Found a promoter who nearly fell on the floor

One of my favorite-ever albums — not just live albums, but albums period — is Dylan and the Band’s Before the Flood. To me, it captures the same excitement and energy and joy and momentum of the famous 1965 “Royal Albert Hall” tapes, only 1)with a songbook further deepened by several of Dylan’s greatest albums, 2)the Band having developed even more astonishing musicianship, and 3)Levon Helm being on hand to drive the bus. Plus the Band cuts on the record are my favorite live Band on record, Rock of Ages included.

One upshot of this is that every time there’s a new Bootleg Series that’s a 12-disc collection like “Even Further Down in the Groove” or “The Under The Red Sky Sessions” I complain on social media about the concert tapes from the 1974 tour being left in the can. The decision to release a multi-disc set of the infamous Budakan shows — featuring Dylan doing name-that-tune vocals over arrangements Wayne Newton considered a little cheesy for his taste — felt like taunting me, personally.

Well, the 1974 tapes are finally coming out, but that ain’t all:

Bob Dylan has announced a whopping 27-CD box set capturing his 1974 arena tour with the Band. Bob Dylan – The 1974 Live Recordings arrives September 20 and features 431 songs—417 of which are previously unreleased—as well as liner notes by journalist, critic, and Pitchfork contributor Elizabeth Nelson. Today, Dylan has released a version of “Forever Young” that he recorded live in Seattle on Saturday, February 9, 1974. Check it out below.

Fuck yeah. Appropriate that they called Elizabeth when it was finally time to take the Maserati out of the garage, and please take all of my moneys.