Bob Dylan & The Band - The 1974 Live Recordings :: “The Missing Songs From Before The Flood” - 9/20
Both calloused and cascading with cosmic integrity, monumental motivation and now complete confidence, Dylan returned to the stage with fevered stoicism after a near decade hiatus and deserved a spiritual break from the scrutiny of the public and its wicked paralysis. While the aftermath of what took place in Dylan’s career and personal life is beyond covered between 1966 and his historically stark and iconic return in the early/mid 1970s, the ‘Master of the uniVERSE’ and the epic reuniting of his electric band and friends from the infamous war zone of critics, clowns of culture and a population of panic, is nothing short of being a meditated miracle. Having moved on to write and record some of the most influential records of their careers with titles like 1968s debut “Music From Big Pink”, the critically acclaimed self-titled, “Cahoots” and the cinematic “Moondog Matinée”, The Band would officially become joined in arms once again with Dylan that following year to help record his masterpiece and debut on Asylum Records, “Planet Waves” and in return this would set off some of the most exciting and extraterrestrial events in Dylan’s ‘made up for lost time’ era, as well as The Band’s 18-month long interregnum.
“We can’t regain what went down in the flood.”
1974 was a colossal year for Dylan, to say the least, as this would be the musician’s introduction to filling stadiums around the country, as well as around the world in the following years. A decade that was identified with many elements of cultural change, faiths and formulas in existence. It was also the era of ‘arena rock’ and what’s most fascinating about Dylan’s past relationship with performing leading up to his ‘electric’ mood, is that his shows were still relatively personal, not yet categorized as having this coliseum-like climate. You could still touch him with your eyes, or live out this fatal fantasy that he may, or may not, have noticed your presence in the crowd. But with his stent of historical dormancy from the public for all those years, it only made his spectacular spell and grandiose gaze that much more potent as he geared up to win it all back once again with the mighty and cinematic success of “Before The Flood”.
Recorded on both the west and east coasts in the winter of ‘74, the collection of songs that would showcase Dylan and The Band highlighted each other's greatest efforts, while simultaneously complimenting one another with that old familiarity of the past by revealing a bright future that would eventually lead to 1975’s “The Basement Tapes”, and the epochal that is “The Last Waltz”. Referred to as ‘Tour ‘74’, The 40 concert, 30 date, 21 city tour began in early January and ended in mid-February, resulting in a spellbinding, double album that captures a baby’s first breath and the internal intensity of brother-hood, vivid visions of an artistic kingdom and the ultimate connection with an audience that has set the tone for the next half century in the experience of live music. Stated by critics and listeners for a wide as being nothing short of a masterpiece, ultimate success/comeback story, etc., but the only opinion that really matters is that of Dylan’s, who had this to say about the phenomenon in later years:
“I think I was just playing a role on that tour, I was playing Bob Dylan and the Band were playing the Band. It was all sort of mindless. The only thing people talked about was energy this, energy that. The highest compliments were things like, ‘Wow, lotta energy, man.’ It had become absurd.”
For the first time in half a century, the floodgates have officially opened once again for an almost overwhelming and absolutely massive piece in the perplexing puzzle that is ‘Dylan-ism’, with the release of Bob Dylan & The Band - The 1974 Live Recordings: “The Missing Songs From Before The Flood”. The seemingly black hole box set features 431 tracks across 27 compact discs, with 417 tracks being unreleased. Columbia and Legacy have declined any sort of offers or interest in releasing the works on vinyl, but Third Man Records has stepped up to the terrifying, yet conceivable plate to take on this monumental project that deserves to be heard the way its previous incarnation was and for that we should be thankful for this unparalleled undertaking. Set for release in mid-September, “The Missing Songs From Before The Flood” will be a galactic expedition into the depths of one of the most sophisticated and retrospective listens in Dylan’s live album/recording experience yet.
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