This month’s MOJO has a big article on the Rolling Thunder Revue and a casual mention of a 14 CD box set and a new Martin Scorsese documentary…has this slipped past the Afterword hive mind while we were arguing about Game Of Thrones?
Rolling Thunder 14CD box set on the way!
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Not too much out there in internetland, but this from January….
https://variety.com/2019/music/news/bob-dylan-martin-scorsese-rolling-thunder-film-netflix-1203104499/
Thought I had alerted the Massive ( do we still use that term?) to the impending release. Not sure this link will work. If not, stay tuned.
Release date hadn’t been confirmed yet. There has been a lot of speculation on the Hoffman forums, possibly 5 full length shows (2 CDs each), plus 4 CDs of bits of other shows, rehearsals etc. For completists only I would say, the Live 1975 “Bootleg” release should be enough for most of us. The doc will be on Netflix.
Perhaps the answer may lie within the 14CD boxset of ‘Rolling Thunder’ but who is Steve Hoffman (apart from a music engineer) and why are his forums so popular?
*Queues up in completist line*
Gosh, I may have to consider my position.
I have heard of Rolling Thunder but have no idea what it is…can someone enlighten me)
Edith. New mojo has Dylan on the cover , yawn. It’s something to do with him innit?
Dylan was in marital strife, hanging out in bars, getting pissed with various acolytes. Decided to go on the road and this travelling band just sort of accumulated. Some luminaries included TboneBurnette, Mick Ronson. Rob Stoner who led the band, Scarlett Rivera, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Roger McGuinn, Ronee Blakeley, Ronnie Hawkins, Allen Ginsburg and others gathered along the way. Poor coordination, shambolic promotion but some stunning visceral performances -check out idiot wind or shelter from the storm off Hard Rain or the TV recording of one of the shows in Texas if you can find it. If you like it get Rolling Thunder deluxe.
They did 2 tours , the second reportedly lacked the spark ofthe first.
Think Hard Rain was the 2nd one?
Hard Rain features some of Bob’s great vocal performances. I loved the TV film. I also think the CD “Hard Rain” is one of the great live albums, such atmosphere and that wonderful shambolic band.
Given the marital strife, he found consolation in the arms of Scarlett Rivera.
Sara turned up before that show and Bob had been partying a lot. Was really pissed, comes across in some of the performances. .
Hoffmans is the biggest collection of music fans and nerds on the net – says he of nearly 8000 posts there. I like it there, and no, i’m not an audiophile and no, i dont have a vinyl cleaning machine. Overall find it a good place to interact with other music fans.
Pre-ordered the Dylan set off amazon spain bout a month back when it was first mentioned, thankfully the pre-order is still showing as valid. Waiting for Mojo to pop through the letter box and can find out more.
I’m a bit suspicious of the Hoffmanite Tendency.
Some of them seem much more interested in the sound quality of recordings than in actual music.
Too right. You can have the most pristine, first pressing, 180g chocolate swirl coloured vinyl version of, say, an Ed Sheeran album, put through your vinyl cleaning machine, treated with your vinyl cleaning fluid of choice, before being carefully placed on your expensive turntable, with your brand new diamond stylus on the perfectly balanced arm, played through your expensive speakers, standing on their seismic isolation platforms and it will still sound worse than I Want To Hold Your Hand played on a battered workman’s radio, slightly out of tune and sitting in a bucket of water.
That said, I wish my bleeding CD player would stop skipping or sticking at the slightest damage on a CD. Gonna buy some isopropyl alcohol before the match tomorrow so I can clean the laser eye and will enjoy being a rebel and taking alcohol into a football ground. Fortunately home fans never get searched, as I wouldn’t fancy trying to convince one of our over aggressive stewards that it’s not alcohol that you drink and, if it was, I don’t drink alcohol anyway. Don’t think I’d get it past him somehow.
Good luck, Paul.
Yes there are some on the SHF who are obsessed with DR numbers and the quality of the stuff LPs are made of and in some cases rightly so,
There are also a vast majority who go on the forum who love music and love to interact with fellow music fans.
I have learned a lot and been introduced to new music that I now love on the SHF.*
*The same is also true of the AW.
@almost-simon and others
This Hoffman place, is it a dangerous place to go to bearing in mind I spend far too much time here?
What I like about here is the broad range of stuff we cover – some serious, some not. Just had a quick look at the Hoffman site and it seemed to be mainly Dylan, Springsteen etc etc type stuff or am I missing something (again?)
