Like a Rolling Stone - Looking for great live Dylan

The version from "The Bootleg Series Vol. 4," the so-called Royal Albert Hall concert, is an absolute winner. Others of interest:

For a particularly hyperactive Bob (which is not to everyone's taste, of course), there's the one on "Before the Flood," performed with The Band.

I think Bob was singing particularly well on the much-maligned "MTV Unplugged" show, with "Like a Rolling Stone" sounding awfully good.

And if you are interested in a sort of whacked-out Bob, check out the version on "Self Portrait." Few would call it their favorite, but no one would term it uninteresting.

Happy listening.

-- Howard

While I'm well aware that we are talking here about versions by Bob himself, I include, for those interested in hearing a fabulous cover, the following link:

http://www.nme.com/news/laura-marling/79991

One of the greatest songs ever, sung by a brilliant songwriter who also just happens to have a voice like an angel.

Enjoy.

-- Howard

"... the song is not a ballad."

It's funny to see someone saying this about a Dylan song. It's a ballad if someone wants to perform it as such. It could also be done as a reggae tune, a straight-up rocker, a waltz, a punk song, a country number, a gospel blaster, a disco song ...

There's no one who has messed with his own songs more than has Dylan. Others covering them ought to be afforded that same luxury, don't ya think?

True story: The second time I saw Dylan -- it was, if memory serves, in the early-1980s at the New Haven Coliseum -- a friend of a friend who attended, a guy who'd liked Dylan way back in the day but hadn't kept up, said as we were leaving that he'd enjoyed the show, but that he'd really wanted to hear Bob play "Blowin' in the Wind."

At the same moment, my friend and I both responded: "He did!"

He had, of course, but not on acoustic guitar. He played it with a full band, all rearranged.