Dylan Live In 1966: Huge Box Set Due November 11

DYLAN’S 1966 LIVE recordings have long held a huge fascination for ardent Bob fans the world over, innumerable bootlegs circulating freely down the years. Now the Dylan camp have moved to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the year that Bob took to the road with his newly electrified band via a gigantic box set of live recordings.

The box – simply titled Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings – will be released on November 11 by Columbia / Legacy Recordings. It follows in the wake of last year’s The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966 collection which mopped up the man’s studio output from that fertile period.

While the Collector’s Edition of The Cutting Edge included 18 discs, the limited expanded edition of The 1966 Live Recordings will be double in size, running to 36 discs.

The source material includes recordings made with the CBS mobile, plus soundboard and audience tapes. While the infamous Manchester Free Trade Hall show from May 17, 1966, has previously been released as volume 4 of Bob’s Bootleg series, and two other tracks – I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) and Visions Of Johanna – appeared on 1985’s Biograph, a majority of these live sets have never been released, officially or otherwise.

Each individual disc will be housed in a sleeve featuring a still from D.A. Pennebaker’s landmark Dylan observational documentaries, Dont Look Back (1965) and Eat The Document (1966). Detailed sleeve notes for the project will be provided by esteemed Dylanographer Clinton Heylin.

In addition to the enormo-box, Dylan’s performance on May 26, 1966, at the Royal Albert Hall will be released as The Real Royal Albert Hall Concert on a 2CD set and double LP collection. This set has been mixed by engineer Chris Shaw who has previously worked with Dylan on “Love And Theft” and Modern Times.

The full list of the shows included in the 36-disc Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings box runs as follows:

Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings Disc 1 - Sydney, April 13, 1966 (Soundboard recorded by TCN 9 TV Australia) Disc 2 - Sydney, April 13, 1966 (Soundboard recorded by TCN 9 TV Australia) Disc 3 - Melbourne, April 20, 1966 (Soundboard / unknown broadcast) Disc 4 - Copenhagen, May 1, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 5 - Dublin, May 5, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 6 - Dublin, May 5, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 7 - Belfast, May 6, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 8 - Belfast, May 6, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 9 - Bristol, May 10, 1966 (Soundboard / audience) Disc 10 - Bristol, May 10, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 11 - Cardiff, May 11, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 12 - Birmingham, May 12, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 13 - Birmingham, May 12, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 14 - Liverpool, May 14, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 15 - Leicester, May 15, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 16 - Leicester, May 15, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 17 - Sheffield, May 16, 1966 (CBS Records recording) Disc 18 - Sheffield, May 16, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 19 - Manchester, May 17, 1966 (CBS Records recording) Disc 20 - Manchester, May 17, 1966 (CBS Records recording except Soundcheck / Soundboard) Disc 21 - Glasgow, May 19, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 22 - Edinburgh, May 20, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 23 - Edinburgh, May 20, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 24 - Newcastle, May 21, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 25 - Newcastle, May 21, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 26 - Paris, May 24, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 27 - Paris, May 24, 1966 (Soundboard) Disc 28 - London, May 26, 1966 (CBS Records recording) Disc 29 - London, May 26, 1966 (CBS Records recording) Disc 30 - London, May 27, 1966 (CBS Records recording) Disc 31 - London, May 27, 1966 (CBS Records recordings) Disc 32 - White Plains, NY, February 5, 1966 (Audience tape) Disc 33 - Pittsburgh, PA, February 6, 1966 (Audience tape) Disc 34 - Hempstead, NY, February 26, 1966 (Audience tape) Disc 35 - Melbourne, April 19, 1966 (Audience tape) Disc 36 - Stockholm, April 29, 1966 (Audience tape)

PHOTO: Alamy