Beatles and the usual fair are very popular but use the search function and there’s plenty other stuff. I’ve been part of some lengthy threads about Traffic, Iron Maiden, The Fall, The Stranglers, you name it, they cover it and I was quite surprised about those other acts getting a lot of attention. Takes a little bit of searching but i think most people think its just Dylan, Beatles and the usual acts.
You will be safe, i’ve been there a long time now.
I spend a fair amount of time there, it is full of ridiculous, basement dwelling, nostalgic, super anal idiots. So most of us should fit right in 😉
I’ve just had a quick look too and I went on a thread where they argued about the chords to Gloria. I’m not sure if they’ve figured out the answer yet.
What’s their opinion about the Pencilsqueezer podcast?
I tend to ignore the ridiculous threads, they do exist, thankfully its not all like that.
They criticised the mastering for being above -16 LUFS.
There’s a lovely new thread today about how women don’t generally like jazz. Apparently we prefer simple music that we can sing along to. And spending our spare cash on “purses and figurines”. 😂
I’ve often thought that – but for the goolies – I could be a woman; simple music I can sing along to – yes please!
Sister, sing out loud, sing out strong! Sing of good things (not bad). Sing of happy (not sad). Make it simple to last your whole life long.
May I be the first to say that your new purse is delightful, but the ballerina statuette you’ve stuffed into it will ruin the lining if you’re not careful.
Purses and Figurines. TMFTL.
Just had a quick look on the SHF and saw nothing about Springsteen but I did see 3 different threads about a magnificent band from just outside Manchester.
The have the name Doves.
SHF – interesting at times but not funny enough and the threads just get too long. Too popular by half
Oh no. I’m going to regret this aren’t I?
Edith. I AM. Just registered .
I’ll just note that there has already been a bootleg series release of the Rolling Thunder tour (vol. 5, I think?). Has someone in marketing realised that we will, in fact, buy any old shit in a nice box?
A box containing 5 concerts and rehearsals from one of Dylan’s greatest tours ‘any old shit’? Each to their own. I’ve had this ‘any old shit’ on pre-order from tax-dodgers Espania for over a month and can’t wait for its release. I hope I’m not constipated for too much longer,
Thought you would show your face Senor Baron when a discussion about Dylan box setes comes up. Have you ordered CD and vinyl?
Hello dumb kopf. I’ve ordered the CD box from Am. Esp. was really happy I did because I found out I had €35 credit with them. Feck knows where that came from but who am I to argue? With anyone, huh?
Yeah I might put an order in for the 42 LP box set, I’ve also ordered a miniature fork-lift truck to lift it off the shelf. That’s if the fecking shelf dosen’t collapse under it’s weight. There’ll be the sound of Rolling Thunder if it doe!
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll probably buy it, despite having much of it on boots from my Cdr trading days. However it does speak of a shift in perception about what is marketable, does it not?
‘A shift in perception’, how so Lando? They already released the 1966 ‘brick’ and I’m informed it sold very well. It was also not a Bootleg Series release just as The Rolling Thunder ‘briquette’ will not be a BS release.
You may have boots of the concerts but not everyone does have these. I have, I think 2 boots from the ’75 shows, they sound great but I much prefer to have this release.
I think the case in point is that it was deemed by record companies everywhere that nobody would buy that sheer amount of “product” back in the days when the shows took place and were recorded. Especially if the artists were making a sufficient number of studio albums to keep their labels happy. The labels really didn’t like their artists to be too prolific because they knew the market couldn’t stand it, with the cost of albums.
The box-set was not an item record companies thought they could sell, and in the ’70s, when teens and young adults with limited means were the primary market, they were undoubtedly correct.
The box-set has become a marketable thing only recently, now that physical product is mainly bought by the over-forties with cash to spare. A collectors market has been created specifically for them and it handily prevents material in their vaults from going out of copyright too.
‘The box-set has become a marketable thing only recently’, that is balderdash old chap. Go tell my Nick Drake and Beatles Blue Box that they are only recent. If only recent is over 40 years ago then you are right. Into the ’80’s many box sets came on the market, Dylan’s ‘Biograph’ and Springie’s ‘Live’ boxes being just two. I have dozens of the feckers from the ’80’s and early ’90’s.
I do agree with your comments about ‘back in the day’ and you are also correct about the age group box sets now appeal and sell to. Carry on.
