What does it sound like?:
It was the first time
March 20 1978 was the first time I saw Bob Dylan. I had just turned 21. As you can imagine the anticipation was palpable. He played 3 nights at Melbourne’s mainly outdoor venue the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. I saw the first night which rained heavily and the second night. I am in a chat group of Dylan fanatics and none of us recall being aware of the format these shows would take and the dramatic reworkings of songs. Dylan had played 16 shows before us including Auckland, Brisbane and Adelaide but, at most, the awareness was of a much bigger band.
To stand there listening to him play one of his lyrically most potent songs Hard rain as an instrumental, in a white jump suit, was extremely disorienting. The last thing I had heard or seen was the punky bandanas and face paint of the 76 Rolling Thunder tour. I tried to like it, I wanted to like it but really, I was underwhelmed. And in early 78, jump suits and flutes were a hard sell.
Budokan, the original album was intended for the Japan market only – how they thought that would work is beyond me. Record shops were importing the album in massive numbers so it’s release was broadened. Again, I tried to like it, wanted to like it, but it was patchy and with vinyl the only option, jumping tracks was impractical. Again, I was underwhelmed.
So, 45 years later – here we are, the Complete Budokan.
But first, some background.
Rolling Thunder was in 1976. After this in Jan 1978 he had released and then withdrawn Renaldo and Clara, built the Malibu mansion and had completed his divorce to Sara – each costing him a bundle. Money was apparently a motivation for this 10 country, 114 show tour often called the Alimony Tour. I do keep wondering however ,if you want to make a bundle why not tour a small combo rather than the 11 piece aggregation that was the 78 band? The tour grossed $20 million so either way he made plenty.
In Ray Padgett’s book, Rob Stoner who was musical director and bassist for Rolling Thunder said Dylan told him he wanted to “totally reimagine things, he wanted to hear himself in a bigger setting with a larger ensemble”. Jerry Weintraub, who was Neil Diamond’s manager was now managing Bob so I guess Dylan figured it could be managed logistically. Guitarist Billy Cross, also in Padgett, says that the arrangements all came from Dylan “ Each song had a direction, each song had a genre identity”. Genre identity – interesting term that. So this is in marked contrast to the random accumulation of musicians for Rolling Thunder and in the case of 76 , the whole garage sound coming from the band rehearsing.
Some say he wanted to emulate Neil Diamond or maybe Elvis. The King had died the previous year and later in the tour Presley bassist Jerry Schef replaced Stoner. Who knows. It was certainly unlike anything before or after. He continued with back-up singers during the Gospel period but I don’t think flutes, saxophones or congas have ever been part of his touring ensemble again.
After Australia they resumed the tour in LA in June, recorded Street Legal over a week, toured Europe and the UK then back to North America. Shows changed a bit and Street Legal songs got more exposure. 1 in Japan, none in Melbourne, Blackbushe got 5. So, given this evolution it surprises me that this release is exclusively 2 of the Japan shows. Many Dylan shows are recorded ,why not select from the whole 114 concerts, why not bookend with a show or shows from one later in the tour instead of when everything was so green?
What’s on offer?
The Complete Budokan is a remastered, expanded release taken from 2 performances on Feb 28 and March 1, 1978. From Bob Dylan.com: Newly Remixed & Remastered from Original 24-Channel Analog Tapes, The Complete Budokan 1978 Celebrates the 45th Anniversary of Bob Dylan’s First Concerts in Japan.The Deluxe Box Set Presents Two Complete Shows from Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan Hall (February 28 & March 1, 1978) featuring 58 Tracks, 36 of which are Previously Unreleased. Bob Dylan – Another Budokan 1978, is a 2LP Highlight Edition, featuring 16 Select Unreleased Live Performances.
A friend advises that the deluxe issue “has a good book with photos and that
curiously it came with a Japanese wrap around…but once opened it was English underneath. There is a nice pack of memorabilia..includes two large posters, the Japanese tour program, assorted photos and stuff…and a lyrics book (English and Japanese) which includes a transcript of everything he said.”
I haven’t bought any iteration yet. They’re expensive and I’m hoping it will drop in price. I have been listening to the streamed version through Amazon High res.
Time to talk about the music
First impressions – wonderful sound. My original album is in storage but they have done a great job providing clarity and separation to this big band. The back up singers and saxophone have much more prominence – this is indeed a mixed blessing. Dylan is in fine voice, a little bit husky initially but not overly nasal and none of those vocal tropes like the upper inflection at the end of each line that has blighted some eras. I’m inclined to agree who commented that “1978 is my favourite Dylan voice. More texture and body then than ever before. Accentuated phrasing. And really front and centre in the mix, most of the time.”
