Bob Dylan – Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? Review

Listeners are spoilt for choice when it comes to Bob Dylan bootlegs. Finding one, especially from the early years of these New York performances, of professional quality, is nearly impossible. Look no further than Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?, a frankly perfect recording. It makes sense given these songs were formed as part of a cancelled live album, though their unreleased state, the hard-to-find status they hold, makes it quite the item of interest. A brilliant early-years moment for Dylan, who provides thoughts on his idol Woody Guthrie, as well as a few wonderful folk performances. Plant yourself in Carnegie Hall, you can just about do it given the quality of this recording. Sincerely remarkable, and the songs Dylan chooses to perform for this ultimately scrapped album are of great quality too. Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie is a masterclass, a moment of real, driven intensity. 

What you can hear throughout this recording is something Dylan would soon lose. He has something to prove here. There is a reason to his wordplay, an intensity to his performance which would be replaced with the forward-thinking and often ahead-of-its-time style found on albums after the self-titled debut. Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? hears Dylan try and impress the Carnegie Hall faithful. He does so naturally with performances of Percy’s Song and Lay Down Your Weary Tune, but there is a sense of failure looming in the wings. A piercing moment like that would have sunk his career at this time. But listen a little closer and you can start to piece together an incredible contrast. A few performances from before The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was recorded, a few after. All you can do is guess, note the confidence or chilling hope heard on his voice. Either way, it makes for an impressive listen.  

You can hear why it was scrapped as a live album project. Dylan needed some more pieces of his own before Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? released. An ambitious project but by the time it was ready for the public, Dylan had plenty of his own songs which far exceed the quality of his covers. Dusty Old Fairgrounds is an excellent early slice of Dylan, a song which would certainly fit on his self-titled debut. But it does not line up with the monumental works he would go on to create. It pales when compared to those folk originals, though to hear some quality harmonica work which does not defile the ears or rattle the teeth from this period is always welcome. One of the many “to be released” albums from Dylan’s career, and certainly one of quality.  

Unlike the scrapped Toad’s Place New Haven release, understanding why Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? was cancelled is easy. For those who want a broad and brilliant look at Dylan in his early years, how he would take to the stage and the changes to come, this album is a great place to start. A firm, essential bootleg performance which has the polish of an official release, because it was meant to be. Who Killed Davey Moore? is a real highlight here, not just for its wordplay and the silence of the crowd but the quality of the recording. An outstanding compilation of early live works which highlight the one man and his guitar approach Dylan had in those early years. Not long after, he would trade all that for electrified brilliance. You would be hard-pressed to find a better early years compilation.