Bob Dylan Announces 1976 Rolling Thunder Revue Box Set

Bob Dylan has announced a massive new box set titled The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1976 Live Recordings, arriving this fall on Nov. 6. Pre-orders are currently open for the expansive release.

Spanning nearly 40 discs, the set captures the second leg of Dylan’s historic Rolling Thunder Revue tour. That leg launched on April 18, 1976, in Lakeland, Florida, and wrapped up on May 25, 1976, in Salt Lake City. According to a press release, “almost all” of the 27 show dates from that segment are featured across 371 never-before-heard tracks.

The Band and Historical Impact

Bob Dylan performing live during the Rolling Thunder Revue tour. (Adam Jones, Ph.D., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

During this 1976 trek, Dylan’s backing band featured bassist Rob Stoner, violinist Scarlet Rivera, drummer Howie Wyeth, and guitarists Mick Ronson—formerly of David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars—Steven Soles, David Mansfield, and T Bone Burnett.

Reflecting on the tour’s legacy, Burnett recalled, “The Rolling Thunder Revue was the first national punk rock tour. It opened a door that led to a furious explosion of new music — the Clash, Elvis Costello, the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and on and on. Dylan had done it again. He is good at walking through doors that no one else even sees, doors that others think are walls.”

Liner Notes and Set Details

In the set’s liner notes, Mikal Gilmore writes: “All that’s left of the Rolling Thunder movie that was never made but instead played out on stages for four-and-a-half weeks in the spring of 1976, is what you now hold in your hands. Play the music, close your eyes, and watch the story.”

The collection includes extensive recordings from various stops along the spring 1976 route. Below is a partial look at the massive track listing spanning the tour’s early Florida dates:

April 18, 1976 – Civic Center, Lakeland, FL (Disc 1): Visions of Johanna, If You See Her, Say Hello, Vincent van Gogh, Weary Blues from Waitin’, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Maggie’s Farm, One Too Many Mornings (Incomplete)
April 20, 1976 – Bayfront Civic Center Auditorium, St. Petersburg, FL (Discs 2/3): Mr. Tambourine Man, It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), Vincent van Gogh, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Maggie’s Farm, One Too Many Mornings, Seven Days, Railroad Boy, Wild Mountain Thyme, Blowin’ in the Wind, Shelter from the Storm (Incomplete), I Threw It All Away, Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You, Just Like a Woman, It Take a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry, Mozambique, Lay, Lady, Lay, Idiot Wind (Incomplete), Gotta Travel On
April 21, 1976 – Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, FL (Disc 4): Seven Days, Railroad Boy, Wild Mountain Thyme, Blowin’ in the Wind, Shelter from the Storm (Incomplete), Going, Going, Gone, Romance in Durango, Lay, Lady, Lay, Idiot Wind, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Gotta Travel On
April 22, 1976 – Starlight Ballroom, Belleview-Biltmore Hotel, Belleair, FL (Disc 5): Mr. Tambourine Man, The Times They Are A-Changin’, Blowin’ in the Wind, I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Like a Rolling Stone, Isis, Just Like a Woman, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Lay, Lady, Lay
April 23, 1976 – Sports Stadium, Orlando, FL (Discs 6/7): Mr. Tambourine Man, It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), Vincent van Gogh, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Maggie’s Farm, One Too Many Mornings, Isis (Incomplete), Blowin’ in the Wind (Incomplete), Railroad Boy, I Pity the Poor Immigrant, Romance in Durango, I Threw It All Away, Seven Days, You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, Lay, Lady, Lay, Mozambique, Idiot Wind (Incomplete), Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Gotta Travel On
April 25, 1976 – University of Florida Field, Gainesville, FL (Discs 8/9): Mr. Tambourine Man, Simple Twist of Fate, Vincent van Gogh, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Maggie’s Farm, One Too Many Mornings, Isis, Blowin’ in the Wind, Dink’s Song, Railroad Boy, I Pity the Poor Immigrant, Shelter from the Storm, I Threw It All Away, Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues, One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below), Going, Going, Gone, Mozambique (Incomplete), Lay, Lady, Lay, Idiot Wind, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Gotta Travel On
April 27, 1976 – Tully Gymnasium, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (Discs 10/11): Mr. Tambourine Man, If You See Her, Say Hello, Vincent van Gogh, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Maggie’s Farm, One Too Many Mornings, Isis, Blowin’ in the Wind, Wild Mountain Thyme, I Pity the Poor Immigrant, Shelter from the Storm (Edit), I Threw It All Away, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go, Going, Going, Gone, Mozambique, Lay, Lady, Lay, Idiot Wind (Edit), Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Gotta Travel On
April 28, 1976 – University of West Florida Field House, Pensacola, FL (Discs 12/13): Mr. Tambourine Man, Just Like a Woman, Vincent van Gogh, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Maggie’s Farm, One Too Many Mornings, Isis, Blowin’ in the Wind, Railroad Boy, I Pity the Poor Immigrant (Incomplete), Shelter from the Storm, I Threw It All Away, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues