Before the Flood (album)
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Before the Flood is a live album by Bob Dylan and The Band, released in June of 1974 on Asylum Records, catalogue AB 201. It is the seventeenth album by Dylan and the seventh by the Band, and documents their joint 1974 American tour. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, reached #8 on the popular album chart in the United Kingdom, and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.[1]
Content
Dylan and his new record label Asylum had planned professional recordings before the tour began, ten separate sessions total: three in New York at Madison Square Garden on January 30 and 31; two in Seattle at the Center Coliseum on February 9; two in Oakland at the Alameda County Coliseum on February 11; and three in Los Angeles on February 13 and 14.[2] To compile the album, recordings were taken from the final three shows at the Los Angeles Forum in Inglewood, California, with only "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" from New York.[3]
The title of the album is thought to derive from the novel Farn Mabul by Yiddish writer Sholem Asch; Dylan had a personal relationship with Moses Asch, son of Sholem and founder of Folkways Records, a record label hugely influential in the folk music revival.[4] Another theory is that the title refers to the album arriving before the inevitable flood of bootlegs could saturate the underground market.
Although considered part of both Dylan's and The Band's catalogue, technically the double album was issued on Dylan's label Asylum Records. Dylan signed a new contract with Columbia Records in time for his next studio album, Blood on the Tracks, after returning label president Goddard Lieberson made a determined campaign to get Dylan back from Asylum.[5] The Band continued to record on their own for Capitol Records.
While Dylan and The Band had recorded the studio album Planet Waves prior to the tour, few of its songs were incorporated into the tour's setlist, and none are represented on Before the Flood.
Subsequent reissues were on the Columbia imprint, and on March 31, 2009, a remastered digipak version of Before the Flood was issued by Legacy Records, Columbia now part of Sony Music Entertainment.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [6] |
| Robert Christgau | (A) [7] |
| Rolling Stone | (Positive) [8] |
Reviews for Before the Flood were positive. AllMusic has described it as "one of the best live albums of its time. Ever, maybe."[9] Robert Christgau wrote, "At its best, this is the craziest and strongest rock and roll ever recorded. All analogous live albums fall flat."[10] Greil Marcus commented, "Roaring with resentment and happiness, the music touched rock and roll at its limits." [11] The Village Voice placed it at #6 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1974.[12] In contrast, Dylan himself later disparaged the tour, feeling it overblown. "I think I was just playing a role on that tour, I was playing Bob Dylan and The Band were playing The Band. It was all sort of mindless. The only thing people talked about was energy this, energy that. The highest compliments were things like, 'Wow, lotta energy, man.' It had become absurd."[13]
Track listing
Sides one and four are performances by Bob Dylan and The Band; side two and tracks four through six on side three by The Band; tracks one through three on side three by Dylan alone. "Blowin' in the Wind" is a splice of two separate performances. All dates from Los Angeles except as indicated.
Side one
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Most Likely You Go Your Way" | Bob Dylan | 02-14 (evening) | 4:15 |
| 2. | "Lay Lady Lay" | Dylan | 02-13 | 3:14 |
| 3. | "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" | Dylan | 02-13 | 3:27 |
| 4. | "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" | Dylan | 01-30 New York City | 3:51 |
| 5. | "It Ain't Me, Babe" | Dylan | 02-14 (evening) | 3:40 |
| 6. | "Ballad of a Thin Man" | Dylan | 02-14 (afternoon) | 3:41 |
Side two
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Up on Cripple Creek" | Robbie Robertson | 02-14 (evening) | 5:25 |
| 2. | "I Shall Be Released" | Dylan | 02-14 (afternoon) | 3:50 |
| 3. | "Endless Highway" | Robertson | 02-14 (evening) | 5:10 |
| 4. | "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" | Robertson | 02-14 (evening) | 4:24 |
| 5. | "Stage Fright" | Robertson | 02-14 (evening) | 4:45 |
Side three
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" | Dylan | 02-14 (evening) | 4:36 |
| 2. | "Just Like A Woman" | Dylan | 02-14 (evening) | 5:06 |
| 3. | "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" | Dylan | 02-14 (evening) | 5:48 |
| 4. | "The Shape I'm In" | Robertson | 02-14 (afternoon) | 4:01 |
| 5. | "When You Awake" | Richard Manuel/Robertson | 02-14 (evening) | 3:13 |
| 6. | "The Weight" | Robertson | 02-13 | 4:47 |
Side four
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "All Along the Watchtower" | Dylan | 02-14 (afternoon) | 3:07 |
| 2. | "Highway 61 Revisited" | Dylan | 02-14 (evening) | 4:27 |
| 3. | "Like A Rolling Stone" | Dylan | 02-13 | 7:09 |
| 4. | "Blowin' in the Wind" | Dylan | 02-13 + 02-14 (afternoon) | 4:30 |
Personnel
- Bob Dylan - vocal, guitars, harmonica, piano
- Robbie Robertson - electric guitar, backing vocal
- Richard Manuel - vocal, piano, electric piano, organ, drums
- Garth Hudson - Lowrey organ, clavinet, piano, synthesizer, saxophone
- Rick Danko - vocal, bass, fiddle
- Levon Helm - vocal, drums, mandolin
Additional personnel
- Phil Ramone - recording engineer
- Rob Fraboni - recording and mixing engineer
- Nat Jeffrey - mixing engineer
- Barry Feinstein - photography
- Location recording by Wally Heider Recording: Ed Barton, Jack Crymes, Deane Jensen, Bill Broms and Biff Dawes
Charts
Album - Billboard
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Pop Albums | 3 |
Single - Billboard
| Song | Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) | 1974 | Pop Singles | 66 |
References
- ^ RIAA website retrieved 04-12-10.
- ^ Shelton, Robert. No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan. 1986, ISBN 0-688-05045-X, pp. 436-437.
- ^ Bjorner's Files Still on the Road
- ^ Gray, Michael. The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. 2006, ISBN 0-8264-6933-7, p. 43.
- ^ Shelton, p. 378
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Before the Flood at AllMusic
- ^ Robert Christgau review
- ^ Nolan, Tom (29 August 1974). "Bob Dylan: Before The Flood : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
- ^ AllMusic website review
- ^ Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
- ^ Marcus, Greil (1997). Mystery Train Images of America in Rock & Roll Music. New York: Plume. p. 221. ISBN 0-452-27836-8.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Rocklist Website
- ^ Dylan, Bob, in conversation with Cameron Crowe. Biograph. 1985, Columbia Records C5X 38830 vinyl edition, liner notes, p. 22.
