Monday, February 18, 2019

Bob Dylan: Fort Collins Stadium Radio Broadcast, Colorado, May 23rd 1976

A 2017 limited release vinyl for the EU market, the Fort Collins Stadium Radio Broadcast, features material left off Hard Rain live album 1976, as well some extra tracks from the concert. The penultimate show of the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue, it was taped for a TV special that aired September 14, 1976 on NBC to disappointing ratings. The album was released on the same day, except four of the tracks from a concert at Fort Worth performed a week before. Although the limited release does contain the full concert, all the material is from that particular show.

Side A

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna-Fall
Blowin' in the Wind
Railroad Boy
Deportee
I Pity the Poor Immigrant 

All five of these tracks did not appear on the original release. Joan Baez contributes background lyrics, all of which have a political bent. A plodding version of "Hard Rain" hints at the exhaustion setting in on the tour, this was actually the closing number. An acoustic version of "Blowin' in the Wind" follows. "Railroad Boy" tells a tragic love story, a song usually credited to Baez. "Deportee" was a Woody Guthrie song dealing with the use of Mexicans for hard labor by wealthy Americans. Here's a verse

Some of us are illega, and others not wanted
Our work contract's out and we have to move on
But it's six hundred miles to that Mexican border
They chase us like outlaws, like rustlers, like thieves.


"I Pity the Poor Immigrant" from John Wesley Harding is given a more upbeat arrangement

Side B

Shelter From the Storm
Maggie's Farm
One Too Many Mornings
Mozambique
Idiot Wind

With the exception of "Mozambique" all these tracks appeared on the 1976 Hard Rain release. "Shelter From The Storm" is a far cry from the Blood on the Tracks version, here Dylan is full of anger, hope, and desperation. "Maggie's Farm" features some ferocious guitars. "One Too Many Mornings" is a reworked into a soulful rock ballad accompanied by Scarlet Rivera's violin. "Mozambique" is played at a Ramones style pace. "Idiot Wind" borders on emotionally draining, perhaps the purest expression of that song.

Most critics agreed the excitement of the fall '75 tour had collapsed into excess and backstage drama for the '76 tour. After one last performance in Salt Lake City, Dylan would take a 21 month hiatus from touring. 




6 comments:

  1. Personally, I think the version of Shelter From the Storm from that gig is AWESOME.

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  2. Agreed. Really awesome indeed. A shame the cover photo is from 'The Last Waltz ' show and not from Fort Collins.

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    Replies
    1. I noticed that as well! I wonder how much will be revealed in the new Scorsese documentary.

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    2. I'm not sure how much will be revealed, but I'm pretty confident the footage will be incredible. Also hoping for another round of clips of Dylan talking about, well, anything, really.

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  3. Greatest Live Album Ever. Classic Bob Rock.

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