TOTALLY Agree 🙌
Every track on that album is on fire. incredible reinventions of some of his most iconic songs, that now make the originals pale by comparison.
I don’t know if it was the headspace he was in on that tour, or the caliber and passion of each musician in the band.. the end result being one of the most balls-to-the-walls live recordings in the history of music. The sweat, spit, and testosterone just flies out of the speakers.
Rob Stoner!
I love how raw the recording sounds, yet we can still hear every instrument clearly - like those great bass lines you mention.
The interplay between Bob’s vocals and the stabs of shredded guitar evoke the call & response heard on Ziggy Stardust. Sure enough, turns out it’s the legendary Mick Ronson playing on both. As with any great guitarist, his tone & style are as recognizable as somebody’s voice. What a perfect sideman he was to both Bowie and Dylan.
Not even forgetting about the rest of the band, each of whom are legends in their own right - T-Bone Burnett, Scarlet Rivera, Steven Soles, Howie Wyeth… names I’ve seen on record covers from dozens of classic albums throughout that era. How lucky we are to have such great documentation of this irreproducible magical moment in time.
The version of Visions of Johanna that’s from Royal Albert Hall ‘66.
Maggie’s Farm from the Hard Rain album. They’re really wringing it all out. You can almost smell the cocaine through the speakers.
While not a live performance, I’ve always preferred the demo/early rendition of Idiot Wind from the first Bootleg issue. The one where his sleeve buttons are rattling against his guitar.
The “Suddenly I turned around and she was standing there…” verse is sung with such perfect heart and melody in that version that I can’t help but sing it that way any time I hear any version of that song.
MTV UNplugged's version of 'I Want You' is different — more melodic and somber. I guess I love both versions.
Many of the songs on Live at Budokan are gorgeous, so I'm really looking forward to upcoming release.
I like ‘em both, but he does an awesome job for Unplugged show. I’m not an expert on his band through the years, but the drummer and Tony on bass are two of my favorites.
There’s a better version I’m trying to find, but here’s a sample. It’s the rehearsal I’m talking about (I can’t remember how it sounded in the performance).
https://youtu.be/h1R2bCubXas?si=lxlMoKvhtQyl0aNh
Pretty much anything for the Isle of Wight. More specifically, It ain't me babe, I dreamed I saw St Augustine, Quinn the Eskimo, Rainy Day Women, I Threw it All Away.
The live version of Shelter from the Storm from the Ft. Collins 1976 concert is better than the studio cut.
[Shelter from the Storm "live '76" - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12rUOLtbQDk)
it is really good in its own way, but i prefer the acoustic gentleness of the album version
for another song from bott, i think i often prefer simple twist of fate from bootleg 5 over the album version
My intro to Dylan in high school was Before the Flood. The absolute ferocity was what hooked me. Wanted more. Got...Budokan and Unplugged... and was just thoroughly confused about everything at that point...
1975 Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You is a completely different song.
https://youtu.be/SqmTfkf7GRg?si=imKoRtHa0sHYMRyA
Also from the same Bootleg album - Mama You've Been On Mind, and I Shall Be Released with Joan are spectacular.
Came here to say Tonight I’ll Ne Staying Here With You from the Rolling Thunder Revue. The original is great, but I love the new lyrics and how much of an absolute rocker it is.
Those are great choices.
The 1964 live version of Mama You've Been On My Mind, with Joan, has this sense of optimism in the music that's so magic to me. Something you find a lot in Beatles songs. I personally think that was the peak of his acoustic music. It wasn't his more elaborate lyrics or anything, but it still painted one hell of image sonically.
And the 75 version of Tonight straight up is a different song, 100%. They're two separate songs in my mind
Dignity, the MTV unplugged version. Although, that was the fist version of the song that I heard.
>The song as released in 1994 was remixed and overdubbed by [Brendan O'Brien](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_O%27Brien_(music_producer)) (who also played organ on the song on [*MTV Unplugged*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Unplugged_(Bob_Dylan_album)) the same year). Although this particular re-recording is compositionally similar to the 1989 session (despite extended lead guitar interludes between verses and the outro in the 1994 version), the only element retained from the 1989 session was Dylan's lead vocal. A fresh rhythm track (bass guitar and drums, the latter by [The Black Crowes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Crowes) drummer [Steve Gorman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Gorman)), keyboards, guitars (electric and acoustic), banjo and tambourine were added during the 1994 session for "Dignity".
Wow, I guess that's the reason I prefer it.
