A chance to hear Bob Dylan work his way through the charms of Modern Times should not be passed up on. A Thousand Times Happier is a bootleg worth experiencing, not just because it comes at a time when the likes of Thunder on the Mountain were deemed a setlist necessity. He may not have been hot on the song after 2019, but it was, for a long while, an almost sure-fire choice. Dylan has managed to innovate in between album release cycles by shaking up his on-stage style. It happens here, and it’s a massive contrast to the style he brought across his Never-Ending Tour just two years before the Fall 2006 period. Gone are the rock and roll stylings, the rugged but quickened tempo of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum or rousing hits such as consistent performances of Like a Rolling Stone. Dylan and his band instead tap into the wider spread of songs which did not receive love at the time of their release.
It means the inclusion of Under the Red Sky on this set, a song which would feature rather frequently in the tours to follow, too. What Dylan sounds keen to do here is to give a few of these lesser-known songs a final outing, to finally make peace with what they sound like and the message they deliver. The Man in Me is a magnificent occasion, though it doesn’t receive half the reaction it should have. Heavy on the harmonica but well worth a listen to the New Morning classic, somehow finding a spot on a tour comprised, presumably, by throwing darts at a wall where song titles were stapled. It explains the likes of The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll, Rollin’ and Tumblin’, and Every Grain of Sand being scattered throughout this bootleg. This is not a bad choice, no song Dylan picks here, nor the choices of the bootlegger, are bad. It’s just so wildly different to what could’ve been expected that it’s a surprise to hear it all unfold.
Mixing surprise inclusions with contemporary tracks was what Dylan did best. It’s changed now, with the Rough and Rowdy Ways show based in rigidity and the occasional cover, but the days of Fall 2006 can still be found easily enough. Songs like Tangled Up in Blue and Every Grain of Sand can be found on just about any compilation from the last twenty-five years, but there are some rogue, wonderful inclusions on A Thousand Times Happier that make it well worth a listen. She Belongs to Me, Under the Red Sky, and a particularly chilling rendition of Desolation Row from Ontario, Canada, are all reasons to stick around for this stylish set of songs. Much of that is thanks to the instrumental variance brought on by this tour. Most important of all is that ongoing desire from Dylan to fixate on a fresh sound, to bring these songs into an exciting but creatively engaged space. He succeeds.
A Thousand Times Happier has that gravelly voice Dylan has worked with for some time, and it’s not a hindrance to the wider work. Sometimes hard to understand, but it’s the equivalent of walking around an art installation and not reading the inscriptions. You’re there for the atmosphere, listening to what has changed and how others feel for the songs at hand, rather than noting specifics or jotting down the details. A Thousand Times Happier, like many post-2000 bootlegs from Dylan fans, is a collection of songs which, quite simply, sound good. His on-stage frequency means there are plenty of choices, and there’ll no doubt be overlap from one bootleg to another. But the sheer volume of quality works means it’s an unnoticeable overlap, if there even is one.
