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A joint tour to boost their respective standings. For some time, indeed, Bob Dylan, the sacred monster of international music, was struggling against his own persona, of which he had become a prisoner. After the electric successes of "Bringing It All Back Home," "Highway 61 Revisited," and "Blonde On Blonde," and following the now-famous motorcycle accident, Dylan withdrew into private life, producing albums that somehow deviated from his myth: "John Wesley Harding" marked a return to certain acoustic sounds, while with the subsequent "Nashville Skyline" and "New Morning" (overlooking the fiascoes of "Self Portrait" and "Dylan"), country music began to make its way into Zimmerman's music. More than good records, but certainly having little to do with the Dylan venerated by throngs of fans: in fact, the acclaim for this new guise was certainly cooler compared to the past, and little or nothing remained of the poet who had entranced audiences.
The Band, on the other hand, followed a more linear path, although after the first albums, creativity began to wane: thus, in the fall of '73, Mr. Zimmerman and the group led by Robbie Robertson joined forces to record the songwriter's new album, the decent "Planet Waves", memorable for the presence of tracks like "Going, Going, Gone" and especially the two versions of "Forever Young": overall, however, only slightly more than a pretext for going on tour.
Punctually, at the dawn of the new year, the "Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 Tour" is announced, from which material for a double album is drawn: the LP version is perfect for understanding the show's division into its four parts. The first, with Dylan and The Band united to play pieces by the minstrel from Duluth, begins with the rowdy versions of bluesy tunes "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" and "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35," then slows down with "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and the monumental "Ballad Of A Thin Man."
The second part features The Band alone presenting its classics, mostly taken from the first albums, which do not particularly differ from the (wonderful) studio versions; the third begins with Dylan solo on acoustic and continues with The Band playing other songs on their own (still drawn from the first three records of their career), including the always successful "The Weight." A grand finale on the second side of the last LP, in which the protagonists once again join forces for the last four classics taken from Zimmerman's repertoire: "All Along The Watchtower" and "Highway 61 Revisited" have explosive energy, while a "Like A Rolling Stone" enriched by the full sound of The Band yet rather faithful to the original serves as a prelude to the concluding "Blowin' In The Wind," adorned compared to the original acoustic version by the warm sound of the musicians involved.
Already together on the famous electric tour of 1966 and in the rich "The Basement Tapes," Dylan & The Band are a trademark on which to place sure reliance. Try it to believe it.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 Lay Lady Lay (03:14)
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Whatever colors you have in your mind
I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile
His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean
And you're the best thing that he's ever seen
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Why wait any longer for the world to begin
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why wait any longer for the one you love
When he's standing in front of you
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
I long to see you in the morning light
I long to reach for you in the night
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
04 Knockin' on Heaven's Door (03:52)
Mama, take this badge off of me
I can't use it anymore.
It's gettin' dark, too dark to see
I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door.
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore.
That long black cloud is comin' down
I feel I'm knockin' on heaven's door.
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
05 It Ain't Me, Babe (03:40)
Go away from my window
Leave at your own chosen speed
I'm not the one you want babe
I'm not the one you need
You say you're lookin' for someone
who's never weak but always strong
to protect you and defend you
whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door
But it ain't me, babe
no, no, no it ain't me, babe
it ain't me youre lookin' for, babe
Go lightly from the ledge, babe
Go lightly on the ground
I'm not the one you want, babe
I will only let you down
You say you're lookin' for someone
who'll promise never to part
someone to close his eyes for you
someone to close his heart
Someone who will die for you and more
But it ain't me, babe
no, no, no it ain't me, babe
it ain't me you're lookin' for, babe
Go melt back in the night
Everything inside is made of stone
there's nothing in here moving
And anyway, I'm not alone
you say you're lookin' for someone
who'll pick you up each time you fall
to gather flowers constantly
and to come each time you call
a lover for your life and nothing more
But it ain't me babe
no, no no it aint me babe
it ain't me your'e lookin' for babe
08 I Shall Be Released (03:50)
They say ev'ry man needs protection
They say ev'ry man must fall
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Some place so high above the wall
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released.
yondah stands a man in this lonely crowd
a man who swears he's not to blame
every night I hear him crying out so loud
crying cause he was framed
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released.
They say ev'rything can be replaced
Yet ev'ry distance is not near
So I remember ev'ry damn face
Of ev'ry bastard who put me here
I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released.
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