But let’s cut to the chase, you add sax, congas, a multi instrumentalist (Mansfield) on fiddle, mandolin, guitar and flute and back up singers – you’ve gotta use em right ? Too often, far far too often I feel there for the sake of it .A pet hate hate of mine is covers of Dylan that over milk the melody turning the songs saccharine. Well, on heaps of songs both from the original and the previously unreleased songs Dylan is doing just that with lashings of back up vocalisations, schmaltzy sax and pootling flutes. Flutes for fuck’s sake. That version of Love Minus Zero really gets my goat. Times, Tambourine Man, Forever Young ,Blowin In The Wind, Just like a Woman they all suffer the same saccharine fate with the sax and backing vocals combining to do their worst. And the cod reggae of Don’t Think Twice pales compared to the Slow Train stuff.
But sometimes it all comes off rather well. I lack the vocabulary but sometimes those backing vocals work to fine effect really adding to the crescendo on choruses – Like a Rolling Stone is a good example. I Threw It All Away that wonderful song from Nashville Skyline and reworked on Hard Rain is excellent with back up vocal to good effect on the chorus. Girl From The North Country – fucking magnificent. Low, understated with a sort of drone like effect at the end of each line -is that a traditional English/Celtic folk thing? Going Gone from Planet Waves, great groove and the singers “going going gone” -yep that works. Sooner Or Later is pretty neat and with the new mix you can hear the bass sax going parp parp underneath giving it a lift. For me the highlight is Oh Sister. Smokey groove it’s got that swampy voodoo feel of Dr John’s Walk On Gilded Splinters with the vocals just perfect and the sax solo substituting gravel for sugar. You’re A Big Girl Now, a personal favourite comes off well.
What does it all *mean*?
By no means was it a failure and by no means is this new release pointless. It documents a fascinating period but thank God for fast forward.
Goes well with…
A white jump suit.
Release Date:
November 2023
Might suit people who like…
Their Dylan with a dose of schmaltz
I am mindful of the current Dylan overload but hopefully some will find this review of interest.
Here’s a distilled playlist – my best of Budokan.
Stunningly good review. Respect!!
Bob Dylan is the new Wordle.
Great review, but having had it on vinyl and
More recently a barely played CD will pass on
This
This may be the one I pass on as well – unless bargains emerge.
You can download all (lossless) FLAC files at 7digital for just over $30 (at least in Canada)
With the box etc price is $180, tis lovely though it would appear from unboxing videos.
It seems to be £13 to download at the dodgers (58 tracks)
I have a Blackbushe bootleg (and went, as, I know, did a few others.) Even with the poor side of stage recording, much is unlistenable, except, unsurprisingly, the Street Legal songs. Because they are brass based, they fit the large band arrangements. Rolling Stone? Less so.
While never really cared for Budokan, have fond memories of Dylan’s 78 shows (my first BD concert) at Earls Court doing pretty much the same set with the same band. IIRC, he did Blackbushe a few months later.
While aLways had a soft spot for SL, it’s something of an outlier in his catalogue in that he seems to have gone in and recorded the album in one go with few (if any) outtakes, alternate versions, etc
An enjoyable review Mr Wells
I’ve played the new 2 LP set several times at the weekend and I like it, great sound and nice to hear very different versions of classics. I have to admit I did enjoy the original Budokan.
Where would I put this tour (I was at Blackbushe), below all the tours Dylan had performed on up to that point. Obviously I didn’t attend them all only Manchester ‘66 so I’m going off boots that are available and official releases now available.
Regarding value of the new release, I paid £27 for the 2 LP at RareWaves UK. I think that’s very good value.
Yeah the cut down offering is good value -it is the mega ones that are expensive. Glad you liked the review.
Is it in yellow vinyl?
Great review.
I saw him at Blackbushe later in the same tour. I suspect he and the band ironed out the arrangements by then. I recall a flute but I didn’t find it offensive. Dylan wore black and a top hat. I remember listening to Budokan later and thinking it bore little relation to what I had witnessed.
I have a thing about flutes @Tiggerlion . I once saw BB King, Herbie Mann was in town and got up to “jam” and wouldn’t get off. I’ve never recovered.
Good review.
You mentioned something like this before:
“.A pet hate hate of mine is covers of Dylan that over milk the melody turning the songs saccharine.”
