Bob Dylan-Real Live (1984)

April 18, 2021

Artist: Bob Dylan

Label: Columbia

Format: LP

Cat #:FC 39944

Year of Release: 1984

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1984 Pitman Pressing

Listed Condition: VG+/VG 1" spine damage, top ungluing

Sell Date: 4/6/21

Sell Price: $6.99

Discogs Last Sold: 3/18/21 $5.94 M/M

Low: $4.00 VG/VG

Median: $8.00

Average: $10.60

High: $39.98 NM/NM Original gold stamped jacket. Never played. In my possession since 1984. Includes near mint original inner sleeve.

Current low price: $4.00 F/VG, $8.00 VG+/VG+

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 47

Have/Want: 1935/141

Where Sold: Washington, DC

Time it took to sell: 5 years

Where and When Bought: Worcester Al Bums New $7.99

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B-

Sad To See It Go: No

It's very rare that I play a Bob album once and file it away. When this came out, everyone raved about Bob's return to Secular Live Performance i.e. The Hits. Oddly enough, he never really went away, but people were punch drunk from Budokan arrangements and the "Preacher Bob" era. These 1984 European dates were considered part of "the great return" in tandem with Infidels.

This copy of Real Live passively degraded over the years, as I bought it brand new. Victim to cat access to a bottom shelf and multiple moves. Playing it one last time before it went out the door a couple weeks ago was an interesting experience since I really hadn't sat down and focused on this era. My first actual in person experience was a couple years later with Tom Petty, and Bob was already on to a new phase, "80's Arena Bob" coupling with Petty and the Dead before the first phase of the Never Ending Tour.

I was trying to figure out a writing angle for this record I initially wasn't going to write about when it sold. This weeks slower sales meant a reshuffling of priorities. I woke up at 6:30 in the morning on a day off in hopes of falling back asleep and jotted down my "favorite voices of Bob" vs "least favorite voices of Bob." I'm talking form, not content. I didn't have to look at this exercise to write this, as it is sitting on the coffee stained napkin across the room. I already knew the answer. My top 5 Dylan vocal stylings are the New Morning/Planet Waves/new tracks on Greatest Hits Vol. 2 for it's smoky blare, the Rolling Thunder/Desire period for it's drifter certainty, the electric classic period of the mid 60's for it's assured greatness, the Freewheelin' Folk period for it's moral certainty and the Never Ending Tour late 90's early aughts Larry Campbell years for it's comfortable leather worn assuredness. My bottom is the accentuate the Sinatra years, the Before The Flood arena bombast, the aforementioned mid 80's arena voice, the mid 80's studio voice around "We Are The World"/Knocked Out Loaded and the live organ years after Larry Campbell left on the Never Ending Tour. I'm not going to get into the other 10, but these Real Live recordings fall somewhere in there.

Does one really need to hear discussion of the musical minutiae comparing a Sly and Robbie-less "I and I?" Yesterday I was complaining about the sterile crowd noise of Robyn Hitchcock's soundtrack, but I can't say I found the European arena roar of 1984 any more endearing. You'll find no "Judas!" on the UK dates here.

You'll just have to sort it out yourself when you can't sleep on a day off.

ED NOTE: Funny typo "Below The Flood" fixed. I had another comical one a couple months ago Trouble Of Mind. If Bob can be fluid with lyrics, I can't be 100 % reverent to the titles even if I try.