Bob Dylan Opens the Vault on 371 Previously Unreleased Recordings From His Legendary 1976 Tour

Thanks to his talents, Bob Dylan became more than a famed folk singer – he was considered one of the greatest songwriters of all time. It was that fame that led him to perform on some of the biggest stages in the world. And thanks to hits like “The Times They Are a-Changin,’” he was inducted into the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Hall of Fame. But in 1975, Dylan had an idea to return to the early years of his career and play smaller venues. The result was the Rolling Thunder Revue. Although decades have passed since that tour, Dylan was giving it new life with a massive box set. 

While Dylan might not be the first singer to turn a tour into a box set, The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1976 Live Recordings wasn’t a normal collection. It came packed with 39 CDs that showed nearly every moment of the historic tour. Traveling back to the 1970s, the tour kicked off in April 1976 in Lakeland, Florida. From there, the icon visited Baton Rouge, Austin, Fort Worth, and Salt Lake City.

Scheduled to release on November 6, the box set would cost fans $159.00. Although a steep price, it featured: 

39 CDs
381 total tracks
371 previously unreleased tracks
Recordings capturing Bob Dylan’s 1976 Rolling Thunder Revue tour
Performances featuring Joan Baez
Dylan and Baez duets including “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Railroad Boy”
Performances with Rob Stoner, Scarlet Rivera, Howie Wyeth, Mick Ronson, Steven Soles, David Mansfield and T Bone Burnett
A booklet featuring liner notes by Mikal Gilmore
Rare photographs from the era

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Bob Dylan Gives Fans A Ticket To Fort Worth 1976

Aside from the impressive box set, Dylan also prepared to release a 3LP collection of the full Fort Worth concert. Setting the price at $59.98, the LP included hits like “Going Going Gone,” “Oh Sister,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Idiot Wind,” and several others. The Fort Worth LP will hit shelves the same day as The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1976 Live Recordings. 

Giving fans the chance to relive the past, music journalist Mikal Gilmore considered it a piece of music history. “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.”  

Nearly 50 years later, The Rolling Thunder Revue remained one of the more ambitious chapters of Dylan’s career. And with hundreds of recordings finally coming together, fans could now hear just how historic those nights really were.   

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)