Exponential increase since the 70s.I have the Dylan Live 66 box, think I played 3 of them….
I can remember Virgin Records in Watford’s Harlequin Centre having a table-full of box sets in the late ’80s but it was mostly ancient Dad-Pop, Dance Bands, Rock & Roll and Jazz oldies on CD from cheapo compiling labels. The only interesting one to me was the hugely-expensive vinyl box of “Harry Smith’s Anthology Of American Folk Music”, which I coveted but could never afford back then. About £150, I think it was. Frank Zappa’s “Shut Up ‘n. Play Yer Guitar” box was a more reasonable purchase at about £35 and I actually managed to afford it eventually.
I don’t recall anything in box- sets from the musical era of my youth, apart from pop tat aimed at civilians. Not until the ’90s, when a little Funkadelic CD box (probably unlicensed) on Charly Records made an appearance among the cheap funk & Soul Party boxes. I suppose that was about the time that the decent-quality “Properboxes” started to appear as well.
There was certainly nothing like these in the first half of my life, or nothing that I saw. As an official codger, anything after the mid-’80s is recent, as far as I’m concerned.
Readers Digest used to issue box sets – I have an Elvis Presley one and there was a Buddy Holly one to if memory serves. I also have an RD rock and roll set which has an LP side of each of the likes of Buddy, Roy Orbison, Billy Fury etc etc which was a cheap way to pick those tracks up at the time (70s). I imagine the World Records Beatles Box is very collectable now, from a similar period. I also still love my Complete Buddy Holly LP box from the late 70s – a lovely thing.
Which ones ?
Bear Family have been selling huge amounts of box sets since the mid-seventies – from 12-LP boxes on country and rock artists like Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis to (since the 80s) multi-CD sets covering everything from Calypso and Ska to Skiffle, Jazz, Music Hall and Easy Listening, with some World Music and Krautrock thrown in. And everything’s fully licensed, often in collaboration with the artists, and accompanied by huge hardcover books. Surely not a niche market. HMV in Oxford Street used to have a special room for these boxes.
Electric Muse!!
Some people will including Baron and me. Makes it enough to be worthwhile for them presumably. And gets copyright protection.
I am expecting the usual magnificent package with excellent essays and pictures.
As you mention, Junior, there were some amazing artists involved in Rolling Thunder. I can understand the excitement about this boxset. Who would not have been tempted by the chance to see Joni, Bob and co in a slightly more unbuttoned context?
Three words.
Renaldo and Clara.
Two words – so what?
Two more words. It’s shite.
Any fule no that, so what?
Yeah but the music clips in it were ace.
Five words – that most certainly is correct.
Anybody know how many of the 14 CD tracks have Joan Baez on them and whether or not these tracks are marked with a “Listen at your own peril” warning?
Her rendition of Diamonds and Rust in Renaldo & Clara is actually rather good (and a brave/interesting choice). Check it out – you may be pleasantly surprised.
It’s Bob and Joan together that sets my teeth on edge. Even in the folkie days the harmonies sounded like two cats squabbling over cat-flap rights. Joan’s voice has always been a bit too pure for me but you are right the Diamonds & Rust track is a corker
Deportee is good
The 5 concerts are reckoned to have Zimmie’s contributions only plus those he was joined in by others. IMHO it would be nice to have a full show with everyone’s performance included.
Licensing challenges I suspect
CD Box Set Includes:
14-disc set
Over 100 previously unreleased tracks
Five complete shows, newly mixed
Three discs of rehearsals
Bonus disc of rarities
DISC 1: S.I.R. Rehearsals, New York, NY – October 19, 1975
DISC 2: S.I.R. Rehearsals, New York, NY – October 21, 1975
DISC 3: Seacrest Motel Rehearsals, Falmouth, MA – October 29, 1975
DISC 4-5: Memorial Auditorium, Worcester, MA – November 19, 1975
DISC 6-7: Harvard Square Theater, Cambridge, MA – November 20, 1975
DISC 8-9: Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA – November 21, 1975 (afternoon)
DISC 10-11: Boston Music Hall, Boston, MA – November 21, 1975 (evening)
DISC 12-13: Forum de Montreal, Quebec, Canada – December 4, 1975
DISC 14: Rare Performances
Please note: release date is June 7, 2019. Pre-orders will start shipping on or around June 5, 2019.