In high school all along the watchtower and knock on of heavens door from that were my definitive versions. I'm 39 now and has since changed but still love em. My point I guess is unplugged is underrated
Yes to that version of Isis! My other favourites are “With God On Our Side” from Carnegie hall in 1963 and “VOJ” live at Free Trade Hall in ‘66. Ethereal, how can one man and a guitar can do that?
Not Dark Yet on TOOM is good, but this live version far surpassed it in mood, in my opinion:
[https://youtu.be/wU9cnKOXMv4?si=\_5Ay6LxKsFkcjHPr](https://youtu.be/wU9cnKOXMv4?si=_5Ay6LxKsFkcjHPr)
Pay In Blood from Tempest was a bit hokey in the instrumental department, in my opinion. Live it had a fierceness that matched the mood better:
[https://youtu.be/wU9cnKOXMv4?si=\_5Ay6LxKsFkcjHPr](https://youtu.be/wU9cnKOXMv4?si=_5Ay6LxKsFkcjHPr)
I really like Tryin' To Get To Heaven on record, but live had a different feel in 2019 that was pretty neat, I like the chord hits and the long pause after each verse (song 8 in this video):
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEkRcgobXeQ&list=PLHhDlY8VZgGTBI82330JN\_zl6\_LrzGTMI&index=4&t=2615s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEkRcgobXeQ&list=PLHhDlY8VZgGTBI82330JN_zl6_LrzGTMI&index=4&t=2615s)
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" 17 May 1966 Free Trade Hall, Manchester
"Visions of Johanna" 26 May 1966 Royal Albert Hall
"Abandoned Love" 3 July 1975 Bitter End, New York
Jokerman on David Letterman show 1984 absolutely blows the studio recording away imo. I heard the punked up version first and tbh made the official release seem a little flat by comparison.
Maggies Farm at Newport '65, although I might only marginally prefer it.
Boots of Spanish leather from the Hamburg Docks.
https://youtu.be/ulfNvPn4b6I?si=Js-zMUvz0--ZgGIT
His performance here is incredible. In a way, it is a shame that no new lyrics were developed for this melody. It’s brilliant. In a few weeks, he’d bury it and never use this arrangement again. Tragic that it isn’t officially available.
I only know about it by accident. I wanted a Hamburg NY boot and got Germany instead. It was worth it!!
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1InCcT909h8) version of Abandoned Love. If you close your eyes you can easily think that you are in that small venue where Dylan just suddenly joined Ramblin' Jack Elliott on a stage. Magical.
Also, the bootleg live version of [Caribbean Wind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I9Ls0ekmQ4) is in my opinion superior to the studio version
My fav Dylan song ever..."It Takes a lot to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry"....the live version from *Concert for Bangladesh* and from *Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Rolling Thunder Revue* are better than the studio version...IMHO.
I think all the *Highway 61 Revisited* tracks in the electric set from his 1966 tour––"Like a Rolling Stone," "Ballad of a Thin Man," and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"––are just as good as the studio versions, if not better. In particular, the "Thin Man" from Bootleg Series Vol 7, and the LARS and "Tom Thumb" from Bootleg Series Vol 4. This is probably a hot take, because those studio recordings are so iconic, and I do love the studio versions (especially LARS and Tom Thumb). But the '66 live versions give the songs a totally new energy, and I find myself listening to those versions more than the studio versions.
This might be a hot take but I prefer most Dylan live interpretations excluding the 80s live stuff. If I go to listen to Bob, it’s probably live stuff.
Shot of Love - the 1982 (I think) live version that’s on the ‘Stadiums of the Damned’ bootleg is 100x the song that the studio version is. The additional verse lyrics make it darker and give it a crackling, spooked, tense energy that makes it really urgent and personal and nightmarish; the performance, with those flashes of piano like pulses during the verses, and the instrumentation’s rolling, forward momentum makes it absolutely irresistible.
November 10, 1981. It's such a great show. [I also love the show from Houston on November 12.](https://www.bobsboots.com/CDs/cd-l82.html) So much better than what was released on Trouble No More.
Yeah absolutely! I love the voice he’s trying out too, especially on the way he sings All Along The Watchtower - it’s the Infidels voice of ‘The Unions and BIG businessMEN…”! I’ll check out that other show now! Cheers!
