Bob Dylan to release 36-disc boxed set of 1966 concerts

Bob Dylan announced a new collection Tuesday that finds the rock icon continuing to mine his prolific, seminal mid-’60s output. On Nov. 11, Columbia Records and Legacy Records will release Bob Dylan: The 1966 Live Recordings, a 36-disc boxed set with “every known recording” from his tours that year. The set follows 2015’s The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12, which collected Dylan’s sessions from the three albums he produced during that period, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde.

“While doing the archival research for The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 […] we were continually struck by how great his 1966 live recordings really are,” Legacy Recordings president Adam Block said in a statement. “The intensity of Bob’s live performances and his fantastic delivery of these songs in concert add another insightful component in understanding and appreciating the musical revolution Bob Dylan ignited some 50 years ago.”

The 1966 Live Recordings notably includes Dylan’s May 17, 1966 concert at England’s Manchester Free Trade Hall — officially released in 1998 as The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert. That concert is a historic one in Dylan lore: When a heckler, disgruntled by the musician’s decision to “go electric” beginning in 1965, shouts “Judas,” Dylan responds, “I don’t believe you, you’re a liar,” before kicking off “Like A Rolling Stone.”

But outside of that concert, a pair of songs released on 1985’s Biograph compilation, and “a smattering of others,” most of the material on the new collection is previously unreleased. Clinton Heyline, author of JUDAS!: From Forest Hills to the Free Trade Hall: A Historical View of Dylan’s Big Boo, wrote the compilation’s liner notes, while color stills from D.A. Pennebaker — the director who documented Dylan’s 1965 and 1966 tours with his films Don’t Look Back and Eat the Document — decorate the sleeves housing each disc.

And, for fans looking for just a taste of the compilation, Dylan’s label will release The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert on Dec. 2. (Despite occurring at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, the concert contained on 1998’s The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4 is often bandied about as having taken place at the Royal Albert Hall.)

Dylan has recently kicked his bootleg series into high gear. In 2013, he released The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971), chronicling the sessions of 1971’s Self Portrait. The following year, he published The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete, a collection of the 1967 recordings with the Band — who back Dylan on The 1966 Live Recordings as the Hawks— that became 1975’s The Basement Tapes.

But despite his archival kick, Dylan has also kept active, releasing two cover albums — 2015’s Shadows in the Night and this year’s Fallen Angels — and embarking on a tour this past summer. He’ll also perform at both weekends of October’s Desert Trip, the Southern California festival that also features Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Roger Waters, and the Who.

Below, hear Dylan’s version of “Tell Me, Momma” from his May 26, 1966 concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and check out a thorough breakdown of the contents of The 1966 Live Recordings.

Disc 1 – Sydney, April 13, 1966 (Soundboard recorded by TCN 9 TV Australia)

Disc 2 – Sydney, April 13, 1966 (Soundboard recorded by TCN 9 TV Australia)

Disc 3 – Melbourne, April 20, 1966 (Soundboard / unknown broadcast)

Disc 4 – Copenhagen, May 1, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 5 – Dublin, May 5, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 6 – Dublin, May 5, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 7 – Belfast, May 6, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 8 – Belfast, May 6, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 9 – Bristol, May 10, 1966 (Soundboard / audience)

Disc 10 – Bristol, May 10, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 11 – Cardiff, May 11, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 12 – Birmingham, May 12, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 13 – Birmingham, May 12, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 14 – Liverpool, May 14, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 15 – Leicester, May 15, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 16 – Leicester, May 15, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 17 – Sheffield, May 16, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 18 – Sheffield, May 16, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 19 – Manchester, May 17, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 20 – Manchester, May 17, 1966 (CBS Records recording except Soundcheck / Soundboard)

Disc 21 – Glasgow, May 19, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 22 – Edinburgh, May 20, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 23 – Edinburgh, May 20, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 24 – Newcastle, May 21, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 25 – Newcastle, May 21, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 26 – Paris, May 24, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 27 – Paris, May 24, 1966 (Soundboard)

Disc 28 – London, May 26, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 29 – London, May 26, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 30 – London, May 27, 1966 (CBS Records recording)

Disc 31 – London, May 27, 1966 (CBS Records recordings)

Disc 32 – White Plains, NY, February 5, 1966 (Audience tape)

Disc 33 – Pittsburgh, PA, February 6, 1966 (Audience tape)

Disc 34 – Hempstead, NY, February 26, 1966 (Audience tape)

Disc 35 – Melbourne, April 19, 1966 (Audience tape)

Disc 36 – Stockholm, April 29, 1966 (Audience tape)