Hatfield wrote:I'm on another Dylan kick. I just picked up Chronicles and am really enjoying it. His way with words isn't confined to lyrical selections.
The 1974 Rolling Thunder concert is one that I spin constantly. Anyone else love this period/tour? The only thing I wish is that Blood on the Tracks got more love live. Did those songs, besides Tanled up in Blue, ever get much stage time?
About half of them have been regularly played since their release; the other half are genuine rarities. "Buckets of Rain" has only been played once (an unremarkable version from the early 1990's), and "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is credibly rumored to have been played once
at this show in 1976, though no recording exists and official documentation of it ever having happened in the first place is generally pretty scarce (though the fact that this setlist is posted on Dylan's website might be worth something). That show is also supposedly the only time "Black Diamond Bay" from "Desire" was played live.
"Meet Me In the Morning" has only been played once; however, it was in 2007 at a show where Jack White guested, and White (to my understanding) sang the whole thing.
"Tangled Up in Blue," "Simple Twist of Fate," "You're a Big Girl Now," "If You See Her, Say Hello," and "Shelter From the Storm" have all been played regularly over the years. "Idiot Wind" and "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" are both real rarities but there are some stellar versions from 1976, which are the performances that count.
Below are a few classic soundboards from that era which feature some of the "BOTT" tunes (they're from the Expecting Rain forum, so I'm not sure if they're active links). There are great acoustic versions of "Tangled" and "Simple Twist" on the "Live 1975" set, and definitive versions of "You're a Big Girl Now," "Idiot Wind," and "Shelter" on the "Hard Rain" album from 1976, the superior (if less comprehensive) album in my opinion.