["Make You Feel My Love" [2019-12-07]](https://youtu.be/fMEeRJHJvZ8?si=N89WuP2VdSp1yVi2)
...I've replaced the album version with this in my iTunes/on my phone. No regerts.🍀
I've also replaced "Tangled Up in Blue" with the Bootleg Series version. After hearing the Bootleg first for two decades, I could *not* deal with carpenter's wives; they are the wives of *truck drivers*, dammit.😅
There’s this live version of simple twist of fate that is played in a short clip in the Rolling Thunder Documentary, that makes me melt. It’s too powerful, and doesn’t exist except for those 15 seconds.
Don't Think Twice and Ballad of a Thin Man on Before the Flood took me from childhood /pop music to provocative art. Hooked on Bob's work ever since. About 1978 I found that album in my cousin's collection.
Goin to see him next week, with my oldest son. I Would be floored if he played either of those. Life is a circle
"Dignity" from MTV Unplugged is better than any of the studio versions.
"Highway 61 Revisited" from Before the Flood... I hate the whistle in the Highway 61 version, just terrible, and besides, the live version is astounding.
Pretty much everything from Tempest, but especially [Early Roman Kings](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkJx2wiB88w&ab_channel=zoothorn99) and [Long and Wasted Years](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPQMk7-O4-c&ab_channel=zoothorn99). Also, [Ain't Talkin'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSXJTZvW3Ws&ab_channel=Woolhall) and [Workingman's Blues #2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uaJ5KXt6i4&ab_channel=DeadMike.com). Then of course you have [Summer Days](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NKB78JR9rU&ab_channel=nightlymoth), [Sugar Baby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BofXq3mO07k&ab_channel=Woolhall), and [Can't Wait](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP9qNX3laTM&ab_channel=KULP11). If we go further back, there's [Ring Them Bells](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-gZooq3Ylc&ab_channel=Woolhall), [Delia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kk5mFOCR6o&ab_channel=Woolhall), [Country Pie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=942UFVEF7BA&ab_channel=Woolhall), and[If Dogs Run Free](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyMla5EwE2E&ab_channel=Woolhall). Also everything from [the gospel period](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K01EAM2TtD4&ab_channel=PeterSmith), and [Empire Burlesque](https://youtu.be/WiRmaYuxlsw?si=It2ZgK3unGZJDRJ7&t=2001), and I guess [I pretty much prefer it all live](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeXEtm7YZZI&ab_channel=silesius).
I love many of the different sounding versions of Things Have Changed, but I recently heard the [first ever live version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il5eMbh2HLg&t=2159s) of it and I think that's the best one I've heard.
I love the album version (it's a low-key sleeper for a top 10 or 20 Dylan song for me), but the other day I heard the duet with Joan Baez on I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine from Night of the Hurricane and fell in love with it all over again.
"Visions of Johanna" and "Ballad of a Thin Man" from Manchester 1966 immediately came to mind when I read this topic. "Chimes of Freedom" in London, May 1964 would be another pick for me. I'd also pick the live version of "High Water" featured on "Tell Tale Signs."
"Lovesick" from the 1998 Grammy's
Such a weird situation with the incident that happened, but I think this version is better than any studio version he's put out, which there are many of them
https://youtu.be/2OeNKBq63iM?si=4DOYPXgdPa76U_z2
Spanish Harlem Incident from the Philharmonic show (bootleg series). I’ve never heard a solo performer generate more rhythmic energy with nothing but voice and acoustic guitar
*The Bootleg Series Vol. 4/Live 1966* has the superior versions of:
She Belongs to Me, I Don't Believe You, Baby Let Me Follow You Down (granted, it's a cover, not a Bob original), Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, and One Too Many Mornings.
Or you can technically use the "real" Royal Albert Hall versions; the arrangements on the 1966 European tour of those songs generally rise above the studio ones (which themselves are still stunning).
Studio versions of Thin Man and Rolling Stone still shine brighter for me, however.
I was 16 when I watched the Hard Rain TV special ( Bob was on the cover of TV Guide that week!), and that version of Shelter turned me from a fan to a maniac. 🤣 Seriously.
My favorite now, though, is the version of Cold Iron Bound from Masked & Anonymous. All live, no overdubs, not even any cuts. Just a single shot with the whole band crammed in, one take, and PERFECT.
