The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert

Disc 1
1	She Belongs to Me 3:27
2	Fourth Time Around 4:37
3	VIsions of Johanna 8:08
4	It's All Over Now, Baby Blue 5:45
5	Desolation Row 11:31
6	Just Like a Woman 5:52
7	Mr. Tambourine Man 8:52
Disc 2
1	Tell Me, Momma 5:10
2	I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) 6:07
3	Baby, Let Me Follow You Down 3:46
4	Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues 6:50
5	Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat 4:50
6	One Too Many Mornings 4:22
7	Ballad of a Thin Man 7:55
8	Like a Rolling Stone 8:01

Barnes & Noble

It's been called the most famous bootleg of all time. For decades, underground tapes of the so-called Royal Albert Hall concert (the show was actually held at the Manchester Free Trade Hall but was misidentified by early bootleggers) have circulated among Dylan aficionados. Now, at long last, the official release is here -- with quite good sound quality -- and it has definitely been worth the wait. Here is a young Bob Dylan, the angry young man of his generation, standing on the divide between folk and rock: the sainted folk-singer about to sell his soul to the demon rock-'n'-roll. Disc one features a stirring Dylan solo set, just singer with acoustic guitar on such brilliant tunes as "Visions of Johanna," "It's All Over Now (Baby Blue)," and "Desolation Row." But disc two is the big payoff, a rousing electric performance backed by the Band that is, quite simply, one of the most exciting sets of live rock ever captured on tape. The finale includes the famous cry of "Judas!" from an outraged folk diehard. To which Dylan responds, "You're a liar," before kicking into the hardest, loudest, nastiest version of "Like a Rolling Stone" you'll ever hear. Sheer magic. Joel Roberts

All Music Guide

The most famous bootleg in rock history, with the possible exception of Dylan's own Basement Tapes, finally makes its official appearance 32 years after the event, and nearly 30 years after it started circulating in the underground. Although often identified as a Royal Albert Hall show, this May 17, 1966, concert, in which {|Dylan|} played electric material in front of a British audience, was actually recorded in Manchester (hence the unwieldy title with quotes around "Royal Albert Hall"). Even those who've owned this recording for many a year might be tempted by this official package, as it has been expanded into a two-CD set that not only includes the eight electric rock songs from the original bootleg, but also the seven solo acoustic performances that comprised the first half of the show. It's all in very good fidelity, about as good as any copies you could find through unofficial sources. More importantly, the electric half in particular is an important document of rock history. It captures the point at which Dylan was at his most controversial and hard rocking as he blazes through mid-'60s classics such as "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Ballad of a Thin Man," radical electric arrangements of songs that had originally been recorded acoustically ("One Too Many Mornings," "I Don't Believe You"), and the hard rocker "Tell Me, Momma," which Dylan never recorded in the studio. The acoustic disc is not as epochal, but on par with the electric half in the quality of material and performance. On top of everything else there's a 56-page booklet with a fine essay by Dylan's friend Tony Glover (a notable folk musician in his own right). It's not just an interesting adjunct to Dylan's '60s discography; it's as worthy of attention as anything else he recorded during that decade. Richie Unterberger