''The 1966 Live Recordings'' is a 36-CD boxset of live recordings from the 1966 Live Tour by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, released on

Legacy Records Legacy or Legacies may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline * '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics * ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press * ''Legacy ...

in November 2016. It includes every known recording from the tour, including audience tapes. Most of the set was unreleased at that point and some tapes never circulated before.

Background

''The 1966 Live Recordings'' was released as a way to prevent the recordings from legally entering the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

in Europe, in a similar fashion to ''

The 50th Anniversary Collection ''The 50th Anniversary Collection: The Copyright Extension Collection, Volume 1'' is the first collection by Bob Dylan that Sony Music released to prevent the recordings from legally entering the public domain in Europe. The album features stud ...

'' (1962), '' The 50th Anniversary Collection 1963'', and ''

The 50th Anniversary Collection 1964 ''The 50th Anniversary Collection 1964'' is the third Bob Dylan collection released by Sony Music to prevent the recordings from legally entering the public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusi ...

''. Studio sessions from 1965 and 1966 were released as part of '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 12'' (with the live recordings from 1965 offered as

digital download Digital download may refer to: *Downloading, the processing of copying data to a computer from an external source *Digital distribution, a method of downloading software or audio-visual media as opposed to buying it at a traditional point of sale * ...

for the purchasers of the Collector's Edition).

Promotion

The set was announced on September 27, 2016, the track " Tell Me, Momma" was uploaded the next day on YouTube for promotion, and the release was supported by a 12-minute documentary. 'The Untold Story Behind The Recordings' finally gave full recognition to the pioneering work of Richard Alderson, who recorded the European concerts; most of the concert filming was, moreover, done by

Howard Alk Howard Alk (October 25, 1930 – January 1982) was an American filmmaker based in Chicago, Illinois, and an original co-founder of The Second City theater troupe. In the 1960s he began to work in film with the Chicago Film Group, filming and di ...

, with only a few concerts partially filmed by

D. A. Pennebaker Donn Alan Pennebaker (; July 15, 1925 – August 1, 2019) was an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of direct cinema. Performing arts and politics were his primary subjects. In 2013, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sci ...

Other releases

The concert from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

(Discs 19 and 20) was previously released in 1998 as part of '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 4''. A concert from the boxset (London, 26 May 1966 – Discs 28 and 29) was released separately in November 2016 under the title ''The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert''. Additionally, the 13 April 1966 show in Sydney (discs 1 and 2) was released as an Australia-only limited edition double LP under the title ''Live in Sydney 1966''.

Reception

''The 1966 Live Recordings'' currently maintains a 93% positive ("Universal acclaim") rating at

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Jesse Jarnow from Pitchfork said, "A classic tour from start to finish, the set’s only drawbacks owe more to the format than the music", praising the great performances but insisting on the repetition of the same setlist, though noting that the repetitive setlists could be seen as a "feature, not a bug."

Track listing

All songs written by

except "

Baby, Let Me Follow You Down "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" is a traditional folk song popularised in the late 1950s by blues guitarist Eric Von Schmidt. The song is best known for its appearance on Bob Dylan's debut album ''Bob Dylan''. Early years of the song The song was f ...

". All tracks in mono except CBS Records recordings (Discs 17, 19, 20, 28, 29, 30 and 31) which are in stereo.

Musicians

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, piano, lead vocal *

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal Robertson (July 5, 1943 – August 9, 2023) was a Canadian musician of Indigenous and Jewish ancestry. He was the lead guitarist for Bob Dylan's backing band in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s. Robertson was also the ...

– electric guitar *

Rick Danko Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. During ...

– bass guitar, background vocal *

Garth Hudson Eric Garth Hudson (August 2, 1937 – January 21, 2025) was a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for The Band. He was a principal architect of the group's sound and was described as "the mo ...

–

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

Richard Manuel Richard George Manuel (April 3, 1943 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in the Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of F ...

– piano *

Mickey Jones Mickey Jones (June 10, 1941 – February 7, 2018) was an American musician and actor. He played drums with acts such as Trini Lopez and Bob Dylan, with whom he played on his 1966 world tour. He became a founding member of The First Edition ...

– drums * Sandy Konikoff – drums (before March 26, 1966) Musicians per Olof Bjorner.Bjorner (August 7, 2000
Arie Crown Theater, Chicago, November 26, 1965
Bjorner's Still on the Road. Retrieved July 20, 2010

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1966 Live Recordings, The 2016 live albums Bob Dylan live albums Columbia Records live albums