And I still don’t understand it, a melody is a melody. Maybe the arrangement is “saccharine”?
I think Dylan often created a bitter sweet vibe in his recordings. Without the bitter/raw aspect, whatever you want to call it, it can be too sweet in another’s interpretation.
You mean less perfect singing? Still has nothing to do with the written melody.
I’m not a musician, I lack the vocabulary but it seems if you stick to the straight melody and overly embellish it with strings, flutes, backup singers etc you are really riding it into the ground. Andre Kostelanetz et al used to do it with everything.
@dai I have thought about this some more and I guess you are right ,saccharine arrangement.
Re: dramatic reworkings of songs. I have only seen Dylan once, at Budapest in October 2003. While I was not as familiar with his songs then as I am now, I do remember standing there struggling to find a tune that I recognised. Looking at the set list, I reckon there are at least half a dozen songs on there that even a casual Bob Dylan fan would be expected to recognise if played as recorded, no?
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bob-dylan/2003/papp-laszlo-sportarena-budapest-hungary-2bd2fc16.html
The Budapest concert was poorly attended. As I remember it, more than half the standing area (where I was) was empty and the seating was nowhere near full.
All-in-all, I was underwhelmed.
I have the “old” Budokan CDs. I don’t play them much, but I’m going to give them a listen shortly, but I can’t see me being tempted by the Complete. I enjoyed the review though, @junior-wells
Great review. I’m looking forward to listening to this. I have such fond memories of the 1978 Earls Court concert I attended; I thought it was fantastic but I must admit I very rarely listen to Budokan and it pales compared to the live albums that immediately preceded it, Before the Flood and Hard Rain. Am fascinated to hear if this new set is better, but what I really wish is that they would release something from the later European leg of the tour so I could test my memory against the recorded actuality.
@Blue-Boy I’m with you on wanting to hear pristine recordings of shows later in the tour.
Some of the previously unreleased stuff is v good, esp the Desire tracks. Give the playlist above a listen.
I was at one of the Earls Court shows, no idea which. Did he start that with the interminable instrumental Hard Rain? If he did I’ve blotted it out.
It seems he did @mikethep
Earls Court / London, England / June 20, 1978:
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (instrumental) / Love Her With A Feeling / Baby
Stop Crying / Mr. Tambourine Man / Shelter From The Storm / Love Minus Zero/
No Limit / Tangled Up In Blue / Ballad Of A Thin Man / Maggie’s Farm / I Don’t
Believe You / Like A Rolling Stone / I Shall Be Released / Going, Going, Gone
/ Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35 (instrumental) / One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or
Later) / You’re A Big Girl Now / One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below) /
Blowin’ In The Wind / I Want You / Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power) / Masters Of
War / Just Like A Woman / Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right / All Along The
Watchtower / All I Really Want To Do / It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) /
Forever Young / The Times They Are A-Changin’
Rainy Day Women instrumental as well…hmmm…my main memory is Señor, which was epic, and burning my thumb on my lighter.
I’d prefer Rainy Day Women as an instrumental.
I’m happy to leave instrumental Dylan to Bert Kampfaert or the Frank Chacksfield Strings.
It seems to be £13 to download at the dodgers (58 tracks)
Some thoughts (not in German)
When Bob Dylan used to drive into Los Angeles in the mid-Seventies he always came past big billboards advertising the latest Neil Diamond release. Like Dylan, Diamond was on Columbia Records, and he was their favourite at the time and certainly their priority – they even had invented a special »Crystal Globe« award for his unprecedented 5 million album sales. And: his two biggest sales – the »Beautiful Noise« album and the »Love At The Greek« double – had been produced by Robbie Robertson. So eventually Dylan went to a Neil Diamond show to check him out, and he was impressed by the band that could clearly play anything, from big arrangements or sparsely accompanied ballads to Sixties beat tunes and Cajun dances.
There’s a lot of misunderstandings, rumours and confusion when it comes to Bob Dylans 1978 World Tour. That the music is often classified as his »Vegas period« (meaning not very good) is mostly due to the rock boys from the US and UK press and their Pavlovian response to a »big« band – which obviously would only be tolerable if fronted by a sweating guy in work shirt and jeans. It’s a bit more complicated. Neil Diamond and the other influence on the Budokan band, Elvis Presley with his 70s Vegas band, were both under the radar of the rock press; they were (and somehow, still are) regarded as mainstream entertainment for housewives and rich dentists, the polar opposite of »rock’n’roll rebellion«. Which is debatable or plain stupid – Elvis recorded ace albums at Stax and Muscle Shoals with his touring band, and Neil Diamond may not be an Afterword favourite but he’s made a lot of fabulous music.
