Dylan’s 39‑Disc Rolling Thunder 1976 Archive Arrives This November

Dylan’s 39‑Disc Rolling Thunder 1976 Archive Arrives This November
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Bob Dylan is opening the vaults once again, this time turning to the second leg of the 1976 Rolling Thunder Revue and the scale of the release is staggering. The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1976 Live Recordings arrives November 6 via Columbia and Legacy, spanning 39 CDs and 381 tracks, with 371 performances previously unreleased. It’s the most expansive dive yet into Dylan’s live archive.

The 1976 run began April 18 in Lakeland, Florida and wrapped May 25 in Salt Lake City, covering 27 dates across the American South, Texas, the Plains and the Mountain West. Almost the entire tour is represented, sourced from the original tapes and presented chronologically so listeners can follow the revue city by city.

Rolling Thunder was never a conventional Dylan tour. It was a roaming musical caravan, built around shifting collaborations and nightly reinvention. For the 1976 leg, Joan Baez rejoined Dylan for duets on songs like Blowin’ in the Wind and Railroad Boy. The core band featured Rob Stoner, Scarlet Rivera, Howie Wyeth, and guitarists Mick Ronson, Steven Soles, David Mansfield, and T Bone Burnett, many of whom had shaped the sound of Desire.

The box set captures how familiar songs evolved from night to night Mr. Tambourine Man, Maggie’s Farm, Shelter from the Storm, Isis, Idiot Wind, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Romance in Durango, One More Cup of Coffee and many more, each performance reflecting the shifting chemistry onstage.

The final discs document the May 23 Fort Collins concert at Colorado State University, long associated with Dylan’s Hard Rain album and NBC special. For this release, the entire show has been newly remixed from the original multitracks, restoring it to its full context within the 1976 tour.

For fans who aren’t ready to commit to a 39‑disc monument, Columbia and Legacy are also issuing the complete May 16, 1976 Fort Worth concert as a standalone 3LP. The 22‑track performance has been freshly remixed, with Going, Going, Gone available now as an early preview.

Beyond its sheer size, the significance of The 1976 Live Recordings lies in how it reveals Rolling Thunder as a living, evolving organism. Songs shift, arrangements breathe, and the interplay between Dylan, Baez and the band changes from night to night. With 371 unheard performances, this is not a minor archival expansion it’s a major opening of Dylan’s live history.
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The deluxe box includes a booklet with rare photos and new liner notes by Mikal Gilmore, and moves through professionally recorded shows in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado. Highlights include the unaired April 22 Midnight Special performance, multiple early and late shows, the complete Fort Worth concert and the full Fort Collins set.
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The 39-CD Concert & Disc Guide:

Disc 1 – April 18 – Civic Center, Lakeland, FL
Discs 2–3 – April 20 – Bayfront Civic Center Auditorium, St. Petersburg, FL
Disc 4 – April 21 – Curtis Hixon Hall, Tampa, FL
Disc 5 – April 22 – Unaired The Midnight Special TV show, Belleair, FL
Discs 6–7 – April 23 – Sports Stadium, Orlando, FL
Discs 8–9 – April 25 – University of Florida Field, Gainesville, FL
Discs 10–11 – April 27 – Tully Gymnasium, Tallahassee, FL
Discs 12–13 – April 28 – University of West Florida Field House, Pensacola, FL
Discs 14–17 – April 29 – Expo Hall, Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, AL – Early & Late Shows
Discs 18–19 – May 1 – Reid Green Coliseum, Hattiesburg, MS
Disc 20 – May 3 – The Warehouse, New Orleans, LA
Discs 21–22 – May 4 – Louisiana State University Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, LA
Discs 23–24 – May 8 – Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, TX
Discs 25–26 – May 10 – Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, TX
Discs 27–28 – May 11 – Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio, TX
Discs 29–30 – May 12 – Municipal Auditorium, Austin, TX
Disc 31 – May 15 – Gatesville State School for Boys, Gatesville, TX
Discs 32–33 – May 16 – Tarrant County Convention Center Arena, Fort Worth, TX
Discs 34–35 – May 18 – State Fair Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
Discs 36–37 – May 19 – Henry Levitt Arena, Wichita, KS
Discs 38–39 – May 23 – Hughes Stadium, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

The complete 381-track listing is available through Bob Dylan’s official website.
 Bob Dylan


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