Album Review: Bob Dylan in Concert: Brandeis University 1963 by Bob Dylan

Just before he released The Freewheelin' in May 1963, Bob Dylan performed a seven-song set at Massachusetts' Brandeis University“- a tape of which sat in the archives of Rolling Stone editor emeritus Ralph Gleason until two years ago. Dylan is as warmly engaging as ever on "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues" and "Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues," which remains one of his funniest songs. The only bummer? The tape doesn't start until partway through the opener, a rewrite of Henry Thomas' "Honey, Won't You Allow Me One More Chance?" Early Bob Dylan: Classic Shots of the SingerPerforming with Joan Baez, Hanging with Allen Ginsberg and More This story is from the April 28th, 2011 issue of Rolling Stone.

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This short live album was originally released in 2010 as a bonus disc to The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964, which collected rough recordings that Bob Dylan made as part of his first two publishing deals. They were impromptu sessions in a glorified broom closet, but produced the first known recordings of some of his signature tunes, including "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" and "Blowin' in the Wind".

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Originally released on Amazon as a bonus disc for early purchasers of 2010’s The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9 and The Original Mono Recordings, Bob Dylan in Concert: Brandeis University 1963 saw a wide release in the spring of 2011. Unlike the archival concerts that have popped up in The Bootleg Series, Brandeis University 1963 isn’t a major statement.

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This has nothing to do with Bob Dylan the musician. Bob Dylan in Concert: Brandeis University 1963 has to do with Bob Dylan the image. Six months ago, Columbia Records released The Bootleg Series Vol. 9—The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964. Essentially, this edition of The Bootleg Series is a rendering ….

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The first track on Bob Dylan in Concert: Brandeis University 1963 is an incomplete recording of “Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance” (Henry Thomas, 1927), a tune – like all the songs on the disc – Dylan had just recorded for his sophomore release The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. In the song’s first discernible line, Dylan cries out “Honey, just allow me one more chance/To do anything to you!”. By the time the driving ditty comes to an end the audience’s enthusiastic response makes it clear that the young man won’t be asking permission for anything again for a very long time.

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