PRNewsFoto/Columbia Records/Legacy RecordingsCall it “Highway ’66 Revisited”! A gargantuan box set featuring every known live recording from Bob Dylan‘s historic 1966 world tour will be released on November 11. Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings contains 36 CDs including full-length performances that the folk-rock legend gave in various cities in the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, mainland Europe and Australia.
The recordings, which have been meticulously restored, come from three main sources — soundboards, audience tapes and CBS Records’ mobile recordings. The majority of the material included in the collection is previously unreleased.
Dylan’s 1966 tour came at a volatile and prolific time in the lauded singer/songwriter’s career, during which a segment of his fan base regularly would express its displeasure over his decision to incorporate electric instruments into his music. Bob’s band for the shows included most of the musicians who would later make up The Band — guitarist Robbie Robertson, bassist Rick Danko and keyboardists Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel.
Legacy Recordings president Adam Block says the idea to put together The 1966 Live Recordings came about while doing research for last year’s The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 box set, which delves into Dylan’s mid-’60s studio sessions.
“We were continually struck by how great his 1966 live recordings really are,” explains Block. “The intensity of Bob’s live performances and his fantastic delivery of these songs in concert add another insightful component in understanding and appreciating the musical revolution Bob Dylan ignited some 50 years ago.”
In conjunction with The 1966 Live Recordings collection, an album titled The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert that focuses solely on Dylan’s May 26, 1966, concert at the famous London venue will be released as a two-CD set on December 2 and a two-LP vinyl package on November 26.
Here’s a full list of the discs featured on the box set:
Disc 1 — Sydney, Australia, April 13, 1966 (Soundboard recorded by TCN 9 TV Australia)
Disc 2 — Sydney, Australia, April 13, 1966 (Soundboard recorded by TCN 9 TV Australia)
Disc 3 — Melbourne, Australia, April 20, 1966 (Soundboard/unknown broadcast)
Disc 4 — Copenhagen, Denmark, May 1, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 5 — Dublin, Ireland, May 5, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 6 — Dublin, Ireland, May 5, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 7 — Belfast, U.K., May 6, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 8 — Belfast, U.K., May 6, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 9 — Bristol, U.K., May 10, 1966 (Soundboard/audience)
Disc 10 — Bristol, U.K., May 10, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 11 — Cardiff, U.K., May 11, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 12 — Birmingham, U.K., May 12, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 13 — Birmingham, U.K., May 12, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 14 — Liverpool, U.K., May 14, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 15 — Leicester, U.K., May 15, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 16 — Leicester, U.K., May 15, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 17 — Sheffield, U.K., May 16, 1966 (CBS Records recording)
Disc 18 — Sheffield, U.K., May 16, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 19 — Manchester, U.K., May 17, 1966 (CBS Records recording)
Disc 20 — Manchester, U.K., May 17, 1966 (CBS Records recording except Soundcheck/Soundboard)
Disc 21 — Glasgow, U.K., May 19, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 22 — Edinburgh, U.K., May 20, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 23 — Edinburgh, U.K., May 20, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 24 — Newcastle, U.K., May 21, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 25 — Newcastle, U.K., May 21, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 26 — Paris, France, May 24, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 27 — Paris, France, May 24, 1966 (Soundboard)
Disc 28 — London, U.K., May 26, 1966 (CBS Records recording)
Disc 29 — London, U.K., May 26, 1966 (CBS Records recording)
Disc 30 — London, U.K., May 27, 1966 (CBS Records recording)
Disc 31 — London, U.K., 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, Australia, April 19, 1966 (Audience tape)
Disc 36 — Stockholm, Sweden, April 29, 1966 (Audience tape)
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