Today (I'm writing on a Tuesday) I was free from work and had nothing planned for the day, so I started getting random records out to play. My eye fell on this double Bob Dylan LP entitled The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert. Of course I had listened to it a few times when I bought it, then put it aside; it sounded pretty good to me, but I was overly familiar with the songs, both from the studio versions and from the other live album recorded during the same tour: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (note the quotation marks). The story of the latter one is a huge part of Dylan's mythology, and so well-known it feels unnecessary to recount it again - yet, just like with well-worn jokes, there's always a first time one hears something, and this may be yours. Here's the story in a nutshell: a few short years into his career, Dylan had become the unwilling poster boy of protest folk. Resenting this, he strove for artistic freedom by abandoning political lyrics and going electric. The live unveiling of this new direction happened in July 1965 at the high profile Newport Folk Festival; after a short acoustic introduction, Dylan brought onstage The Paul Butterfield Blues Band for an electric set that shocked the conservative audience to their core. According to legend, veteran folkie Pete Seeger cut the electrical wires with an axe to stop Dylan from corrupting the audience's sensitive ears with his musical onslaught. This detail, which had been reported in press and endlessly repeated throughout the years, is untrue; yet it does convey the reaction of the folk establishment: Seeger has admitted to feeling offended by the sheer volume of the music, at the time the loudest anyone had experienced at a festival, and frustrated that the lyrics were impossible to hear. The latter has of course become a permanent fixture of Bob Dylan concerts; the few times I saw him perform I only got to recognize which tune was playing when he was already halfway through the song. Anyway, the controversy followed Dylan throughout his 1965-1966 tour. During this tour Dylan would play two sets, an acoustic one reminiscent of the "old" folkie, and a loud electric one, backed by rockers The Hawks, soon to be renamed The Band. Audiences politely applauded during the acoustic set, but had diverse reactions to the electric one: as word had gotten out, some fans came to the concerts not only to hear their old favorites but also to boo him for abandoning traditional folk and protest music. A few of the concerts were recorded, and the electric part of one of them came out in bootleg form around 1970. According to many, myself included, this is the ultimate Bob Dylan live album, yet it wasn't officially released until 1998 in the cader of the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series project. It was recorded at Manchester Trade Hall on May 17, but the bootleg was erroneously entitled Royal Albert Hall. Since it was already known thusly, the company also used "Royal Albert Hall" -albeit in quotes- for the official release title. Aside from the band's spirited playing (Robertson's electrifying guitar fills in particular) and the fact one gets carried away by the youthful enthusiasm and conviction (Dylan had just turned 25, Robertson was 23) the album is famous for an exchange between Dylan and an audience member: between songs, a punter shouts at Dylan "Judas!" This is greeted by the audience with laughter and applause - to which the singer replies "I don't believe you... You are a liar." and then turns to his guitarist with the following instruction "Play fucking loud!" as the band launches into a tremendous performance of "Like A Rolling Stone". This here is a piece of rock history captured on tape - it alone would be worth the price of admission, but of course what we have here is much more: an amazing document of Dylan live in his prime. And don't let the whole back story about him going electric distract you from listening to the acoustic disc, either: containing solo performances of hits ("She Belongs To Me", "It's all over now, Baby Blue", "Mr. Tambourine Man") and marathon song-poems ("Visions of Johanna", "Desolation row") this is the quintessential folk troubadour experience - just voice, acoustic guitar and harmonica.
As for The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert, this came out on the semi-centennial anniversary of the concerts. As I said, I just listened to both albums back to back, track for track. It's extraordinary, how similar they sound: recorded with the same musicians within a few days from each other, they follow the same arrangements and identical setlist - deriving mostly from the three landmark albums Dylan had recently recorded, all in a space of 18 months (Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde). Which isn't to say that the performances are identical; seeing as Dylan wasn't a conventionally qualified vocalist, he probably couldn't sing a tune the same way twice if he tried. They're just very similar and -IMO- equivalent with each other. Don't expect me to get into details like in-between song banter, or which concert has a better guitar or harmonica solo here or there. I do have a slight preference for the London acoustic set and Manchester electric one, but in truth they are both fantastic in terms of performance and sound quality. I guess that, for everyone but the biggest fans, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (in quotes) is essential because of the history it caries, while The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert is, however good, similar enough to be superfluous. I for one am very happy to have the former on CD (it is ridiculously rare on vinyl) and the latter on double vinyl; in this way I can choose which one to play depending on whether I feel like getting up to change sides or not. I just can't believe it took me this long to sit down for a combined listen.
P.S. Away from home, I re-listened to some tracks from the Manchester concert on Spotify to check something before posting, and guess what I discovered? The notorious Judas incident has been edited out of the Spotify version of the album. Could they have been so offended by Dylan using the F_ word? Hard to believe, when other singers (not to mention rappers) on the platform use much coarser language. This is another reason why streaming sucks, people! Vinyl or CD, that's the way to go!
The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert:
***** for It's all over now, Baby Blue, Desolation row, Just like a woman, Tell me Momma, I don't believe you (She acts like we never have met), Baby let me follow you down, Leopard-skin pill-box hat, Ballad of a thin man, Like a rolling stone
**** for She belongs to me, 4th time around, Visions of Johanna, Mr. Tambourine Man, Just like Tom Thumb's blues, One too many mornings
The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert:
***** for 4th time around, It's all over now Baby Blue, Desolation row, Just like a woman, Mr. Tambourine Man, Baby let me follow you down, Leopard-skin pill-box hat, Ballad of a thin man, Like a rolling stone
**** for She belongs to me, Visions of Johanna, Tell me Momma, I don't believe you (She acts like we never have met), One too many mornings
*** for Just like Tom Thumb's blues
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