Bob Dylan – The Legendary Broadcasts: 1960 – 1964 Review

Either the lens on this pair of glasses is not strong enough or the image of Bob Dylan on the right of this album cover looks fake. Nine years ago marked the release of The Legendary Broadcasts: 1960 – 1964, so we can be soothed somewhat in knowing it is likely not a fake image. We cannot rule it out, though. Not in these times when a fear of technology should be at an all-time high. The same generation who told the ones below them to get off their phones and touch the grass are now guffawing at action figure mock-ups generated in the sloppiest, most environmentally damaging ways imaginable. Gone is creativity. The bar for content lowered once more. But this is a sweet enough selection of, as the title would suggest, early years live tapes. The bulk of it is an example of how tape preservation can be truly beneficial. Most appear elsewhere on the Dylan YouTube channel, but it is at least neat to hear them all here.  

Opener Omie Wise, live from a 1961 Church Hootenanny, is fantastic. To hear it has survived this long is borderline miraculous. Luck is what makes these early years recordings worth a listen. Not the quality of the tape, but the foresight to record the performance. It’s because of this we can hear the likes of Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor and The Girl I Left Behind, true deep cuts and both are worth a listen. Rare it may be to find a relatively listenable patch for compilation albums on the Dylan YouTube channel, The Legendary Broadcasts is certainly enjoyable. Early versions of Po’ Lazarus are nothing short of fascinating. Those folk classics and the earliest in Dylan’s discography still hold as charming, often quality songs. They would feature rarely, but somewhat so, in the 1990s performances. Song to Woody would even get a look-in.  

Their longevity is highlighted in the earliest years, though. What attracts Dylan and his listeners back to these songs is made abundantly clear on The Legendary Broadcasts. Songs ripped from the Folksinger’s Choice performance, The Death of Emmett Till and Hard Times in New York Town, highlight the incredible stream of consciousness Dylan was working with at the time. It is a style which would serve his first five years as a recording artist incredibly well. There are some all-time great performances featured on this compilation too, with the TV performance of Blowin’ in the Wind, as well as a tremendous Girl from the North Country from Quest, Toronto. That Toronto showcase features frequently towards the end of this compilation, and what a piece of work it is.  

Those who are frequent listeners of Dylan’s backlog will be familiar with a few of these compilation pieces. Studs Terkel provided Dylan a strong platform for some of his most daring songs, Ballad of Hollis Brown and Bob Dylan’s Dream feature along with Boots of Spanish Leather, but that Toronto show is nothing short of outstanding. There are better places to listen to these releases, and those who know where to look can easily pick out the bootlegs which feature the whole show, or thereabouts, but The Legendary Broadcasts 1960 – 1964 is at least an earnest effort to compile those moments of influence. Solid audio quality is the key here, and that is exactly what is offered by this compilation.