More Details
Tracklist:
Disc 1
Rake and Ramblin’ Boy
Romance in Durango
Rita May
I Want You
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
She Belongs to Me
Joey
Isis
Hollywood Angel
People Get Ready
What Will You Do When Jesus Comes?
Spanish Is the Loving Tongue
The Ballad of Ira Hayes
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You
This Land Is Your Land
Dark as a Dungeon*
Disc 2
She Belongs to Me
A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall
Isis
This Wheel’s on Fire/Hurricane/All Along the Watchtower
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
If You See Her, Say Hello
One Too Many Mornings
Gwenevere
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
Patty’s Gone to Laredo
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Disc 3
Tears of Rage
I Shall Be Released
Easy and Slow
Ballad of a Thin Man
Hurricane
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
Just Like a Woman
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Disc 4
When I Paint My Masterpiece
It Ain’t Me, Babe
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
Romance in Durango
Isis
Blowin’ in the Wind
Wild Mountain Thyme
Mama, You Been on My Mind
Dark as a Dungeon
I Shall Be Released
Disc 5
Tangled Up in Blue
Oh, Sister
Hurricane
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
Sara
Just Like a Woman
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
This Land Is Your Land
Disc 6
When I Paint My Masterpiece
It Ain’t Me, Babe
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
Romance in Durango
Isis
Blowin’ in the Wind
Wild Mountain Thyme
Mama, You Been on My Mind
Dark as a Dungeon
I Shall Be Released
Disc 7
Simple Twist of Fate
Oh, Sister
Hurricane
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
Sara
Just Like a Woman
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
This Land Is Your Land
Disc 8
When I Paint My Masterpiece
It Ain’t Me, Babe
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall
Romance in Durango
Isis
The Times They Are a-Changin’
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
Mama, You Been on My Mind
Never Let Me Go
I Shall Be Released
Disc 9
Mr. Tambourine Man
Oh, Sister
Hurricane
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
Sara
Just Like a Woman
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
This Land Is Your Land
Disc 10
When I Paint My Masterpiece
It Ain’t Me, Babe
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
Romance in Durango
Isis
Blowin’ in the Wind
The Water Is Wide
Mama, You Been on My Mind
Dark as a Dungeon
I Shall Be Released
Disc 11
I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
Tangled Up in Blue
Oh, Sister
Hurricane
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
Sara
Just Like a Woman
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
This Land Is Your Land
Disc 12
When I Paint My Masterpiece
It Ain’t Me, Babe
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You
A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall
Romance in Durango
Isis
Blowin’ in the Wind
Dark as a Dungeon
Mama, You Been on My Mind
Never Let Me Go
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
I Shall Be Released
Disc 13
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue^
Love Minus Zero/No Limit^
Tangled Up in Blue
Oh, Sister
Hurricane
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
Sara
Just Like a Woman
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
This Land Is Your Land
Disc 14
One Too Many Mornings
October 24 – Gerdes Folk City, New York City, New York
Simple Twist of Fate
October 28 – Mahjong Parlor, Falmouth, MA
Isis
November 2 – Technical University, Lowell, MA
With God on Our Side
November 4 – Afternoon – Civic Center, Providence, RI
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
November 4 – Evening – Civic Center, Providence, RI
Radio advertisement for Niagara Falls shows
Niagara Falls, NY
The Ballad of Ira Hayes
November 16 – Tuscarora Reservation, NY
Your Cheatin’ Heart*
I really really would love to know the stats of how many of these CD’s will he played more than twice (I love Hard Rain by the way). This goes for every multi-box set ever released.
I really really think that anyone who pays whatever ridiculous amount of money is currently being demanded should first undergo a course of counselling. “Come in sir”( it’s always a sir) “Tell me, when did you first start train spotting?”
I am not buying this one.
Probably
There’s an Eel Market near you
I am excite.
https://variety.com/2019/music/news/rolling-thunder-bob-dylan-martin-scorsese-netflix-release-date-box-set-1203197717/
£60 for 14 cds on Amazon.
Not insignificant but less than I’d expected…
I reckon that’s about £4.50 for every time each CD will be played. Apart from the Bobcats on Is It Rolling Bob? for whom of course this is an actual steal.
There are simply not enough hours in the day for the above statement not to be entirely accurate, as the minimal amount of people (men) who buy these multiple box sets buy these multiple box sets in their multitude.
Has anyone got any idea re: the number of copies worldwide one of these box sets actually sells?
Cool promo video mind
Which one @deramdaze.