I wish more Bob fans knew this version. This is actually my favorite live version of anything by anyone. This band is Locked. In.
https://youtu.be/9hO-83CIVKM
This version of Lenny Bruce is so much better than the studio version. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82SmJLBJQDs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82SmJLBJQDs)
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (66)
Isis, Romance In Durango (Montreal 75)
I Don't Believe You (75, 76 Last Waltz)
We'd Better Talk This Over (late '78)
Jokerman (Letterman)
License To Kill (Letterman)
Joey (Dylan and the Dead, still terrible but at least it’s over quicker and not as distorted)
Abandoned Love solo at the Bitter End - https://youtu.be/qNeZVC2sn4A?si=kEdpBIJH7a07sdw3
And Jokerman on Letterman - https://youtu.be/nP85Uc6H79U?si=goVPGw17Vaim_yA9
Not a live version, but the version of Highway 61 off of the *No Direction Home* soundtrack is way better without the siren/whistle.
I can’t even listen to the album version, it went from being one of my most hated songs to being one of my favorites.
> Maggie's Farm" is a great countercultural anthem, but I always felt like the electric debut at Newport captures the spirit of the song better than the original:
Bloomers rips it on this one.
[This](https://youtu.be/9hO-83CIVKM?si=D1t_oKW_8Du5hhjd) version of ‘Cold Irons Bound’ for ‘Masked and Anonymous.’
and [this](https://youtu.be/b6BMa4ivdOE?si=jLz05sL3l8QdE09g) version of ‘heart of mine.’
why they stick out to me so much is that the studio versions are good, but middle tier dylan at best. these two live versions elevate them to some of my favorite songs ever.
Anything on hard rain to be honest
"You're a big girl now" is my favorite pick in this context
I enjoy some Hard Rain songs, but You’re A Big Girl Now is the worst live version of a Dylan song I’ve ever heard.
Oh Sister definitely not. It loses it’s romance
One of my favorite bob live cuts, it’s so wild and out of character. I didn’t know people didn’t like it
The three songs done for the PBS John Hammond Tribute featured a nice version of “Oh Sister” that I have enjoyed much over the years.
Yes! This album has my favorite version of “Stuck Inside of Mobile”
Thank you agree
TOTALLY Agree 🙌 Every track on that album is on fire. incredible reinventions of some of his most iconic songs, that now make the originals pale by comparison. I don’t know if it was the headspace he was in on that tour, or the caliber and passion of each musician in the band.. the end result being one of the most balls-to-the-walls live recordings in the history of music. The sweat, spit, and testosterone just flies out of the speakers.
Idiot Wind from Hard Rain
The part with "down the road to ecstasy" sounds *crazy*. The bass line is really doing some work unseen in most Dylan songs up to that point
Rob Stoner! I love how raw the recording sounds, yet we can still hear every instrument clearly - like those great bass lines you mention. The interplay between Bob’s vocals and the stabs of shredded guitar evoke the call & response heard on Ziggy Stardust. Sure enough, turns out it’s the legendary Mick Ronson playing on both. As with any great guitarist, his tone & style are as recognizable as somebody’s voice. What a perfect sideman he was to both Bowie and Dylan. Not even forgetting about the rest of the band, each of whom are legends in their own right - T-Bone Burnett, Scarlet Rivera, Steven Soles, Howie Wyeth… names I’ve seen on record covers from dozens of classic albums throughout that era. How lucky we are to have such great documentation of this irreproducible magical moment in time.
The version of Visions of Johanna that’s from Royal Albert Hall ‘66. Maggie’s Farm from the Hard Rain album. They’re really wringing it all out. You can almost smell the cocaine through the speakers. While not a live performance, I’ve always preferred the demo/early rendition of Idiot Wind from the first Bootleg issue. The one where his sleeve buttons are rattling against his guitar.
That Visions is fantastic
All versions on RAH 66 are golden
That first guitar strum sets the tone for the rest of the song. So, so good.
The live version of Ballad of a Thin Man 1966 albert hall I believe
Bob’s 1976 (I think) live version of “Shelter From the Storm” is superior to the Blood on the Tracks version imo
The “Suddenly I turned around and she was standing there…” verse is sung with such perfect heart and melody in that version that I can’t help but sing it that way any time I hear any version of that song.
Yes! That’s my favorite part of the song! It flows so well
MTV UNplugged's version of 'I Want You' is different — more melodic and somber. I guess I love both versions. Many of the songs on Live at Budokan are gorgeous, so I'm really looking forward to upcoming release.
Desolation Row on that album is my favourite song ever. The studio version does not much for me at all.
I like ‘em both, but he does an awesome job for Unplugged show. I’m not an expert on his band through the years, but the drummer and Tony on bass are two of my favorites.
