431-track Bob Dylan boxset recorded in 1974 set for release
Bob Dylan has announced details of The 1974 Live Recordings, which is set for release later this year and chronicles his return to touring in 1974.
The mammoth 431-track boxset was recorded while Dylan was on the road with The Band on an extensive arena tour. In total, the songs that feature on the collection will be spread out across 27 discs, which is set to be released on September 20th, 2024, by Columbia and Legacy Recordings.
While some of the tracks that feature on The 1974 Live Recordings have previously been released, 417 are previously-unreleased, including a new version of ‘Forever Young‘, which has been released on July 9th. The recently shared take on the Planet Waves hit was recorded in Seattle on February 9th, 1974.
Furthermore, Jack White’s Third Man Records are set to release The 1974 Live Recordings: The Missing Songs From Before The Flood. Due to the mechanics of sharing a live album in 1974, many cuts were unfortunately left off Before The Flood, but the new triple-LP release make amends.
Dylan’s 1974 tour changed the music business as we know it today. While it’s increasingly common for artists to play indoor arenas in every major city, in this sense, the singer-songwriter was a trailblazer and paved the way for others to do the same in the future.
The 40-date tour of North America came shortly after the release of Planet Waves with The Band, which Dylan set out to promote on the road. In addition to playing huge venues, it also gave fans their first chance to see him perform in seven years after a period in the wilderness for the enigmatic musician.
During this time, none of his fans were aware what he’d been doing and only had his records to provide an insight, allowing intrigue to build further around the star.
The tour included three concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden and another three shows at The Forum in Inglewood. It was a trailblazing run which helped establish a blueprint for the future of touring on a sizeable scale for artists of Dylan’s stature and shifted the future of live entertainment.
According to an article from The New York Times in 1974, the run of dates grossed over $5 million in ticket sales alone. Taking inflation into account, this figure would be over $33 million in 2024.
Most importantly, the tour made Dylan fall back in love with playing live, and for the last 50 years, he’s consistently been performing. Even though he’s now in his 80s, his summer schedule has seen him join forces with Willie Nelson for a huge co-headline tour across America, and he shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
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