Sgt Pepper 50th upwards of 100,000 same with White Album 50.
Loadstone’s wrong as usual. I own a lot of these sets and play them each many times. I also know lots of music fans in ‘real life’ not via on-line forums who enjoy these box sets and play them also many times and still play them.
Wrong, Wrong! How double-dare you. By “lots” I assume you mean Roger (who has never fully recovered from that bad acid trip), Sniffling Terry ( glad to see he’s out on bail) and Brian (still President of the South Yorkshire Train Spotters I believe).
Cool promo video mind
Oh and by the way 99.34% of the Pepper & White box sets were sold in the US of A so that doesn’t count.
100,000 of Sgt. Pepper, given the outlay, does indeed seem a substantial figure … but is that all sales, including the CD/2CD/vinly versions, or just the box set?
Of course, it’s still considerably less than the 2,000,000 who bought Can’t Buy Me Love – in the UK alone – but you can see why the record industry is making these sets.
What do you do though?
Only play Dylan or The Beatles for 3/6/9 months until the next one?
You could do worse.
I’m also guessing that nobody actually buys all the old records these days but stream instead. The record companies make next to bugger all on Spotify etc so 100,000 people paying in excess of £60 each for the privilege of hearing a whole cd (worth repeating – a whole cd) of Hard Rain Rehearsals that has lain in the vaults for 50 years is a rather attractive proposal. Get an intern to sort out some photos, pay somebody relative peanuts for an “exclusive” booklet, ask Bob if he has any old ticket stubs lying around and ker-ching!
Lodey, “100,000 people paying in excess of £60 each for the privilege of hearing a whole cd (worth repeating – a whole cd) of Hard Rain Rehearsals”
Get yer facts right, OK maybe you`re not really bothered but Hard Rain was filmed and recorded in the 1976 leg of The Rolling Thunder Review. This release is the 1975 leg.
Nearly forgot, they are paying £54* to £59.99 for a `whole` 14 CDs. *That`s what I paid (£3.85 per CD). You stick to your stretched Memorex C90`s of the tour that sound like they were recorded in a cellar across the road.
I`m upgrading.
@deramdaze those figures for Sgt Pepper and The White Album are probably out of date now. If vinyl sales and the 2CD set sales are taken into account probably at least 50% more have been sold.
The record companies are obviously making a profit but as long as they sell they will continue to put them out.
Music is what I spend most of my money on these theys BUT I need to make room for new acquisitions. The LPs/CDs/Box Sets I get rid of to make room are no longer played by me any more and also cover at least 75%+ of the cost of new stuff.
Other people spend their money on red wine (then post on here), buy new cars every two years, use narcotics or don`t have disposable income. For people like Lodestone to come on here and criticize others for indulging in their love of music is pathetic.
Honestly no idea what I have done to be attacked this way, Baron. I am merely positing that box sets are very lucrative for record companies and squarely aimed at a particular market. The rest of us buy the box sets, listen once and then get on with life. No problem with that in my mind, no criticism intended but a lot obviously taken. Peace, love and chocolate hobnobs
A lot less than I thought it would be…I’ve ordered it!
“I’m also guessing….” – well you guess wrong. Streaming is no alternative for someone who is interested in one of “those” box sets. These people (yes, it’s not only men) are interested in background information: the names of the musicians, the studio, the producer, what led to the actual recording… – and stuff that came with the original release like single sleeves, labels, tour flyers, etc. That’s all not on Spotify.
And regarding “get an intern to sort out….”: I was involved in the production of a couple of big reissue projects, and research, liner notes, restoring and finally manufacturing, takes almost a year. And usually everyone gets paid, thank you very much (BTW, there are no interns involved at this stage).
Sorry I was, as usual , being a tad cynical. But there is absolutely no getting away from the fact that paying everyone involved in the process properly still leaves a whole heap of money for record companies who in these days of falling revenues must think “Thank god for all that stuff in our vaults” ?
I also assume these won’t be available to stream, at least not legally…? The other big Bob boxes aren’t on Spotify the last time I checked…annoyingly!
$A140 at JB for Aussies.
Somewhat against expectations, the duets with Baez are bits I’m enjoying most. How is everyone else getting on with this?
Loving it! Watched the doc this morning and it lived up to my high expectations. Fascinating. Joan comes out of it well and as I get older I’m appreciating her more and more. No longer just the shrill voiced singer I dismissed her as when I first saw the Woodstock movie!