1976 started with the second Hurricane Benefit Concert in Houston, Texas in January. During April and May The Rolling Thunder Revue continued with 26 more shows. This tour was however far less successful than the first. The interest in the South and Midwest was lukewarm, resulting in poor ticket sales and cancelled concerts. Bob Dylan’s chaotic private life carried over to the stage, giving these performances a totally different flavor. At the end of the year Dylan appeared at The Band’s farewell party, The Last Waltz, at Winterland in San Francisco.

2 1976 At A Glance

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3 The 1976 Calendar

16 January	Desire is released.
22-23 January	Rehearsals for the second Hurricane Carter benefit concert in Houston take place in Los Angeles.
23 January	Bob Dylan and members of Guam turn up at a Roger Miller/Larry Gatlin concert and play Lay Lady Lay and Romance In Durango.
25 January	The second Hurricane Carter benefit concert, “Night Of The Hurricane 2”, is held at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
27 January	Dylan makes a guest appearance at a Joni Mitchell concert in Austin, singing From Both Sides Now and Girl From The North Country together with Joni.
February	Release of Mozambique/Oh, Sister single.
March	Dylan joins Eric Clapton during his recording of No Reason To Cry in the Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California. He gives his new song Sign Language to Clapton and also contributes vocals to the released version.
12-17 April	Rehearsals for Rolling Thunder Revue II take place at the Bellevue Biltmore Hotel in Clearwater, Florida.
18 April	The second part of Rolling Thunder Revue starts with a show at the Civic Center in Lakeland, Florida.
22 April	The afternoon and evening shows at the Bellevue Biltmore Hotel in Clearwater are filmed for a TV special, Hard Rain, but the film is later rejected by Dylan and remains unreleased.
6 May	A show in Lake Charles, Louisiana is cancelled due to poor ticket sales.
8 May	Willie Nelson plays a set at the show in Houston, Texas and also participates in a rare encore, Will The Circle Be Unbroken.
9 May	A second show in Houston, Texas is cancelled.
15 May	A planned show in Dallas, Texas is cancelled and The Rolling Thunder Revue instead gives a free concert at The Gatesville State School For Boys in Gatesville, Texas. Joan Baez sang Walls Of Red Wing during her set!
16 May	Joni Mitchell joins the Revue for the only time in Fort Worth, Texas, 1976. This show is recorded and four songs are included on the live album Hard Rain.
23 May	The show at the Hughes Stadium of the Colorado State University in Fort Collins is filmed for the TV special, Hard Rain, later broadcast by NBC and also recorded for the live album Hard Rain.
25 May	Last Rolling Thunder Revue show takes place in Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. No known recording exists, but three different sources assert that Dylan and Baez perform Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts together, the only known live rendition of this song. One source claims that Black Diamond Bay is also played. This show is rumoured to last 4 1/2 hours.
August	Interview by Neil Hickey for the magazine TV-Guide.
10 September	Release of Hard Rain.
14 September	Broadcast of Hard Rain, the TV-special.
25 November	Dylan performs with The Band at their farewell concert at Winterland in San Francisco, California.
30 November	Release of the Rita May/Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again single.

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4 The Second Rolling Thunder Revue Tour

4.1 Introduction

The Second Rolling Thunder Revue tour was very different to the first. The warm relaxed, but still exciting atmosphere was now more aggressive, more neurotic. This showed both in the song selection and in the song arrangements. Sara was replaced by Idiot Wind for example and lyrics to several songs were rewritten, most notably If You See Her, Say Hello, more bitter, and Lay Lady Lay, much more cynical.

Dylan also used this tour to release a live album and a TV special, both called Hard Rain. These releases are covered in chapter 5.

4.2 The show

A concert by the Rolling Thunder Revue consisted of two sets.

Set 1	Circa 12 songs by the group (Guam)
	2 songs by Bob Dylan solo
	5-6 songs by Bob Dylan backed by Guam
Set 2	4 songs by Roger McGuinn backed by Guam
	2 songs by Joan Baez solo
	2 songs by Joan Baez backed by Guam
	2-3 songs acoustically by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez backed by Guam
	10 songs by Bob Dylan backed by Guam

There were no encores!

4.3 The musicians

In 1976 the band called Guam consisted of:

T-Bone J. Henry Burnett (guitar, piano),

Bob Neuwirth (guitar),

Roger McGuinn (guitar).

Steven Soles (guitar),

Mick Ronson (guitar),

Scarlet Rivera (violin),

David Mansfield (steel guitar, mandolin, violin, dobro),

Rob Stoner (bass),

Gary Burke (congas),

Howie Wyeth (drums, piano).

4.4 The dates

April

12-14	Clearwater, Florida	Belleview Biltmore Hotel, rehearsals
15	Clearwater, Florida	Belleview Biltmore Hotel, rehearsals
17	Clearwater, Florida	Belleview Biltmore Hotel, rehearsals
late	Clearwater, Florida	Belleview Biltmore Hotel, rehearsals

18	Lakeland, Florida	Civic Center	MA
20	St. Petersburg, Florida	Bayfront Civic Center Auditorium	MA
21	Tampa, Florida	Curtis Hixon Convention Center	MA, PA (I)
22	Clearwater, Florida	Starlight Ballroom, Belleview Biltmore Hotel – Afternoon	PA(I)
22	Clearwater, Florida	Starlight Ballroom, Belleview Biltmore Hotel – Evening	MA, PA(I)
23	Orlando, Florida	Sports Stadium	MA
25	Gainesville, Florida	University Of Florida Field	MA
27	Tallahassee, Florida	Florida State University	MA(I)
28	Pensacola, Florida	University Of West Florida	MA
29	Mobile, Alabama	Expo Hall, Municipal Auditorium – Afternoon	-
29	Mobile, Alabama	Expo Hall, Municipal Auditorium – Evening	MA

