Bob Dylan Live at Carnegie Chapter Hall, 1961 [SOUNDBOARD RECORDING]

There was a common bootleg of this concert in circulation for years, but it was incomplete and not very clear. A nearly-complete first-generation tape surfaced recently. I first heard about it from the late, great YouTube channel Sad-Eyed Lady of The Lowlands. I couldn't believe that a soundboard recording of quite possibly Dylan's most historical concert existed.

Now, here's a fantastic description of the concert written by Sad-Eyed Lady that I saved before their channel was taken down:
"If you're a big Dylan fan, you may know Bob arrived in New York City in January 1961 and began playing in small coffeehouses like the Cafe Wha, the Gaslight, and other folk music temples. Heavily inspired by Woody Guthrie, who he met at Greystone Park (a psychiatric hospital where Guthrie lived his last years suffering from Huntington Disease), Bob made quite a sensation in the New York scene with his nasally voice and his reverence for old folk traditional and original compositions, in the vein of Dave Van Ronk and Joan Baez. If you saw the excellent Cohen Brothers movie, Inside Llewyn Davis, you have a pretty good idea of the vibe of the folk music movement at the time.

He finally caught the attention of the critics, notably Robert Shelton from the New York Times after performing at Gerdes Folk City. He then signed a deal with Columbia Records. A few days after, Bob made his real live debut in front of a paying audience at the Carnegie Chapter Hall, an annex to the legendary Carnegie Hall, thanks to Izzy Young, owner of the Folklore Center Party on MacDougal Street. Izzy Young booked the young Dylan there and only 53 people showed up for a 200 seat venue! The tickets at the time were just 2 dollars to see that new kid who will change music forever. With this video, I'll present you the tape of the Carnegie Chapter Hall Concert, one of the earliest examples of Bob the folksinger.

The set is heavily filled with traditional folk and blues songs, and Woody Guthrie compositions, and offers a glimpse of what Bob can do with new songs like Talkin' New York and of course Song To Woody. This is truly a legendary gig, mentioned in Rolling Stone Magazine as one of 10 best Bob Dylan bootlegs and a historical document everyone should hear in his life. Of course, knowing the age of the tape, several songs are missing but the quality is stellar for the early '60s. I hope you will like this piece as much as I do."

Thanks, Sad-Eyed. We hope you're well, wherever you are.

NOTE: Two songs that were originally included on this tape were not able to be uploaded due to copyright reasons. For some strange reason, I was able to upload "Pretty Peggy-O" by itself (here:    • Bob Dylan - Pretty Peggy-O (Live at C...  ), but it was blocked on this video. Also, "This Land Is Your Land" was also cut out because it was released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7. There were also seven other songs that Dylan played at this concert, but recordings of them are not in general circulation. For more information on this and the concert in general, refer to entry #100 on the following page of Olaf's Files: https://www.bjorner.com/DSN00020%2019....

TRACKLIST:
Pretty Peggy-O (trad.) [CUT-OUT FOR COPYRIGHT, BUT LISTEN HERE:    • Bob Dylan - Pretty Peggy-O (Live at C...  ]
02:00 - In The Pines (Huddie "Leadbelly" Leadbetter)
07:47 - Gospel Plow (trad.) - Hilarious commentary in the beginning
11:56 - 1913 Massacre (Woody Guthrie)
17:48 - Backwater Blues (Bessie Smith)
22:40 - A Long Time A-Growin' (trad.) [GORGEOUS RENDITION]
28:27 - Fixin' To Die (Bukka White)
31:52 - Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
36:14 - Man On The Street [POWERFUL VERSION]
This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie) [CUT OUT FOR COPYRIGHT, RELEASED ON THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 7]
38:30 - Talking Merchant Marine (Woody Guthrie)
43:15 - Black Cross (Lord Buckley)
48:18 - Freight Train Blues (John Lair)
50:55 - Song To Woody
54:02 - Talkin' New York [DEBUT / EARLIEST-KNOWN RECORDING]

Love & Peace,
~SP