This fall marks the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Thunder Revue, one of the greatest Bob Dylan tours ever. I’ve always said that if I had a time machine and could go back in time to see one concert, it would probably be Rolling Thunder. In fact, I named this newsletter after an old bootleg from the tour, one I loved when I was first getting into Dylan in high school.
I wanted to find a special way to mark the occasion. Ordinarily, I might do a show-by-show series like I did last year when the Dylan/Band Tour '74 turned 50. Only problem: I already did a show-by-show series for Rolling Thunder '75! Back in the first year of the newsletter, before most of you were reading it.
So I’ve taken those entries, updated them, added some images, and had them professionally bound into a limited-edition zine I’m calling Rolling Thunder ’75 Day-By-Day. Which you can buy right now!
This zine is limited to 500 copies, only available through me, not Amazon or anywhere else. When it’s gone, it’s gone.
It costs $20 plus shipping. If you’re in the US, shipping is cheap, about five dollars. Everywhere else, shipping will be more expensive, like fifteen to twenty (sorry, I wish it was cheaper too). I’ll be mailing out every copy myself and using the most budget-friendly shipping options available.
Over 88 pages (which maybe pushes the definition of “zine”…is this technically a booklet? a chapbook? just a regular-albeit-very-short book?), I write about every single show on the 1975 tour. Each entry discusses the venue, the setlist, the BobTalk, the many special guests who popped up along the way, concert reviews in the local newspapers, and what Dylan and his compatriots did during the off hours—which, given that they spent so much time filming scenes for Renaldo and Clara, tended to be quite a bit.
A seven-second tour of the zine chapbook booklet whatever:
Recordings of almost all the tour’s 31 shows circulate, and I recommend listening along as you read. They’re all out there in other places, but I’ll put ‘em in a Google Drive for easy access as a bonus for anyone who purchases. That includes as many of the non-Dylan sets (Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, etc) as I could track down, which are sometimes missing from the downloads on the Dylan-centric sites.
That’s it. Happy Rolling Thunder 50. Get one before they’re gone.
There’s only one question left to ask: Will I mail you this zine?
Awesome, just ordered one!!! Can’t wait!
So ordered, my favorite era too!