of the songs he did for the Concert for Bangladesh concerts and the encore with the Band. If you put them all together, it makes for a nice 49-minute-long album.

If you're a fan of Dylan's live performances at all, this is a must have because A) everything has great sound quality and performance and B) it and the Isle of Wight show are the only two major cases of him playing live from late 1966 until early 1974. 

01 If Not for You (Bob Dylan & George Harrison)
02 Love Minus Zero-No Limit (Bob Dylan)
03 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (Bob Dylan)
04 It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (Bob Dylan)
05 Blowin' in the Wind (Bob Dylan)
06 Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan)
07 Just like a Woman (Bob Dylan)
08 Crash on the Levee [Down in the Flood] (Bob Dylan & the Band)
09 When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob Dylan & the Band)
10 Don't Ya Tell Henry (Bob Dylan & the Band)
11 talk (Bob Dylan & the Band)
12 Like a Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan & the Band)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15108294/BobD_1971_Lvein1971_atse.zip.html

The album cover shows Dylan at the Concert for Bangladesh. Yes, that's George Harrison in the background. I had a few different photos to choose from for the cover, and I thought it was a nice bonus to have Harrison in there as well. After all, Harrison did accompany Dylan during his set, though in a low key way without any soloing. Plus, the two of them sang "If Not for You" as a duet in rehearsals.