Bob Dylan
In Concert-Brandeis University 1963
Columbia/Legacy
By David Chiu
If you were among the unfortunate few who weren’t able to get this previously unreleased concert that was a limited bonus addition to The Witmark Demos last year through Amazon, you are in luck: Columbia/Legacy has now issued this historic Brandeis University show as a proper release. And it is a landmark album in some respects since it was recently unearthed in the home of the late music critic Ralph J.Gleason two years ago. And even though it is only 7 songs (one of which, “Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance” is incomplete), In Concert is a still fulfilling set. According to Michael Gray’s liner notes, Dylan had only released his self-titled debut and had just completed recording The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan; he noted how unusual that the set list offered no songs from the Bob Dylan but several from Freewheelin’. The solo performances by Dylan drawing from the old folk tradition are incredible—among them powerful “Masters of War,” the satirical “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” and “Bob Dylan’s Dream.” It’s a remarkable and historic performance almost 50 years after the fact.
NewBeats 