As if the Bootleg Series, a rare, newly released cover by Jimi Hendrix, and a book deal weren’t enough material to to give you the in’s and out’s of early Bob Dylan, then how’s this for unearthing a real gem: via AUX.TV, Rolling Stone co-founder Ralph Gleason recently unearthed a 1963 Dylan concert recording that will be released on CD, vinyl, and as a digital download on April 12th. Now we just need some baby photos and we’re all set.
The preserved performance occurred on May 10th, 1963 at Brandeis University’s First Annual Folk Festival, in Waltham, MA. If you’re not a history buff, that’d be two weeks before Dylan released his Freewheelin’ sophomore album. Dylan scholar Michael Gray (how do we get that job?) described the recording as “the last live performance we have of Bob Dylan before he becomes a star”, and that the performance captures a time from “…way back when Kennedy was President and the Beatles hadn’t yet reached America, wasn’t even on fans’ radar … It reveals him not at any Big Moment but giving a performance like his folk club sets of the period: repertoire from an ordinary working day.”
Although no tracklist is yet available, songs that made the album’s final cut include “Ballad Of Hollis Brown”, “Bob Dylan’s Dream”, “Masters of War”, and “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” Update: Check out the tracklist below. The concert album is available beginning April 12th, via Columbia/Legacy.
Bob Dylan In Concert – Brandeis University 1963 Tracklist:
01. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance (Incomplete)
02. Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues
03. Ballad of Hollis Brown
04. Masters of War
05. Talkin’ World War III Blues
06. Bob Dylan’s Dream
07. Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
