Down In The Valley - Music, Movies, Minneapolis & More

Reviews:

Because of its brevity and relative inaccessibility, Bob Dylan's RollingThunder Revue became one of those great rock ‘n' roll myths, a tourwhose reputation was stoked by something more than music—which, of course,makes you wonder whether it was as good as it sounded. This latest installmentof Dylan's Bootleg Series testifies that it was indeed that good.Of course, so's the story: Dylan, chastened somewhat by the massive profileof his 1974 reunion tour with The Band, designed the Rolling Thunder Revue asan old-fashioned, hootenanny-style road show, roping in friends from the folkand rock worlds such as Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell the Byrds' Roger McGuinn,guitar hero Mick Ronson, Bob Neuwirth and Ramblin' Jack Elliott. They announcedthe shows on short notice and hit towns surgically, moving in and out so quicklythe applause barely died down before the buses were on the road to the next(secret) destination. It helped that Dylan was coming off his landmark BloodOn the Tracks had recorded a fine album, Desire, prior to lettingthe Thunder roll. Those and the nature of the tour inspired the dynamic, chargedperformances heartily captured here—in far better fashion than the 1976Hard Rain album, which accompanied the flawed "Renaldo and Clara"film that was shot during the tour.

Dylan sounds strong and passionately engaged through the 22 songs, rocking withfury on "Hard Rain," "Hurricane" and a swinging "ItAin't Me Babe," taking a bluesy course for "It Takes a Lot toLaugh, It Takes a Lot to Cry" and embracing weepy country/western on "JustLike a Woman." The acoustic tracks are a highlight on this collection aswell, including four duets with Baez, and the album-closing "Knockin'On Heaven's Door" is a chilling display of modern gospel. It'sone of those rare live albums that makes you truly wish you were there.