The Rolling Thunder Revue was the tour Dylan went on from the end of '75 throught the beginning of '76. Selections of the tour are available on the Dylan album called, The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue. This particular song is from the Forum de Montreal, in Canada (12/4/75). It's the first time that he played the song live and it has a completely different sound, as Dylan was famous for in his concerts with many songs. This made his shows all the more interesting, as you'd be hearing something different than the album cut. They're often sung and played a bit more aggressively I've found.
The last tour Dylan had done was with The Band. 40 dates in early '74. It was a comeback tour of grand proportions for Bob Dylan, as well as The Band. The Rolling Thunder Revue however, was a 2-leg tour with 57 dates. Much of it was recorded professionally and bootlegs were and are passed around. It's a hell of a tour, and the album is one of my favorite live ones. A lot of different takes on songs, as expected, but what I like best is how "live" the album actually sounds. It's as much a recording of atmosphere as it is music. Thankfully the "revue" was made up of some serious players, who had a very distinctive sound that worked in this context.
Artists like Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Bob Neuwirth, Scarlet Rivera (who had some very memorable Violin parts), and Mick Ronson (Spider Mars). It also featured artists like David Mansfield, T-Bone Burnett, and Steven Soles, who continued working together after the tour and formed The Alpha Band in 1977. Of course, there are some complaints that the 2-disc album isn't actually resemblant of a full show during the tour, and that some other big performances of the tour were not included. But hey, you only get so many slots to fill.
The first concert I ever saw was Bob Dylan at Jones Beach, July 1st, 1988. Yea, I was 4. Can't say I remember much of it. My parents said the guys in front of them were partaking in some "extracurriculars," and when I asked about what the smell was, they tried to tell me it was cigarette smoke. By that time I knew what cigarettes were, so I called them out on it. When they explained to me what Marijuana was at the ripe old age of four, the guys smoking it certainly got a kick out of it. And if that's the story I take with me from my first Bob Dylan concert, I'm content.
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