Bob Dylan’s 1978 tour has sometimes been characterized as his “Las Vegas” tour or as his “alimony tour.” More than thirty years later (oh geez) I think that a look back on it should acknowledge that it featured some of the most creative and courageous re-arrangements that any contemporary artist has ever done of his or her own work. With a large band, including backing singers and horn players, Dylan could utilize moods and textures that are usually unavailable to him. The tour was represented on record by the At Budokan album, although Dylan contrarily maintained that it wasn’t truly representative because the band was much tighter and more together later in the year, during the U.S. leg of the tour.

Below is a clip (just audio and slides) of one such performance towards the end of 1978. It’s a lush, slow and poignant arrangement of Tangled Up In Blue, with intense singing by Bob. He was also coming up with new lyrics for the song at this point, e.g. changing the “book of poems” to “the Bible.” (Whoever uploaded this to YouTube has helpfully splashed the lyrics on the screen, so there’s no chance of missing anything.) It’s a true gem.

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