Bob Dylan To Celebrate 45th Anniversary Of Historic Budokan Shows With New Box Set

Bob Dylan will issue a new box set, The Complete Budokan 1978, on November 17 via Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings. The collection presenting the legendary singer-songwriter’s February 28 and March 1 concerts at Tokyo’s storied Nippon Budokan Hall is previewed with a previously unreleased performance of “The Man In Me.”

The new box set celebrates the 45th anniversary of Dylan’s premiere performances in Japan. The concerts were part of The Bob Dylan World Tour 1978, marking his first international shows since his notorious 1966 World Tour.

Originally recorded on 24-channel multitrack analog tape, The Complete Budokan 1978 presents 58 total tracks, 36 of which are previously unreleased. A double live album, Bob Dylan At Budokan, was released in Japan in 1978 and worldwide in 1979.

A number of the original collaborators involved with the ‘79 release returned to work on The Complete Budokan 1978 including CBS Sony product manager of Japan Heckel Sugano and chief engineer Tom Suzuki. Both shared some insights into revisiting Dylan’s Budokan performances.

“We mixed the record with the keyword ‘passion’ in mind,” Suzuki said. “The result is a mix that surpasses the original 1978 release, providing a crisper and clearer sound where each instrument and Bob Dylan’s voice are distinctly audible.”

“The completed album documents the remarkable sound of the legendary Budokan shows that are forever etched in history,” Sugano said. “We tried to faithfully reproduce the sound the Japanese audience would have heard in the concert hall.”

Dylan’s band for the Budokan concerts included Billy Cross (lead guitar), Ian Wallace (drums), Alan Pasqua (keyboards), Rob Stoner (bass, vocals), Steven Soles (acoustic rhythm guitar, vocals), David Mansfield (pedal steel, violin, mandolin, guitar, dobro), Steve Douglas (saxophone, flute, recorder), Bobbye Hall (percussion), Helena Springs (vocals), Jo Ann Harris (vocals) and Debi Dye (vocals).

In her liner notes for the new Complete Budokan 1978, music critic Edna Gundersen wrote that the original Bob Dylan At Budokan album “has undergone a sober reappraisal over the decades as consumers and critics grew to admire its adventurous arrangements and provocative performances…captured at Budokan, Dylan is in good spirits and fully engaged. He sings with brio and urgency, his voice clear and melodic and his phrasing impeccable as ever….The band crackles with careening energy…. (Dylan) saw the stage as a proving ground that brought his tunes to life.”

Preview The Complete Budokan 1978 with the previously unreleased “The Man In Me” — which contains alternate lyrics from the studio version — from the March 1 concert below:

The Complete Budokan 1978 Tracklist:

Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – February 28, 1978

CD1

1. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall*
2. Repossession Blues*
3. Mr. Tambourine Man*
4. I Threw It All Away*
5. Shelter From The Storm
6. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
7. Girl From The North Country*
8. Ballad Of A Thin Man*
9. Maggie’s Farm*
10. To Ramona*
11. Like A Rolling Stone*
12. I Shall Be Released*
13. Is Your Love In Vain? *
14. Going, Going, Gone*

CD2

1. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) *
2. Blowin’ In The Wind*
3. Just Like A Woman*
4. Oh, Sister*
5. Simple Twist Of Fate
6. You’re A Big Girl Now*
7. All Along The Watchtower*
8. I Want You*
9. All I Really Want To Do*
10. Tomorrow Is A Long Time*
11. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
12. Band introductions*
13. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
14. Forever Young
15. The Times They Are A-Changin’

Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan – March 1, 1978

CD3

1. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall*
2. Love Her With A Feeling*
3. Mr. Tambourine Man
4. I Threw It All Away*
5. Love Minus Zero/No Limit*
6. Shelter From The Storm*
7. Girl From The North Country*
8. Ballad Of A Thin Man
9. Maggie’s Farm
10. One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
11. Like A Rolling Stone
12. I Shall Be Released
13. Is Your Love In Vain?
14. Going, Going, Gone

CD4

1. One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) *
2. Blowin’ In The Wind
3. Just Like A Woman
4. Oh, Sister
5. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) *
6. You’re A Big Girl Now*
7. All Along The Watchtower
8. I Want You
9. All I Really Want To Do
10. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
11. The Man In Me*
12. Band introductions*
13. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)*
14. Forever Young*
15. The Times They Are A-Changin’*

*Previously Unreleased

Source: JamBase.com