Bob Dylan Live Collection 5-CD Box Set Coming February 16 2015

Hot on the heels of Bob Dylan’s Shadows in the Night is an off-label release of Bob Dylan’s 60’s live performances

By Stephen Pate – This is a Bob Dylan release that is too good to turn down. LIVE COLLECTION (5 CD SET) will be released on February 16, 2015 at the price of – £8.99 or US $14.

The Original Mono Recordings – Special Price US $97.32 – Can $ 95.98 – or or £81.43

The 5 CD’s contain live performances by Bob Dylan from 1960 to 1965. The publisher Nova Sales & Distribution (UK) Ltd says,

“A unique collection of rare live performances and radio sessions of the legendary Bob Dylan. The set features live concerts and radio broadcasts, including Live at Bonnie Beecher’s; The Gaslight Café, New York; Carnegie Chapter Hall, New York and the Finjan Club, Montreal as well as other radio sessions. It features 92 tracks recorded between 1960 and 1965 – both live and radio shows.”

Astute Bob Dylan fans in Europe will recognize this as a repackage of the 2012 release Live Collection with a new 5th disc.  Unless you already have the 4-CD set, the 5-CDs are a bargain.

On this side of the Atlantic, most of us have never seen this CD or the first release, except as bootlegs. Copyright laws in the UK allow different albums to be sold that are verboten in North America.

The 2012 4-CD set got glowing reviews from 43 fans in the UK. The top Amazon.co.uk reviewer Dave Bain wrote,

“I think this constitutes superb value for money for even the casual Dylan fan. However if you are one of those who buys all things Dylan, a word of caution, all the music on these discs has recently already been released on separate discs.

Looking at the track listings these four CDs comprise the following previously released albums: ‘Life and life only‘, ‘Carnegie Chapter Hall’, ‘Minneapolis/Bonnie Beecher’s Tapes‘ and ‘Live in New York Gaslight‘. Each of these albums are currently retailing at around £7 each on Amazon (UK only), so it’s pretty much a no-brainer that you buy this set rather than all four albums separately.

I won’t bother reviewing the albums track-by-track as several reviewers have already done so with the individual albums, which can be found on the Amazon site. The four discs are housed in a ‘fatbox’ style plastic jewel-case which in turn is housed in a card slip-case. The sound quality ranges from good to excellent, the best, in my opinion being the Carnegie Chapter Hall concert (disc 3).

The one and only downside to this set is the lack of information. The track listings on the back of the slipcase are repeated on the back of the jewel-case. Inside the case is a paper insert which repeats the front cover photograph on its front and the track listing on its rear, no info regarding which tracks are from which sources…I was tempted to knock off 1 star for the lack of info, but I think that getting these 4 discs for 7 or 8 pounds cancels that out. All in all a bargain for early Dylan enthusiasts.

Since writing this review, I have noticed that this collection has now been re-released as a 5 disc set (the subject of this article). The new set contains these 4 discs PLUS ‘Live at the Finjian Club‘. If you have the four disc set already this additional disc can be bought separately. However if you are thinking of purchasing this 4 disc set, forget it and go for the newer 5 disc set (which is currently selling on amazon for less than the 4 disc set).”

Available as LIVE COLLECTION (5 CD SET) from Amazon.co.uk which is a cool place to find music and books. Click on the link.  US $ equivalent will vary based on markets. 

Track Listings

Disc: 1 – Life and life only radio spots

1. Handsome Molly
2. Standing on the Highway
3. Blowin’ in the Wind
4. Mean Old Southern Railroad Blues
5. A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall
6. Hard Times in New York Town
7. Farewell
8. (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle Blow
9. Po Lazarus
10. Acne
11. Baby, Please Don’t Go
12. Who Killed Davey Moore
13. Boots of Spanish Leather
14. Fixin’ to Die
15. Girl I Left Behind
16. Hard Travelling
17. John Brown
18. Sally Gal
19. Dreamed a Dream
20. It’s Alright Ma

Disc: 2 – Gaslight Café plus Bonnie Beecher’s apt part 2

1. Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad
2. Girl from the North Country
3. Tell Me Baby
4. Emmitt Till
5. It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
6. Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
7. Roll on, John
8. I’m Stealin’
9. Only a Hobo
10. He Was a Friend of Mine
11. Riding in My Car
12. Man on the Street
13. Song to Woody
14. Talkn’ Bear Mountain Massacre
15. Pretty Polly
16. The Story of East Orange
17. VD Blues
18. VD City
19. VD Gunner’s Blues

Disc: 3 – Carnegie Chapter Hall

1. Pretty Peggy-O
2. In the Pines
3. Backwater Blues
4. Freight Train Blues
5. Gospel Plow
6. Black Cross
7. 1913 Massacre
8. A Long Time a-Growin’
9. Talking Merchant Marine
10. Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
11. Fixin’ to Die
12. Talking New York
13. Man on the Street
14. Song to Woody
15. Interview

Disc: 4 – Bonnie Beecher tapes part 1

1. Baby Please Don t Go
2. Man of Constant Sorrow
3. Candy Man
4. Hard Time in New York Town
5. I Ain’t Got No Home
6. I Was Young When I Left Home
7. Stealin’
8. Poor Lazarus
9. It’s Hard to Be Blind
10. In the Evening
11. Naomi Wise
12. Wade in the Water
13. Dink’s Song
14. Sally Girl
15. Baby Let Me Follow You Down
16. Cocaine
17. Gospel Plow (Hold On)
18. Long John
19. Black Cross
20. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
21. Ramblin’ Round
22. VD Waltz

Disc: 5 – Live at the Finjian Club, Montreal, PQ, Canada
1. The Death of Emmett Till
2. Stealin’
3. Hiram Hubbard
4. Blowin’ in the Wind
5. Rocks and Gravel
6. Quit Your Lowdown Ways
7. He Was a Friend of Mine
8. Let Me Die in My Footsteps
9. Two Trains Running
10. Rambling on My Mind
11. Muleskinner Blues
12. I’d Hate to Be You on That Dreadful Day
13. Oxford Town
14. Paths of Victory
15. Walkin’ Down the Line
16. Playboys and Playgirls

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