Bob Dylan – The 1966 Live Recordings – Pittsburgh Review

Controversial? In hindsight, not at all. A shift to electric for Bob Dylan was the best thing music could have asked for at the time. His folksy blues had not run their course but he had outgrown them. At the time, the monumental switch-up caused blood to boil, fans to screech their fury and a relentless Dylan to power through with what would become some of the all-time great songs of history. Pittsburgh 1966, one of many selects from the bulky 1966 Live collection, is a crucial example to mark this change of pace and style. What a bold move it was for Dylan to do it – and how better off listeners are for the risk of hiring electronic players ready to put up with the folknik’s damning The Hawks (soon to be The Band) and Dylan to hell and back. 

Incomplete and poor quality this instalment may be, what is left of the Pittsburgh 1966 show is frankly fascinating. Laughter from the crowd on Visions of Johanna is possibly a good sign though the incomplete pieces of Desolation Row and She Belongs to Me turn those in attendance. Thunderous applause before cutting into Love Minus Zero/No Limit. It is telling of the quality Dylan possesses that he can shuffle the deck of incredible songs and offer up these ninety-minute showcases with enough songs to keep variety. Variety on stage is sanity for the mind of the performer and those attending more than one gig on the tour – though the split of acoustic and electric may have warded off those hoping to hear Dylan traipse out, at the time, folk and acoustic gems.  

Take the likes of Like a Rolling Stone from this recording, even with the quality of the audio a clear sign of utter brilliance from the man himself. It helps Like a Rolling Stone is close to his greatest track, though the frosty reception at the time is fascinating – and it makes a boxset like 1966 Live utterly peculiar to listen to in chunks, to gauge the reaction from crowd to crowd. Positively 4th Street makes for a similar experience – the grind of the crowd and the rush of energy found in this newfound electricity is fascinating, and of course is a neat listen all the same given the quality Dylan brings to live performances. There is not a disgust for acoustic efforts from Dylan but a desire to show audiences what the future holds. Their loss for rejecting it out of hand, then.  

These are the deep-cut bootlegs those with time on their hands can get stuck into. Pittsburgh 1966 is listenable but is best used as an example of the shifting music scene rather than a listening experience. Bootleg records piece together the shows as best they can, and though these rare moments are worth experiencing once, it is one of the few cases where the vitriol and reaction to his music take the front seat, the music merely a vessel for outrage to be carried by. Although the likes of Mr. Tambourine Man make for exceptional listening, it is the electricity of the second half which captures the ear on this one – a monumental experience and an even more fascinating one with the benefit of hindsight.