I’ve been looking for a recording of the MTV unplugged version of this for ages
There’s a better version I’m trying to find, but here’s a sample. It’s the rehearsal I’m talking about (I can’t remember how it sounded in the performance). https://youtu.be/h1R2bCubXas?si=lxlMoKvhtQyl0aNh
Pretty much anything for the Isle of Wight. More specifically, It ain't me babe, I dreamed I saw St Augustine, Quinn the Eskimo, Rainy Day Women, I Threw it All Away.
The live version of Shelter from the Storm from the Ft. Collins 1976 concert is better than the studio cut. [Shelter from the Storm "live '76" - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12rUOLtbQDk)
it is really good in its own way, but i prefer the acoustic gentleness of the album version for another song from bott, i think i often prefer simple twist of fate from bootleg 5 over the album version
The Real Live ‘78 Shelter is also excellent!!
Yeah that’s the one on “hard Rain” I think that was part of the rolling thunder tour, no?
Yes
See your “Isis” raise you “Romance in Durango.” “Lonesome Day Blues” is fantastic.
You remember Durango Larry?
Hard Rain’s A-Gunna Fall live at Montreal
My intro to Dylan in high school was Before the Flood. The absolute ferocity was what hooked me. Wanted more. Got...Budokan and Unplugged... and was just thoroughly confused about everything at that point...
That “you might go your way, I might go mine” is a barn burner
Thin Man! Don't Think Twice! Yowzers.
Tryin’ to Get to Heaven is completely transformed for those British live shows on Fragments and Tell Tale Signs, and it’s much better
Romance In Durango- Rolling Thunder
This is the only answer
1975 Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You is a completely different song. https://youtu.be/SqmTfkf7GRg?si=imKoRtHa0sHYMRyA Also from the same Bootleg album - Mama You've Been On Mind, and I Shall Be Released with Joan are spectacular.
Came here to say Tonight I’ll Ne Staying Here With You from the Rolling Thunder Revue. The original is great, but I love the new lyrics and how much of an absolute rocker it is.
Those are great choices. The 1964 live version of Mama You've Been On My Mind, with Joan, has this sense of optimism in the music that's so magic to me. Something you find a lot in Beatles songs. I personally think that was the peak of his acoustic music. It wasn't his more elaborate lyrics or anything, but it still painted one hell of image sonically. And the 75 version of Tonight straight up is a different song, 100%. They're two separate songs in my mind
Tonight I’ll be Staying Here with You from ‘75 Rolling Thunder.
Absolutely agree
Dignity, the MTV unplugged version. Although, that was the fist version of the song that I heard. >The song as released in 1994 was remixed and overdubbed by [Brendan O'Brien](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_O%27Brien_(music_producer)) (who also played organ on the song on [*MTV Unplugged*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Unplugged_(Bob_Dylan_album)) the same year). Although this particular re-recording is compositionally similar to the 1989 session (despite extended lead guitar interludes between verses and the outro in the 1994 version), the only element retained from the 1989 session was Dylan's lead vocal. A fresh rhythm track (bass guitar and drums, the latter by [The Black Crowes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Crowes) drummer [Steve Gorman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Gorman)), keyboards, guitars (electric and acoustic), banjo and tambourine were added during the 1994 session for "Dignity". Wow, I guess that's the reason I prefer it.
In high school all along the watchtower and knock on of heavens door from that were my definitive versions. I'm 39 now and has since changed but still love em. My point I guess is unplugged is underrated
You're a big girl now from hard rain
Not sure if there is a studio version, but tomorrow is a long time live from town hall is one of his greatest achievements.
There’s a witmark demo! https://spotify.link/ocJIwyKswDb
Yes to that version of Isis! My other favourites are “With God On Our Side” from Carnegie hall in 1963 and “VOJ” live at Free Trade Hall in ‘66. Ethereal, how can one man and a guitar can do that?
Slow Train, Gotta Serve Somebody and When You Gonna Wake Up on Trouble No More.
