First Time Around

Just as insiders often jokingly refer to Bob Dylan's never-ending tour, there seems to be a never-ending stream of bootlegs from his legendary 1966 world tour, sometimes upgrades of shows that have previously circulated on other tape, LP, and CD boots. This is one of the more notable ones: a recording of his complete show in Sydney, Australia, on April 13, 1966, with one disc devoted to his opening acoustic set, the other to his closing electric rock set. The repertoire is almost exactly the same as that heard on the official release of his show in Manchester about a month later, Live 1966. In fact, the sequence and content is identical, except that he ends with a jaunty electric version of "Positively 4th Street" instead of "Like a Rolling Stone." That means that the vast majority of record buyers will be content with Live 1966, which has the same material, essentially, in better sound and much easier availability. Dylanologists, though, will covet the opportunity to hear another show from the tour — in very good fidelity, though part of "She Belongs to Me" is missing — and dote on the differences in interpretation, though to most listeners, these won't seem significant enough to get worked up over. There's that wildly virtuosic harmonica playing on "Desolation Row," for instance, or imaginative organ on "Ballad of a Thin Man," or the somewhat slower arrangement of "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" than is heard on Live 1966, or his rambling, surreal spoken introduction to "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues." If this was the only recording of this tour, it would be a major document; given the release of Live 1966, it has to be considered extraneous for most listeners, but a very good performance on its own terms.