BOB DYLAN – Street Legal Live 1978 (1CD)

Various Sources 8.5/10 – So this is, as the title suggests, a collection of recordings made during this tour but the kicker is that the songs are all ones that were one-off’s (with a couple of exceptions). I found that even the worst track (the final track in the set) was not as bad as they made it seem in the liner notes. Still, when compared to some of the truly outstanding ones in the set, yes maybe it really paled in comparison but there’s only two “marginal” tracks here and they aren’t totally abhorrent. This was a very interesting listen for me personally.

Bob Dylan
All This Tangled Rope – Street Legal Live 1978

1. -Changing of the Guards – Paris, July 8th
2. -New Pony – Paris, July 5th soundcheck
3. -Baby, Stop Crying – New York City, September 30th
4. -Is Your Love in Vain – Providence, October 7th
5. -Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) – Seattle, November 10th
6. -True Love Tends to Forget – Camberley, July 15th
7. -We Better Talk This Over – Los Angeles, November 15th
8. -Where Are You Tonight – Seattle, November 10th
9. -A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – Nürnberg, July 1st
10. -Gates Of Eden – Camberley, July 15th
11. -Am I Your Stepchild – Madison, November 1st
12. -The Man In Me – Paris, July 6th
13. -Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues – New York City, September 29th
14. -Coming From The Heart (The Road Is Long) – St. Paul, October 31st
15. -I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight – Hollywood, December 16th
16. -One Of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) – Nürnberg, July 1st
17. -Fix It, Ma – Paris, July 3rd soundcheck

Notes:
2. poor recording; has not been performed live yet as of March 05; note that a soundcheck recording of “No Time To Think” (the 3rd track on the studio album) circulates, but the quality is markedly inferior to “New Pony,” so I chose not to include it.
5. Dylan did not debut the intro story about the “old man with his eyes on fire” until San Diego, November 17th
9. only solo performance of this song in ’78
10. mixed source recording, with merge at 0:47
11. “second version” lyrics; does not include my favorite line from the “first version,” “I pulled you out of dope scenes, orgies and jam sessions too.”
13. second of only two ’78 performances
14. only live performance to date as of March 05; a studio demo circulates, as well
15. final number from the final ’78 show; minor tape problems 4:07 > 4:11
17. poor recording; author unknown, possibly Dylan; sounds of taping device being moved 0:00 > 0:29, minor edit 0:24

Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar & harmonica)
Billy Cross (lead guitar)
Alan Pasqua (keyboards)
Steven Soles (rhythm guitar, backup vocals)
David Mansfield (violin & mandolin)
Steve Douglas (horns)
Jerry Scheff (bass)
Bobbye Hall (percussion)
Ian Wallace (drums)
Helena Springs
Jo Ann Harris
Carolyn Dennis (background vocals).