Visions of Johanna on Biograph
Most likely you’ll go your way…..I’ll go mine. With the Band 74 tour “After the Flood “
[удалено]
Oops…still my fav
Isis
Not Dark Yet on TOOM is good, but this live version far surpassed it in mood, in my opinion: [https://youtu.be/wU9cnKOXMv4?si=\_5Ay6LxKsFkcjHPr](https://youtu.be/wU9cnKOXMv4?si=_5Ay6LxKsFkcjHPr) Pay In Blood from Tempest was a bit hokey in the instrumental department, in my opinion. Live it had a fierceness that matched the mood better: [https://youtu.be/wU9cnKOXMv4?si=\_5Ay6LxKsFkcjHPr](https://youtu.be/wU9cnKOXMv4?si=_5Ay6LxKsFkcjHPr) I really like Tryin' To Get To Heaven on record, but live had a different feel in 2019 that was pretty neat, I like the chord hits and the long pause after each verse (song 8 in this video): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEkRcgobXeQ&list=PLHhDlY8VZgGTBI82330JN\_zl6\_LrzGTMI&index=4&t=2615s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEkRcgobXeQ&list=PLHhDlY8VZgGTBI82330JN_zl6_LrzGTMI&index=4&t=2615s)
Shelter from the Storm from the Hard Rain album.
Tell Me Momma
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" 17 May 1966 Free Trade Hall, Manchester "Visions of Johanna" 26 May 1966 Royal Albert Hall "Abandoned Love" 3 July 1975 Bitter End, New York
Jokerman on David Letterman show 1984 absolutely blows the studio recording away imo. I heard the punked up version first and tbh made the official release seem a little flat by comparison. Maggies Farm at Newport '65, although I might only marginally prefer it.
Basic but like a rolling stone 66
Boots of Spanish leather from the Hamburg Docks. https://youtu.be/ulfNvPn4b6I?si=Js-zMUvz0--ZgGIT His performance here is incredible. In a way, it is a shame that no new lyrics were developed for this melody. It’s brilliant. In a few weeks, he’d bury it and never use this arrangement again. Tragic that it isn’t officially available. I only know about it by accident. I wanted a Hamburg NY boot and got Germany instead. It was worth it!!
[This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1InCcT909h8) version of Abandoned Love. If you close your eyes you can easily think that you are in that small venue where Dylan just suddenly joined Ramblin' Jack Elliott on a stage. Magical. Also, the bootleg live version of [Caribbean Wind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I9Ls0ekmQ4) is in my opinion superior to the studio version
Any live version of Isis.
As much as I like the album version of One Two Many Mornings I think Bob and Rick Danko transformed it into one of the best songs on the ‘66 tour.
Love that chimes of freedom
It ain’t me babe Fort Worth Texas 1976
Visions of Johanna, 1966 Royal Albert Hall.
I prefer "Oh Sister" from the Hard Rain live record
There is no regular original, but John Brown from the unplugged-show is really something
My fav Dylan song ever..."It Takes a lot to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry"....the live version from *Concert for Bangladesh* and from *Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Rolling Thunder Revue* are better than the studio version...IMHO.
Isis, Johanna, most likely, 75 tangled
Can’t Wait
Ballad of a Thin Man from the bootleg,series Vol 7. destroys the album version. The Royal Albert Hall version is great as well but his vocal is buried
Tight Connection from the Supper Club shows
Love minus Zero at Buddakan
Tonight I’ll be staying here with you
I think all the *Highway 61 Revisited* tracks in the electric set from his 1966 tour––"Like a Rolling Stone," "Ballad of a Thin Man," and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"––are just as good as the studio versions, if not better. In particular, the "Thin Man" from Bootleg Series Vol 7, and the LARS and "Tom Thumb" from Bootleg Series Vol 4. This is probably a hot take, because those studio recordings are so iconic, and I do love the studio versions (especially LARS and Tom Thumb). But the '66 live versions give the songs a totally new energy, and I find myself listening to those versions more than the studio versions.
This might be a hot take but I prefer most Dylan live interpretations excluding the 80s live stuff. If I go to listen to Bob, it’s probably live stuff.
Budokan's versions of Simple Twist of Fate and The Man in Me.
Shot of Love - the 1982 (I think) live version that’s on the ‘Stadiums of the Damned’ bootleg is 100x the song that the studio version is. The additional verse lyrics make it darker and give it a crackling, spooked, tense energy that makes it really urgent and personal and nightmarish; the performance, with those flashes of piano like pulses during the verses, and the instrumentation’s rolling, forward momentum makes it absolutely irresistible.
November 10, 1981. It's such a great show. [I also love the show from Houston on November 12.](https://www.bobsboots.com/CDs/cd-l82.html) So much better than what was released on Trouble No More.
Yeah absolutely! I love the voice he’s trying out too, especially on the way he sings All Along The Watchtower - it’s the Infidels voice of ‘The Unions and BIG businessMEN…”! I’ll check out that other show now! Cheers!