May

1	Hattiesburg, Mississippi	Reid Green Coliseum	MA
3	New Orleans, Louisiana	The Warehouse – Afternoon	-
3	New Orleans, Louisiana	The Warehouse – Evening	PA(I)
4	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	L.S.U. Assembly Center	MA
8	Houston, Texas	Hofheinz Pavilion	MA
10	Corpus Christi, Texas	Memorial Coliseum	-
11	San Antonio, Texas	Municipal Auditorium	MA(I), PA(I)
12	Austin, Texas	Municipal Auditorium	-
15	Gatesville, Texas	Gatesville State School For Boys	-
16	Fort Worth, Texas	Tarrant County Convention Center Arena	SA, PA(I)
18	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	State Fair Arena	MA
19	Wichita, Kansas	Henry Levitt Arena	MA(I)

	Fort Collins, Colorado	Colorado Hotel, rehearsals

23	Fort Collins, Colorado	Hughes Stadium, Colorado State University	MA, PA(I)
25	Salt Lake City, Utah	Salt Palace	-

MA mono audience recording

SA stereo audience recording

- no recording

I incomplete recording

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4.5 The songs

S = acoustic solo, AB = duet with Joan Baez, backed by Guam

In order played

						April														May
		18	20	21	22		22	23	25	27	28	29	29	1	3	3	4	8	10		11	12	15	16	18	19	23	25	S
Visions Of Johanna	S	1			6																								2
If You See Her, Say Hello	S	2								2																			2
Vincent van Gogh		3	3	3				3	3	3	3		3	3		3	3	3						3	3	3	3	3	17
Weary Blues From Waitin'		4																											1
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight		5	4	4				4	4	4	4		4	4															9
Maggie's Farm		6	5	5				5	5	5	5		5	5		4	4	4			1			4	4	4	4	6	18
One Too Many Mornings		7	6	6				6	6	6	6		6	6										5	5	5	5		13
Seven Days		8	7	7	17			13									18												6
Railroad Boy	AB	9	8	8				9	10		9		9	9		7	8	8			5			9	9	9	9		16
Wild Mountain Thyme	AB	10	9	9													9												4
Blowin' In The Wind	AB	11	10	10	9			8	8		8		8	8			7	7			4			8	8	8	8	8	17
I Pity The Poor Immigrant	AB	12			12			10	11		10		10	10		8	10	9			7			11	11	11	11	9	16
Shelter From The Storm		13	11	11					12		11		11	11		9	11	10			8			12	12	12	12	12	16
I Threw It All Away		14	12	12				12	13		12		12	12										13					9
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues		15							14																				2
Mozambique		16	16					17	17		18		18	18		5	5	5			2			6	6	6	6	4	16
Going, Going, Gone		17		14					16		15		15								15			20	20	21	20		10
Lay Lady Lay		18	17	16			9	15	18		16		16	16		13	16	14			14			18	17	19	18	17	18
Silver Mantis		19					17	16			17		17	17			17	15						19	18	20	19		12
Idiot Wind		20	18	17				18	19		19		19	19		14	19	16			16			21	21	22	21		16
Knockin' On Heaven's Door		21	19	18			16	19	20		20		20	20		15	20	17			17			22	22		22	20	17
Gotta Travel On		22	20	19				20	21		21		21	21		16	21	18			18			23	23		23	21	16
Mr. Tambourine Man	S		1	1	1			1	1	1	1		1	1		1	1	1				1		1	1	1	1	1	18
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)	S		2		3			2					2																4
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You			13				13																						2
Just Like A Woman			14				12																					5	3
It Takes A Lot To Laugh			15																							18			2
Tangled Up In Blue	S			2	8																								2
Isis				13			8	7	7		7		7	7		6	6	6			3			7	7	7	7	7	16
Romance In Durango				15			11	11													9								4
The Times They Are A-Changin'	S				2																								1
Girl From The North Country	S				4																								1
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right	S				5																								1
Visions Of Johanna	S				7																								1
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine	AB				10																								1
I Shall Be Released	AB				11																							10	2
I Pity The Poor Immigrant	AB				13																								1
Mercedes Benz	AB				14																								1
Mercedes Benz	AB				15																								1
When I Paint My Masterpiece					16																								1
Oh, Sister							1										12				13			15	13	13	13	13	8
One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)							2		15		14																		3
Like A Rolling Stone							3																						1
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat							4																		14				2
It Ain't Me, Babe							5																						1
It Ain't Me, Babe							6																						1
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall							7																				24		2
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome							10	14					14	15			15	13			12			17	16	17	17	16	12
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You							14																						1
Most Likely You Go Your Way							15																						1
Simple Twist Of Fate	S								2					2			2								2				4
Dink's Song	AB								9														1						2
Just Like A Woman	S										2																		1
Stuck Inside Of Mobile											13		13	13		10	13	11						14		15		18	9
You're A Big Girl Now														14		11	14	12			11			16	15	16	16	15	10
Love Minus Zero/No Limit	S															2													1
Rita May																12													1
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue	S																	2											1
Will The Circle Be Unbroken																		19											1
Deportees	AB																				6			10	10	10	10		5
I Want You																					10				19		14		3
She Belongs To Me	S																					2							1
It Ain't Me, Babe	S																							2		2	2