What does it sound like?:
On my first trip to New York in the mid 00’s I spent a lot of time in the book and record shops I hear have been swept away by gentrification and rising rates. Already a keen Bobhead I was delighted to find an original copy of ‘Genuine Live 66’ for 100 dollars which was around 60 quid.
Genuine Live 66 released by the Japanese Scorpio label in 2000 is perhaps the greatest single unofficial document of all. Housed in a deluxe box set, gatefold hard cardboard sleeves made to look like replicas of LPs, with full colour inners, pressed on “gold CDs” with Mobile Fidelity type labels, plus 3 postcards, Cd sized replicas of tour programmes, press clippings plus a fold out tour poster. It made the official Manchester set released two years previous look slapdash. Titles like ‘A NIghtly Ritual’, ‘A Children’s Crusade’ , ‘While The Establishment Burns’, ‘A Phoenix In April’ all taken from articles, reviews, rumoured unreleased songs only give the set extra class
And the music therein, maybe not for the best sources we have now but then these were just revelatory to those not in covert collectors circles. In Line recordings of Australian, Irish and British gigs from one of the most documented but least heard tours. Things like the sublime ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ from Sheffield were jaw-droppingly intimate, intense, enthralling and inspirational. That long drug ramble intro to a mogadon version of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ from the final night gave evidence that Dylan’s bike crash came just in the nick of time. You could hear the changes in his chemical makeup from night to night, his mood swings alongside the audience reactions. Listening to this was like breaking open a hornet’s nest as the sound and fury blasted you from 34 years ago.
So now we have this and so much more in ‘The 1966 Live Recordings’ 36 box set behemoth with new nights like Paris, Copenhagen and finally, the complete genuine Albert Hall shows to experience. However the achievement of bootleggers to produce something of such quality and love (even for the money it no doubt bought them) isn’t diminished by the official release. It’s still a beautiful thing
What does it all *mean*?
You don’t know what it is, do you Mr Jones?
Goes well with…
Burgundy or harder stuff
Release Date:
Might suit people who like…
Old bootleg versions of stuff you can now buy legally
spider-mans arch enemy says
I feel the same as you – it’s a thing of beauty, and so much care has obviously been put into it. Despite the new releases, l can’t see myself getting rid of my copy any time soon.
Junior Wells says
Nice review. Always wanted that set.
I just love the acoustic stuff from Melbourne Festival Hall – so slow he just stretches stuff out so mar -vell – ous -ly
Carl says
Can I possibly be persuaded to spend so much on stuff that I already downloaded for free some time ago?
I don’t know. With so much material competing for my money and for room at home it’s very hard to justify.