Significant longplayers from the past
13 September 2026
BOB DYLAN released his live album HARD RAIN
on 13 September 1976, today 50 years ago.
The album was recorded during two concerts in May 1976
during the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue.
The idea behind the tour, Dylan said, was to “play for the people”, the people
who never get good seats at his larger concerts due to higher ticket cost and
inconvenient locations. Dylan chose to play in smaller auditoriums because,
he said, “the atmosphere in small halls is more conducive to what we do”.
The tour included some big names such as Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, Joni Mitchell,
Ronee Blakely and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. The LP’s producer Bob Neuwirth assembled
backing musicians from the recording sessions for Dylan’s Desire album, including
violinist Scarlet Rivera, bassist Rob Stoner, and drummer Howie Wyeth, plus Mick
Ronson on guitar.
The tour counted 57 concerts in two legs: the first in the American northeast and Canada in the fall of 1975, and the second in the American South and southwest in the spring of 1976.
ALBUM
.
THE ROLLING THUNDER REVUE