After the strains of building a palace (and a divorce), Dylan decided to go on tour again, and he wanted a change from previous formats – no more theatre scripts, no divide between acoustic or electric sets: he wanted a band that could play anything. Already having the same manager as Neil Diamond, he ended up with the same production crews, tour companies, and even Diamond’s long-established tailor, who designed lavish stagewear for the musicians and the trio of backing singers. As he told french newspaper L’Express in 1978, »Basically, I’m touring because I want to do the only thing I’ve ever known to do, sing and play. I’m a musician that’s all.«
And he told the Los Angeles Times, »I’ve got a few debts to pay off, I had a couple of bad years. I put a lot of money into the movie, built a big house… and there’s the divorce. It costs a lot to get divorced in California.« If this was his »Alimony Tour« (as Rolling Stone mischievously called it), it wasn’t a particularly good example of money-grabbing – the crew of nearly 60 people stayed in plush hotels and used luxury coaches when they traveled around Europe. Dylan even paid some of the musicians extra wages to compensate for the session work they missed while they toured the Far East, Europe, and later, the US with him. By the way, if you ever wondered why he had two top class singers in his vocal trio alongside a girl who could barely hold a note: she was his girlfriend at the time. (He later married her replacement – who was a very good singer…)
Someone who was clearly paying attention (to the tour, not the backing singer) was David Bowie – when he planned his »Serious Moonlight« tour only a couple of years later, he mirrored Dylan’s band and set up down to the last detail: here was a band with the same line-up including brass section and extra vocals, who could play everything from the various phases of his career, there were the same production and sound crews (including a tailor), and the tour program reproduced Dylan’s lavish large-format magazine almost page by page (not surprising if you happen to use the same designers and photographers).
Which brings us nicely to the new Deluxe Edition of »The Budokan Concerts« – included amongs the very, very glossy books, posters and memorabilia is a reproduction of said tour program, although not the original size: you may have problems reading the numerous reviews and essays by writers like Ralph J. Gleason and David Fricke that are reprinted, but it’s an interesting companion when you consider that they were all selected by Dylan himself – even the bad ones. But why does this new edition only include the two recorded shows from Japan, and nothing from the later dates when they allegedly were even better? I guess it’s because these recordings are still owned exclusively by Sony Japan: when the original Budokan album was included in the »Complete Album Collection«, US Sony had to pay for a license as if it came from another label. So it’s not very likely to ever be part of some Bootleg Series release – in fact, I’m almost certain that Dylan’s people are already planning a »Bootleg Series – The 1978 Vegas World Tour« volume with multiple shows from Europe and the US. And this thing of beauty is merely an excercise to get the Budokan stuff out of the way.
When listening to the two complete shows in their original running order, one impression always comes through – everyone seems to have a wonderful time playing this music. And whether you like the odd reggae rhythm or gospel vocals, these are tremendously entertaining career-spanning shows, especially as the songs stand for themselves in their new arrangements, freed from their original context of sound and career phase.
To quote David Mansfield, »Dylan was part of the band – he’d hang out, he’d drink, he’d talk his head off, he’d play – total reverse of ’76 Rolling Thunder. He was having a ball. He just wanted to get on an airplane or bus and keep playing forever.«
Golly, this place is awash right now with excellent, educative and entertaining reviews! I need to get a new (Bob) cap to doff.
ps hated Budokan when it came out, still far from sure today
I bought Budokan at the time, because I liked Street- Legal. I recall being disappointed…
Insightful, fatima – you win my white carnation.
Wonderful work, Fatima. You should review box sets more often! 😉
That Ms Fatima is probably the finest overview of any music release I have ever read, thank you
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Yeah, she should consider doing that sort of thing for a living 🤭
outstanding post, Fatima- thank you.
Got a copy of the programe somewhere. Pretty impressive it was, too. Will try and dig out and post later
Will you post it to me Mr Jaygee, I foolishly gave mine away with quite a few more tour programs a long time ago
I was thinking more of posting a pic on screen, R.
Just looked on eBay to see how much they were selling for and
there are a couple of copies for around a tenner each
I was jesting JG, I’m not really a collector of programs although I always buy one/or did when I attended shows. I have a pile ready for eBay when I get round to it.
Doh! Walked into that one!
