Following the success of ‘The Night of The Hurricane’ on December 8th 1975 in Madison Square Garden Dylan and the Rolling Thunder Revue again looked to aid Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter’s benefit fund fr the legal costs of his retrial.
However a disappointing turnout, travelling expenses and the hire of the Astrodome all accounted for a disappointing night (financially) which saw just $50,000 raised for the defence fund.This dispite appearance from Stevie Wonder,Ringo Starr and Dr. John
Full lineup of Musicians for Dylan’s set was Bob Dylan (guitar & vocal), Bob Neuwirth (guitar), Scarlet Rivera (violin), T-bone J. Henry Burnett (guitar), Roger McGuinn (guitar), Mick Ronson (guitar), Rob Stoner (bass), Steven Soles (guitar), David Mansfield (steel guitar, mandolin, violin, dobro), Howie Wyeth, Ringo Starr and Joe Vitale (drums). This concert stands out as begin the only show on both legs of the rolling Thunder Tour which did not see Joan Baez in attendance.
1.When I Paint My Masterpiece
2.Maggie’s Farm
3.One Too Many Mornings
4.Romance In Durango (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
5.I Threw It All Away
6.Isis (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
7.Positively 4th Street
8.It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
9.Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
10.One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
11.Sara
12.Lay Lady Lay
13.Just Like A Woman
14.Hurricane (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Some notable inclusions saw the first known live version of Positively 4th Street since Sydney 13 April 1966, the last ever performance of Sara and Hurricane.
REVIEWS
HOUSTON — The Rolling Thunder Revue made its first stop in Middle America January 25th, as Bob Dylan and his band of gypsies, performing once again in support of imprisoned boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, joined an amazing array of musicians for the Night of the Hurricane II benefit. The seven-hour concert drew about 40,000 people at $12.50 a ticket, but ended amid charges of bad acoustics and rumors of financial extravagance.
Unlike last December’s Madison Square Garden rally, Hurricane II was organized totally by Carter’s defense committee, Freedom for All, Forever. Nor was Dylan the first performer asked to participate. According to George Lois of the defense committee, “Dylan didn’t jump in at the beginning because he wanted to be sure others were coming. When other people became involved he said, ‘Man, I’m coming!’ We weren’t even counting on Dylan because he had busted his hump enough. Actually, the two guys who got it started were Stevie Wonder and Isaac Hayes.”
[AdSense-A]
‘Night of the Hurricane #2’, Houston Aerodrome, 25 January 1976
This is the infamous ‘hybrid’ show that took place a month and a half after the end of Rolling Thunder #1 but whole three months prior to the start of the second leg. The show was extremely poorly organised: poor advertising, high prices and a last minute venue change meant that ticket sales were very poor and even Dylan was apparently considering not playing. As it is, he did play, but to a half-empty stadium at a benefit that managed to lose money instead of making any.
As with the first ‘Night of the Hurricane’ there were a bazillion performers in a set that lasted many hours. As a result, Dylan’s own set was shorter than the RTR standard.
The tape source is an audience member and the quality can be described as mediocre at best. The show itself is interesting, albeit from a more academic angle than a enjoyment one. As can be expected, some songs retain their RTR ’75 arrangement (Durango, Masterpiece, Sara etc.) whilst we already see some ’76 staples (Maggie’s Farm, Lay Lady Lay, I Threw It All Away, to name a few).
source : https://www.facebook.com/BobDylanOnthisday
[wp_ad_camp_2]
I was at the Astrodome show. I believe there were more performers than listed above. Can anyone put together a complete list? My memory is that there we’re so many lead guitars there had to be three lineups with three different drummers after the initial sets by Stevie Wonder and Isaac Hayes.