4. Bob Dylan/The Band/1974 - The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA, January 6, 1974 (Evening Show)
“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”
Well, they'll stone you when you walk all alone
They'll stone you when you are walking home
They'll stone you and then say you are brave
They'll stone you when you are set down in your grave.
Tour '74 experienced two firsts on the evening of January 6, 1974. It was the first time on the tour that hosted two performances in the afternoon and evening. It was also the first performance of Dylan’s raucous “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” from his epochal Blonde On Blonde (Columbia, 1966). Dylan and his band originally recorded the song in a single take early in the morning, using an ad hoc brass band to achieve a “Salvation Army style” sound. The song's status in studio lore and legend grew, and it became a concert favorite.
Song opens Dylan and The Band’s set, the introduction slightly cut off during recording. Dylan sings, belting the song out and going off the microphone several times. He also took great liberty with the lyrics and the order of verses. Dylan was singing with an obvious relish and swagger. Robbie Robertson uses this first performance to find his way around the song, which would be brought to a raunchy perfection by the time it shows up on Before The Flood (Asylum, 1974).
Dylan was intent on deconstructing his songbook and casting it in the image of his most recent studio recording, Planet Waves (Asylum, 1974), which he recorded with The Band, the event anticipating this tour.