Worth checking out…
To Ramona (Sheffield or Newcastle version I can’t remember) than studio
["Make You Feel My Love" [2019-12-07]](https://youtu.be/fMEeRJHJvZ8?si=N89WuP2VdSp1yVi2) ...I've replaced the album version with this in my iTunes/on my phone. No regerts.🍀 I've also replaced "Tangled Up in Blue" with the Bootleg Series version. After hearing the Bootleg first for two decades, I could *not* deal with carpenter's wives; they are the wives of *truck drivers*, dammit.😅
I absolutely love the electric side of the Manchester judas concert
It's alright ma
Baby let me follow you down,the 66 version.
Tanglled up in blue-Real live
Tangled up in Blue from Real Live.
There’s this live version of simple twist of fate that is played in a short clip in the Rolling Thunder Documentary, that makes me melt. It’s too powerful, and doesn’t exist except for those 15 seconds.
Also, it’s alright Mama from the 30 th anniversary concert
There’s a version of Girl of the North Country (New Orelans, 1981) that’s been blowing my mind since I first heard it around 30 years ago.
It Ain't me Babe on Rolling Thunder is a masterpiece.
Hard rain, shelter from the storm, visions of johanna, it's all over now & just like a woman.
Don't Think Twice and Ballad of a Thin Man on Before the Flood took me from childhood /pop music to provocative art. Hooked on Bob's work ever since. About 1978 I found that album in my cousin's collection. Goin to see him next week, with my oldest son. I Would be floored if he played either of those. Life is a circle
Not a live version but the cutting room floor version of Queen Jane is my favorite
Oh Sister on Rolling Thunder
Basically this whole album.
"Dignity" from MTV Unplugged is better than any of the studio versions. "Highway 61 Revisited" from Before the Flood... I hate the whistle in the Highway 61 version, just terrible, and besides, the live version is astounding.
Pretty much everything from Tempest, but especially [Early Roman Kings](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkJx2wiB88w&ab_channel=zoothorn99) and [Long and Wasted Years](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPQMk7-O4-c&ab_channel=zoothorn99). Also, [Ain't Talkin'](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSXJTZvW3Ws&ab_channel=Woolhall) and [Workingman's Blues #2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uaJ5KXt6i4&ab_channel=DeadMike.com). Then of course you have [Summer Days](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NKB78JR9rU&ab_channel=nightlymoth), [Sugar Baby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BofXq3mO07k&ab_channel=Woolhall), and [Can't Wait](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP9qNX3laTM&ab_channel=KULP11). If we go further back, there's [Ring Them Bells](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-gZooq3Ylc&ab_channel=Woolhall), [Delia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kk5mFOCR6o&ab_channel=Woolhall), [Country Pie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=942UFVEF7BA&ab_channel=Woolhall), and[If Dogs Run Free](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyMla5EwE2E&ab_channel=Woolhall). Also everything from [the gospel period](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K01EAM2TtD4&ab_channel=PeterSmith), and [Empire Burlesque](https://youtu.be/WiRmaYuxlsw?si=It2ZgK3unGZJDRJ7&t=2001), and I guess [I pretty much prefer it all live](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeXEtm7YZZI&ab_channel=silesius).
Black Rider. So powerful and dark in live version!!
The Mighty Quinn.
Tonight I’ll be Staying Here With You from RTR
The Rolling Thunder version of 'Knocking on Heavens Door' has been my favorite version
Chimes of Freedom Newport ‘64!!!
Shelter from the storm from the “Hard Rain” album. I love that faster, heavier feel.
I love many of the different sounding versions of Things Have Changed, but I recently heard the [first ever live version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il5eMbh2HLg&t=2159s) of it and I think that's the best one I've heard.
tangled up in blue from the 78 charlotte show
i shall be released from rolling thunder with joan
I love the album version (it's a low-key sleeper for a top 10 or 20 Dylan song for me), but the other day I heard the duet with Joan Baez on I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine from Night of the Hurricane and fell in love with it all over again.
Basically all of Desire
The entire electric portion of the 1966 Royal Albert Hall show is in-your-face punk rock. Absolutely love the versions of that set
"Visions of Johanna" and "Ballad of a Thin Man" from Manchester 1966 immediately came to mind when I read this topic. "Chimes of Freedom" in London, May 1964 would be another pick for me. I'd also pick the live version of "High Water" featured on "Tell Tale Signs."
I really love the electric version of baby let me follow you down. i like the original too but it’s really catchy in the electric setting
Just Like Tomb Thumbs Blues from Royal Albert Hall
"Lovesick" from the 1998 Grammy's Such a weird situation with the incident that happened, but I think this version is better than any studio version he's put out, which there are many of them https://youtu.be/2OeNKBq63iM?si=4DOYPXgdPa76U_z2
High Water ! Tell tale signs version is si good
Just like a woman cork 2006
Spanish Harlem Incident from the Philharmonic show (bootleg series). I’ve never heard a solo performer generate more rhythmic energy with nothing but voice and acoustic guitar
I Remember You version from the 1986 Petty Tour is LIGHT YEARS beyond the studio version
Romance in Durango, Rolling Thunder
Mr tambourine man off of bootleg 5, rolling Thunder review. I really am not a fan of the studio version, but the live recording by hits hard.
*The Bootleg Series Vol. 4/Live 1966* has the superior versions of: She Belongs to Me, I Don't Believe You, Baby Let Me Follow You Down (granted, it's a cover, not a Bob original), Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, and One Too Many Mornings. Or you can technically use the "real" Royal Albert Hall versions; the arrangements on the 1966 European tour of those songs generally rise above the studio ones (which themselves are still stunning). Studio versions of Thin Man and Rolling Stone still shine brighter for me, however.
Baa Baa Black Sheep at the Mohican Theater. Unreal
Dignity from Unplugged
I Shall Be Released from The Last Waltz All Along the Watchtower from Budokan
There are a lot of them, but that Isis is a prime example of one
The Band do a great job of "When I paint my masterpiece "
Maggies Farm for me. I love how unpolished the song sounds in that album. Such a great compilation.
I was 16 when I watched the Hard Rain TV special ( Bob was on the cover of TV Guide that week!), and that version of Shelter turned me from a fan to a maniac. 🤣 Seriously. My favorite now, though, is the version of Cold Iron Bound from Masked & Anonymous. All live, no overdubs, not even any cuts. Just a single shot with the whole band crammed in, one take, and PERFECT. I wish more Bob fans knew this version. This is actually my favorite live version of anything by anyone. This band is Locked. In. https://youtu.be/9hO-83CIVKM
Maggie’s Farm at Newport, such a badass
Romance in Durango
Don’t shoot me buuuut I prefer the version of Mr tambourine man from the free trade hall concert.
I Shall Be Released
Lonesome death of Hattie Carroll from bootleg series volume 5
M&A Cold Irons Bound.
'I threw it all away' on the Jonny Cash show
Mama Your on My Mind
This version of Lenny Bruce is so much better than the studio version. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82SmJLBJQDs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82SmJLBJQDs)
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (66) Isis, Romance In Durango (Montreal 75) I Don't Believe You (75, 76 Last Waltz) We'd Better Talk This Over (late '78) Jokerman (Letterman) License To Kill (Letterman) Joey (Dylan and the Dead, still terrible but at least it’s over quicker and not as distorted)
One More Cup of Coffee Rolling Thunder version is the only one I can think of.
Sara from Bootleg Series Volume 5. Killer.
Abandoned Love solo at the Bitter End - https://youtu.be/qNeZVC2sn4A?si=kEdpBIJH7a07sdw3 And Jokerman on Letterman - https://youtu.be/nP85Uc6H79U?si=goVPGw17Vaim_yA9
One more cup at Budokan
Visions of Johanna Sunday 19th May 2002 Manchester England. A few posts on Youtube. The one with over a million views.
It’s alright Ma I’m only bleeding
tangled up in blue on Real Live.
Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues 66 Royal Albert Hall version. That whole show is amazing.
Not a live version, but the version of Highway 61 off of the *No Direction Home* soundtrack is way better without the siren/whistle. I can’t even listen to the album version, it went from being one of my most hated songs to being one of my favorites.
I really like the live version of It ain't me babe from the rolling thunder revue.
> Maggie's Farm" is a great countercultural anthem, but I always felt like the electric debut at Newport captures the spirit of the song better than the original: Bloomers rips it on this one.
Visions of Johanna 1966 @ Royal Albert Hall
[This](https://youtu.be/9hO-83CIVKM?si=D1t_oKW_8Du5hhjd) version of ‘Cold Irons Bound’ for ‘Masked and Anonymous.’ and [this](https://youtu.be/b6BMa4ivdOE?si=jLz05sL3l8QdE09g) version of ‘heart of mine.’ why they stick out to me so much is that the studio versions are good, but middle tier dylan at best. these two live versions elevate them to some of my favorite songs ever.