Bob Dylan/The Band – Before The Flood

Before The Flood is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and the Band, released on June 20, 1974, by Asylum Records in the United States and Island Records in the United Kingdom. It was Dylan’s first live album, although live recordings of earlier performances would later be released. It is Dylan’s 15th album and the seventh by the Band, documenting their joint tour in 1974. It reached number 3 on the Billboard 200, number 8 on the UK Albums Chart, and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Dylan and his new record label Asylum had scheduled professional live recordings before the tour began, a total of ten separate shows, three in New York City at Madison Square Garden on January 30 and 31, two in Seattle at the Seattle Center Coliseum on February 9, two in Oakland, California at the Alameda County Coliseum on February 11, and three in Los Angeles on February 13 and 14. The album included recordings from the last three concerts at the Los Angeles Forum in Inglewood, California, with only “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” being from the New York concert.

The album’s title is believed to be derived from the novel Farn Mabul by German-Jewish author Sholem Asch. Dylan had a personal relationship with Moses Asch, son of Sholem and founder of Folkways Records, a record label that was influential in the folk music revival. Another theory is that the title refers to the album itself, which arrived before the inevitable flood of bootlegs from the various concerts, so as to hit the underground market.

In a later review for Creem magazine, Robert Christgau felt that the band followed Dylan in playing his old songs more intensely for concert venues, and stated: “Without qualification, this is the craziest and most powerful rock and roll ever recorded. All similar live albums are in free fall”. Tom Nolan of Rolling Stone magazine, on the other hand, said that the renewed performances of songs such as “It’s All Right, Ma”, “Like A Rolling Stone” and “All Along The Watchtower” are successful and meaningful. Before The Flood was voted the sixth best album of 1974 in Pazz & Jop, The Village Voice’s annual critics’ poll. Christgau, the poll’s creator, ranked it second on his own list.

The first and fourth sides of the double vinyl feature performances by Bob Dylan backed by the Band. Side two and tracks four through six of side three are performed solely by the Band, while tracks one through three of side three are performed solely by Dylan.

From this exceptional live album I select “Lay Lady Lay.”
 
Tracklist

A1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine) 3:16
A2. Lay Lady Lay 3:00
A3. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 3:09
A4. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door 3:30
A5. It Ain’t Me, Babe 3:15
A6. Ballad Of A Thin Man 3:29
B1. Up On Cripple Creek 4:57
B2. I Shall Be Released 3:19
B3. Endless Highway 4:45
B4. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down 4:05
B5. Stage Fright 4:22
C1. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right 3:34
C2. Just Like A Woman 4:46
C3. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) 5:12
C4. The Shape I’m In 3:33
C5. When You Awake 2:54
C6. The Weight 4:20
D1. All Along The Watchtower 2:58
D2. Highway 61 Revisited 4:05
D3. Like A Rolling Stone 6:06
D4. Blowin’ In The Wind 3:46