Bob Dylan - 1997-08-24 - Vienna VA (SBD)

Bob Dylan

1997-08-24

Wolf Trap

Vienna, VA

Soundboard recording

320 kbps

Artwork Included

1st Set

01. Intro - “Columbia Recording Artist Bob Dylan”

02. Absolutely Sweet Marie

03. Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You

04. Tough Mama

05. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

06. Silvio

2nd Set

07. Roving Gambler

08. Tangled Up In Blue

09. Cocaine,

10. Watching The River Flow

11. Blind Willie McTell

12. Highway 61 Revisited

Encore:

13. Like A Rolling Stone

14. Forever Young

15. Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35

Bob Dylan - 1997-08-24 - Vienna VA (SBD)

In May 1997, while on tour in the US, Bob Dylan was forced to cancel numerous dates after being hospitalized for a potentially fatal chest infection, called histoplasmosis. Since Dylan had embarked on what is called the Never Ending Tour in 1988, his 1997 hospital stay was been his longest break from playing live. Dylan recovered, and continued to tour the US throughout August. This soundboard recording captures Dylan in Vienna VA, on August 24, 1997, 26 years ago today!

While Bob Dylan doesn't have many connections to the Allman Brothers, his links to The Band and the Grateful Dead more than make up for it. The Band, before they took that name, were The Hawks, and they served as Dylan’s back up band for his 1966 world tour, his first since he went electric at the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival. The famed 1975 Basement Tapes album captures Dylan and The Band recording together in Woodstock (yes - that Woodstock) NY while Dylan was recovering from a motorcycle accident. When Dylan returned to touring in 1974, he was backed by The Band for what was, at the time, the most sought after concert ticket in rock history. The live album Before The Flood captures highlights of that tour. Dylan was the final performer introduced at The Band’s Last Waltz in November 1976. The re-united Band, sans Robbie Robertson who choose not to rejoin his former band mates, and Richard Manuel, who died in 1986, played a cover of When I Paint My Masterpiece at the Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert.  I'm certain with some additional research, dozens more links could be mfoumd.

The Dylan The the Dead links are almost as numerous. In 1987, Dylan and The Dead played 6 shows together, where the Dead opened with their material, then served as Dylan’s backing band for a closing set. In both 1986 and 1995, Dylan served as the lead-in band for several Dead concerts. He also made several guest appearances at their shows, most notably a February 12 1989 show in Los Angeles and a October 17, 1994 performance in New York.  Robert Hunter, Garcia's song writing partner, co-wrote 2 songs on Dylan’s 1988 album, Down in The Groove. The Grateful Dead, as well as Jerry Garcia in his solo shows, made covers of Dylan tunes such as Maggie’s Farm, All Along The Watchtower, Stuck Inside of Mobile, Tangled Up In Blue, Quinn The Eskimo, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) and When I Paint My Masterpiece, just to name a few, staples of their live sets.  In 2005, Rhino Records released a compilation disc entitled Garcia plays Dylan, featuring Jerry playing live versions of 18 different Dylan tunes either as a member of the Grateful Dead or at a solo show,  It was a companion to an album entitled Postcards From The Hanging, released 3 years earlier, that featured 13 Dylan tunes as covered by the Grateful Dead, some with Bob Weir or Phil Lesh on vocals. Fittingly, when Bob Weir played a concert the same night his brother in music, Garcia, passed away, the song he chose to close the night was Dylan’s Knockin on Heaven’s Door.