RAY PADGETT: On paper, Bob Dylan and The Band’s three Madison Square Garden shows - just after the halfway point of Tour ’74 - look a lot like the month of shows that preceded them. Same musicians, same sound, same songs (mostly). The vibe in the room, however, was quite different.
For one, could Rolling Stone have run a photo spread like this from the audience in Landover or Montreal?
Yes, practically every celebrity music person in the world came out. So many that newspapers remarked upon the few who didn’t show (George Harrison, who Bob had last performed at the Garden with, was in India apparently). Rumors circulated of some sort of all-star jam—maybe even a Beatles reunion up there—but no one appeared onstage besides the five Band-members and Bob.
The show, as I said, was more or less as it had been. The energy was not.
These concerts were also being recorded—not just by audience tapers, but for the live album that became Before the Flood. Phil Ramone, the future Billy Joel producer (and Blood on the Tracks engineer) who was at this point most notable for engineering The Band’s Rock of Ages, handled recording duties. You can see a very small photo of him at work in this trade ad hyping his company’s console they shipped in to record the Madison Square Garden shows, alongside one of the tape boxes from night one:
Bob and the Band even did a special afternoon soundcheck, to ensure the best sound and make sure they’d be playing at their peak. Per the New York Times:
Earlier in the day, Mr. Dylan and his group, the Band, visited the Garden to perform a “sound check” of the equipment in the yawning arena. This rare tuneup was to insure maximum conditions, since all three concerts here are to be recorded, presumably for the release of an album.
Wearing a peaked cap, black leather jacket, dungarees, platform shoes and sunglasses, in the darkened arena, Mr. Dylan seemed relaxed and tossed a rubber ball occasionally. He and the Band “jammed” for about 15 minutes until they were satisfied.
However, for all that effort, they only used one song from all three of these New York shows on the final album (“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”). The other 20 tracks on Before the Flood all come from Los Angeles. I don’t know exactly why, but my guess is because his voice here sounds strained at times. And no wonder—between these three shows and the Nassau duo that preceded them, he played five concerts in four days! That is an insane pace, especially for someone out of practice and especially when the shows are long and extremely high-energy. It’s amazing he still sounds as good as he does. The Band themselves, according to one press report, rated the opening night’s show only “mildly okay.”
The crowds didn’t seem to mind. By all accounts, the fan response was near ecstatic. So much so that, for the first time all tour, Dylan had to do extra encores. The first night, he played another song after the usual “Most Likely You Go Your Way” big finale. The audience wouldn’t settle down when he left the stage, so he and The Band returned to debut a full-electric “Blowin’ in the Wind.” It went so well, as you can hear by the clapping that drowns out the music, that it became a tour staple.
That still wasn’t enough encore though. Five minutes after they finished that, the house lights were on but the crowd was still cheering. Promoter Bill Graham hustled Dylan back on stage yet again, alone, to take one final bow. He’d already changed out of his stage clothes, assuming he was done for the night, so we get these wonderful photos of him wearing a Maple Leafs hockey jersey I assume someone gave him at the Toronto stop (or maybe he borrowed it from one of his Band-mates).
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