Bob Dylan
Jewels and Binoculars

The 1966 is the most important year for the evolution of Dylan in the world of rock music, a world created by Dylan himself with the recordings of the previous year and his bold transition to electric rock born at Newport. In '66, his definitive album "Blonde on Blonde" and the famous tour that started in the U.S.A and concluded in London, amid the complete protest of his old fans who felt betrayed by the electric turn, came to light. It's worth noting that it was mainly in England that he was most opposed for his Epochal decision.

In this monumental box set, we have everything that can currently be found from Dylan's production in that fateful year. Spread across 26 CDs, we have many recordings (some recorded directly in line and thus of excellent quality) of several concerts from the tour.

The highlights are the final concerts at the Royal Albert Hall on May 26 and 27, 1966, the Liverpool concert from which the single version of "Just like Tom Thumb's Blues" was taken, the Leicester concert, and the Sheffield concert. All of these concerts are incomplete, but what we hear is exceptional. Some complete shows are those in the Australian territory, of excellent quality and very similar to the official live of Manchester. The show, as many may know, was divided into two parts: the first was acoustic, with the audience listening in rapt silence to Dylan performing some classics and yet unreleased pieces from "Blonde on Blonde" ("Vison of Johanna", "Just like a Woman"). In the second set, the Band accompanied him, and the atmosphere changed dramatically; you could hear the audience murmuring and applauding, unaware that they were witnessing rock history, one of the most important moments for this music. The electric tracks are spine-tingling, with renditions of acoustic classics like "One too many mornings" and the hallucinatory atmospheres of "Ballad of a thin man". The concert always closed with "Like a rolling stone", except for a few cases where he performed "Positively 4th street" on the same theme as the most famous song.

Concerts recorded by the audience are of much lower quality but nonetheless fascinating.

The box set also includes most of the interviews given during the period, extracts from the soundtrack of the film "Eat the document," and songs recorded by Dylan and Robertson in a hotel in Glasgow.

Closing the box set is a CD with all the outtakes and unreleased tracks from the "Blonde on Blonde" sessions. Noteworthy are the initial versions of "Vision of Johanna" recorded at the end of 1965, and a CD with the mono version of the LP in question.

The whole package is complemented by a booklet with beautiful photos.

Of course, this is a Bootleg from the famous "Vigotone" label, so not easily obtainable, but it's an item that must be acquired at all costs, at least for devoted Dylan fans like me. For those not interested, just listen to the legendary live in Manchester officially released as "The bootleg series Vol.4"