Bob Dylan / New Orleans 1993 / 2CDR

Bob Dylan / New Orleans 1993 / 2CDR / Uxbridge

New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival,WWL/Ray-Ban Stage, The Fairgrounds Racetrack, New Orleans, LA, USA 23rd April 1993


Play sample :

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A large amount of Dylan’s 1993 live recordings were uploaded on the net at the timing as if to fuel us who were immersed in the afterglow of the wonderful performance in Japan, but honestly which one is better? There must have been many enthusiasts who were at a loss. It is also a period that is often forgotten even among enthusiastic maniacs.
This week we will release two performances literally selected from the large number of 1993 live recordings that appeared after a long time, as if the floodgates of a dam had opened. Both are really great sound quality, but first of all, the New Orleans performance in April.

This day was the stage of the “New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival”, which was also the finale of the spring US tour, and the audience captured the scene.
After all, the sound image is extremely close, and the clarity of the performance is outstanding. For example, in the middle of “Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again”, there is a happening that Tony Garnier’s bass does not sound, but the emergency situation is also captured in a lively balance.
Due to the nature of the festival, there are scenes where the surrounding audience is noisy (such as “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “What Good Am I?”), but since the sound image is closer than that, even if you are not a mania Good sound quality that can be enjoyed with.

In addition, Dylan does not rot even if he encounters a happening, and rather, it can be seen that his switch is suddenly turned “on” from “Stuck Inside~”. Dylan in this song is rather reliable because he shouts to high tension.
In addition, it seems to be 1993, which is the latest work at that time and opened with “Hard Times” from the very popular cover collection “GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU” for maniacs, and furthermore, “Jim Jones” and “Tomorrow Night ” is unique to this year.
More than that, a number of famous songs that Dylan has stopped singing are being shown without regret … but this was the norm in the past, and now it is “Positively 4th” in “All Along The Watchtower” The selection of songs such as “Street” looks gorgeous.

The best part was jumping into “Cat’s In The Well” by Dickie Betts of the Allman Brothers Band, who was performing at the same festival. The sound quality is also the best, so you can clearly see how Dicky is participating in the performance from the beginning.
At the beginning, he began to play carefully to read the air of the song, but the fact that the tune was for Dicky in the first place paid off, and soon his unique play exploded.
He rejoins the band with “Everything Is Broken”, but this is another perfect song selection, and the Dickie clause explodes more than “Cat’s In ~”. Whether it was fun to co-star with him as Dylan, the conclusion of the member introduction was Dicky.
The audience of 1993 had such good sound, good performance, and even a splendid guest appearance. It is a mysterious first appearance and high quality sound source that has not been released until now!

素晴らしかった来日公演の余韻に浸っている我々を煽るかのようなタイミングでネット上にはディラン1993年のライブ音源が大量にアップロードされていましたが、正直どれがいいの?と迷ってしまったマニアが多かったのではないでしょうか。それに熱心なマニアの間ですら忘れ去られがちな時期でもある。
こうしてダムの水門が開いたかのごとく大量に、しかも久々に現れた93年ライブ音源の中から文字通り厳選した二公演を今週リリースいたします。どちらも本当に素晴らしい音質なのですが、まずは4月のニューオリンズ公演。

この日は春のアメリカツアーの締めくくりを兼ねて出演した『New Orleans Jazz Heritage Festival』のステージでして、その模様を超絶オーディエンスで捉えてくれているのです。
何しろ抜群に音像が近く、それでいて演奏のクリアネスも抜群。例えば「Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again」の途中ではトニー・ガーニエのベースが鳴らなくなるというハプニングが発生してしまうのですが、その緊急事態も生々しいまでのバランスで捉えてくれている。
フェスという性質上、周囲の観客が騒がしい場面もあるにはある(「Mr. Tambourine Man」や「What Good Am I?」など)のですが、それ以上に音像が近いので、マニアでなくとも余裕で楽しめる音質の良さ。

それにハプニングに遭ってもディランは腐ることなく、むしろ「Stuck Inside~」から彼のスイッチが俄然「オン」になっている様子まで伝わってくる。この曲でのディランはむしろハイテンションにシャウトしてくれるから頼もしい。
それに93年らしいのが当時の最新作にしてマニアには大変人気の高い弾き語りカバー集『GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU』からの「Hard Times」で幕を開け、さらに「Jim Jones」に「Tomorrow Night」といった曲を披露しているというパターンがこの年ならでは。
それ以上にディランが歌わなくなってしまった名曲の数々が惜しげもなく披露されている…とはいっても昔はこれが当たり前だった訳で、今となっては「All Along The Watchtower」に「Positively 4th Street」といった選曲がゴージャスに映ってしまう。

極めつけは同じフェスに出演していたオールマン・ブラザーズ・バンドのディッキー・ベッツ「Cat’s In The Well」での飛び入り。これまた音質が最高なので、序盤からディッキーが演奏に加わっている様子がはっきり分かります。
彼は序盤こそ曲の空気を読もうと慎重に弾き始めていますが、そもそもディッキー向けな曲調だったことが功を奏し、すぐに彼ならではのプレイが炸裂。
彼は「Everything Is Broken」で再びバンドに加わりますが、これがまた打ってつけな選曲といえ「Cat’s In~」以上にディッキー節が炸裂。ディランとしても彼との共演が楽しかったのかメンバー紹介の締めくくりがディッキーとなったのでした。
このように音よし演奏よし、さらには豪華ゲストまで登場という93年の極上オーディエンス。今までリリースされなかったのが不思議なほどの初登場&ハイクオリティな音源です!

Disc 1 (61:32)
1. Hard Times
2. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
3. All Along The Watchtower
4. You’re A Big Girl Now
5. Tangled Up In Blue
6. Positively 4th Street
7. Watching The River Flow
8. Jim Jones
9. Tomorrow Night
10. Mr. Tambourine Man

Disc 2 (48:31)
1. Cat’s In The Well (with Dickie Betts)
2. I And I
3. Simple Twist Of Fate
4. Everything Is Broken (with Dickie Betts)
5. What Good Am I?
6. Maggie’s Farm
7. It Ain’t Me, Babe

Bob Dylan – vocal & guitar
Bucky Baxter – pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar
John Jackson – guitar
Tony Garnier – bass
Winston Watson – drums & percussion

Uxbridge 1922

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