Rich the stream of bootleg tapes is for many artists, nobody has quite as many as Bob Dylan. Any second of material the man put to tape has been gathered by squirrel-like fans prepping for some form of musical hibernation. Who can blame them? Dylan’s period of releases, while consistent, is not as full-on as his beginnings. Treats like Live at Carnegie Chapter Hall 1961 are in plentiful supply for those needing to plug the gap between releases. For those that have read Chronicles, New York proved a clearly valuable time for Dylan. It is experienced well on the likes of Talkin’ New York, a trip through the city that marked so much of those early years for Dylan and his craft.
Immediate those harmonica flourishes may be on Pretty Peggy-O, the great confidence that comes from Dylan at such an early period of his career is stunning to hear. For a bootleg tape, the quality is surprising, even if Dylan’s distance between the microphone grows and falls at times. Still, those little flourishes do not detract from the quality musicianship at the core of this bootleg, the bits and pieces left over featuring on bootleg tapes, master recordings and the like. Those small coffee house performances that kickstarted a grand career are like gold dust for those who want to see where it all started. Live at Carnegie Chapter Hall 1961 is an essential bootleg for that reason. Littering his setlist with traditional covers, Woody Guthrie tributes and a delicate debut of Talkin’ New York, the history that bleeds from this bootleg is next to none.
An alleged first-ever recording of Talkin’ New York is a great feature for a piece that includes a John Lair cover of Freight Train Blues and Man on the Street. Beyond the history in motion of Live at Carnegie Chapter Hall 1961 is a quality live set that relies heavily on the pieces that would soon appear on Dylan’s self-titled debut. In the Pines is a powerful piece of work, the acoustic force of that marks an early highlight on an album full of exciting, early renditions of works that would go on to form a crucial musical voice. Dylan picks up the pace with his harmonica and acoustic guitar-led showcase, a fourteen-track set that has the lingering rush of quality about it. Live at Carnegie Chapter Hall 1961 is crucial for those hoping for a clearer chart of vocal changes to Dylan, who at just twenty, crafted this gig.
Clear to the likes of Man On The Street is this ability Dylan has to sing and use his harmonica as a sparring partner. It featured frequently in his later works and was eventually engulfed by competent arrangements, but it is a fundamental that has continued on. Dylan has a back-and-forth with his own instrumentals, a feeling that they are not there to support the lyrics but to challenge them flows through. It feels better to hear it live and here than it does when it is put down in a studio, but that is the charm of Live at Carnegie Chapter Hall, it takes listeners back to those early roots and gives them a frame to work from.