Having got a few old programmes from the 70s, It’s surprising how little they sell for. Seemingly the most valuable one II had (:in terms of price being asked) was Led Zep at Earls Court. Sadly, I’d framed the thing and all the colors had faded to the point of it being worthless
Glad i did my review first Fatima! Though @Dai leads the count with his Welsh review.
I’ve been listening to it some more , the voice is great and i think that playlist i posted nails it.
Thanks for a great contribution Ms Xberg.
I have little doubt that Elvis’s death informs a good part of the 78 tour and Dylan’s adopted persona. His stage patter is pure Presley / Vegas (“thank you, you really are very kind/ I wrote this song 15 years ago – still means a lot to me, I know it means a lot to you too”). It’s another version of the song and dance man thing. He’s moving through personas, characters and he did from the beginning.
I enjoy the music and respect the ambition. As for the arrangement / melody debate; I think it is mostly an arrangement issue but actually in this version of Blowing in the Wind, Dylan does lean into the melody in a more deliberate, more emphatic way – in my view.
Pitchfork has done a review which I didn’t think much of.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/bob-dylan-the-complete-budokan-1978/
A guy on group chat was prompted to make these observations.
That Pitchfork review does get at a truth. But ultimately I think it’s still stuck in the Vegas trope, which is just too limiting.
I finally listened to the March 1 set last night, ready to turn it off at the moment I’d had enough. That moment never came.
So here’s a few thoughts of why I rate the 78 tour, including Budokan, very highly.
There are several songs that never got better:
Like a Rolling Stone. Sure it was better in 66, everything was really, but this is a great arrangement of a song that’s so elusive it often falls over in concert, IMHO. This was spot on throughout the tour. Vastly prefer it to the 74 version with the Band. As I do Thin Man.
Blowin in the Wind is gorgeous, and strangely full of conviction.
I Want You excels
It’s Alright Ma is totally thrilling in this arrangement, as is Thin Man.
Forever Young – although maybe a touch obvious – gets me.
Plus, the slinky snaking funkiness of Oh Sister, Cup of Coffee and, at a stretch perhaps, Your’e a Big Girl Now, have no counterpart elsewhere in the oeuvere. If you want that, 78 is the only place to get it. And I totally love these versions,
Likewise the torch ballads – Girl from the North Country, Going Going Gone, I Want You, Big Girl, Threw It all away, Tomorrow is a Long time (and later Tangled up in Blue) – have no rivals elsewhere.
And as we know, the band, as you would expect, both tightened up and loosened up, as the tour progressed. The set list also improved.
The two least successful songs for me – Don’t Think Twice and Heaven’s Door – were eventually dropped, as was Is Your Love in Vain, which does plod. But it always was a plodder.
The songs that came in – Tangled, Masters of War, Señor and assorted Street Legals, an acoustic Gates of Eden – were all set list stand outs.
But there are problems. As much as I love the sax and flugelhorn horn of Steve Douglas, he is maybe a bit too present. And for people who just can’t stand sax, it must be way too much. But gee, the flute on Watchtower is actually very good. Notable that the two songs dropped were flute-heavy songs.
Weirdly, there are some keyboard sounds that are piercing and a bit awful. A mistake Dylan otherwise never makes.
And the backing vocals – sometimes there’s just a bit too much, with the twin vices of being indistinct and also obscuring his voice. His voice is so good when front and centre on Budokan that it often seems a shame when it is getting submerged. Other times the BVs are really good,
But I think what people dislike most about the album, without ever pinning it, is that the album is slick. And slick is just not Dylan. Yes slick because he is deliberately playing for a wide audience. And putting on a show. Repeated stage patter for example. But, well, a band this big has to be slick in order to work.
Also, and this is about its contemporary uptake, it was his third live album in four years. Two of them doubles. All a bit much. And the song selection was just a little off I reckon, a little error with a big impact.
Lastly, as an example of how the band was not quite on it yet, Ian Wallace plays the wrong beat to intro to Big Girl on the second night. Dylan just starts singing and he realises his error. Amazed he got him back in 92.
This is nearly as good as Fatima’s
https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/bob-dylan/the-complete-budokan-1978-bob-dylan-review
I finally listened to this on the weekend and I enjoyed it. Way better than how I remembered the original, I should have written a review (in English). When the original came out I was 16 or something probably hadn’t hear too much Dylan and dismissed it because it didn’t sound like Blonde on Blonde. Hearing it now after seeing him live 15 or so times (first in 81 when I was 19), it sounds like a pretty good night out
Onya Dai !