DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 20

Date:    Thu, 4 Jan 1996 21:27:50 -0500
From:    xyx 
Subject: DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 20

"Hello all Dylanheads.   Don't you have lives???"
Sorry, guys, you'll have to excuse my wife. I just went up to kiss my
kids goodnight and that is her idea of funny. I guess she knew I was
getting ready to go down..........

"GUITARS KISSING & THE CONTEMPORARY FIX"   2CD (no label) complete
     acoustic show (Bob Dylan) and electric show (Dylan & The Hawks)
      from Manchester, UK Free Trade Hall  17 May 1966

Thump thumpthumpthump thumpthump thumpthump thumpthump...........
That sound you are hearing are collective jaws dropping all over the
world as this new double CD set is first thrust into the player and
Dylan is "in your living room"..... opening his acoustic set with "She
Belongs to Me" and closing six songs later w"Mr TMan". Far be it from
me to describe/comment on this legendary show, I'll leave that to
the experts. Suffice it to say that this first disk is everything we had
hoped for, and more, and I seriously doubt that whenever Sony gets
around to releasing it officially that they can improve on the sound
quality. It easily exceeds, in all sound categories, anything that has
 preceded it. By the end of "Mr. Tambourine Man" you will be giving  Jay
Leno a run for his money in the jaw department.  Aces all around for
disk one - the acoustic set.

THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!. (loud ones, bones breaking....)
Caution: before playing disk two (the electric set with the Hawks),
please place a thick pillow (or two) beneath your already slackened
jaw, as it will indeed crash to the floor.  As we all know, "Tell Me
Mama" opens things up and once again I reserve comment, other than
to say this sounds so good it is scary. If you've never taken notice of
this show before, you will now.  Incredibly intense is the best I can
come up with. I a-b'd it with the "A Week in the Life" and  the "Royal
Albert Hall" (for sound comparison) and there is no comparison. It
blows 'em both away. The pre-release hoopla about the master tape
source could very well be true, it's that good.  The intro to "Baby,
Let me Follow You Down" is goosebump material and "Ballad of a Thin
Man" is from another world, it is frightening music (the good kind).
I believe all questions of what Bob said after the "Judas" comment
will be laid to rest after you hear this - to my ears it is clearly
"You're a liar........you're a fucking liar."   All eight electric tracks
are amazing, and as I sit here listening to it all I can think of is
how great a live version of "She's Your Lover Now" would have been on
this set. Instead of pistol shots, the music that Dylan and the Hawks
created that night were cannon blasts never heard before, and possibly
not heard since that tour.  I promised myself I would'nt ramble on, so
I'll end it with this - "Just get it and see for yourself. The sound is so
much improved it's like hearing a different show. The legendary status
is much deserved, IMO."
Simply and beautifully packaged  in a glossy gatefold sleeve w/silkscreen
shot of BD on the front and back covers. Inner gatefold has a killer shot
of BD in a checked suit, and each disk is individually packaged with a sleeve
 featuring a collage of Bob photos. Lastly, there is a fine little  essay
written
by someone who obviously attended the show, ending with "....nobody ever
made a more ominous sound than BD & the Hawks in the mid 60's. It was total
 menace, with no let up. Song followed song, the terrible intense wall of
sound
pushing further and further to the limits of sanity. It was magnificent."
  John
 Lennon said, "Rock & Roll, you should have been there."  Don't I (we) wish.

Peace - xyx

Date:    Fri, 5 Jan 1996 12:55:51 +0500
From:    xyx  
Subject: DEEP vol 20 addendum

 In the appraisal of "Guitars Kissing & the Contemporary Fix," I noted that
the quality of it easily outdistanced such previous releases as "Royal
Albert Hall 1966" (Swinging Pig) and "A Week in the Life of Bob Dylan" (Gold
Standard). Let me add that while the "Guitars Kissing...." renders the
"RAH 1966" CD expendable, it does no such thing to the other. The Gold
Standard release also included 6 additional tracks from venues other than
Manchester Free Trade Hall (Sheffield & Liverpool immediately come to mind),
so that one is still a keeper. These additional 6 tracks are from soundboard
sources and are in excellent quality.
  As for the acoustic set, the "Guitars Kiss...." also precludes the need
for the Swingin' Pig release "Manchester Prayer" and any other previously
released CDs featuring this material. There are several, I believe. When I
have some time I'll try to put together a list of the expendables, unless
someone else beats me to it.

Peace - xyx

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