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Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan: Featured Story
Coverage from Louder Than War, FLOOD, and others
Dylan Releases 1976 Rolling Thunder Revue Set
Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings released The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1976 Live Recordings on November 6, a 39-disc collection of 381 tracks from Bob Dylan’s spring 1976 tour. The set includes 371 performances not previously officially released, alongside a separate release of the complete Fort Worth concert. The recordings document changing arrangements and performances across the tour, though the sources differ on how many concerts are represented and note that the recordings vary in format and sound quality.
If you read one thing
A detailed review introduces the collection, highlights standout performances, and explains how the 1976 tour differed from its better-known predecessor.
Best explainer
A show-by-show listening guide helps navigate the extensive set and notes incomplete recordings, sound differences, and performances that were left out.
The evidence
A contrasting review weighs the collection’s musical discoveries against its length, curation, and the reviewer’s view of its archival purpose.
Best explainer
This master review connects the recordings’ changing arrangements and ensemble interplay to the tour’s broader musical character.
The collection is available, with Fort Worth also offered separately. Coverage agrees on the track count and the 371 previously officially unreleased performances, but differs on how many tour dates or concerts the box represents; some recordings are incomplete or absent, and the sound varies by source.
The 39-disc set contains 381 tracks, 371 of them previously unreleased officially, drawn from recordings of Dylan’s 1976 tour.
The complete May 16 Fort Worth concert also received a separate release, giving listeners an alternative to the full box.
The archive documents a wide range of arrangements and performances, including Dylan’s collaborations with Joan Baez and forceful readings of songs such as “Idiot Wind” and “Tangled Up in Blue.”
The coverage does not establish a single agreed count of the concerts represented: reports describe 21, 22, 25, or 27 shows or dates. Some recordings are partial or missing, including the Salt Lake City finale, and the collection combines multitrack recordings with soundboard tapes of varying quality.
39 CDs
The size of The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1976 Live Recordings collection.
381 tracks
The total track count in the collection.
371 tracks
Tracks described as previously unreleased; reports characterize these as never officially released before.
31 hours and 18 minutes
GQ’s reported total running time for the collection’s music.
22 tracks
The complete Fort Worth concert’s track count in the separate three-LP release.
22 shows
Flagging Down’s count of shows represented in the 39-disc set.
21 concerts
The Arts Desk’s count of concerts represented by the 381 tracks; other coverage gives different concert counts.
25 professionally recorded shows
Exclaim!’s count of 1976 concerts captured in the release, differing from other articles’ counts of shows or concerts represented.
27 dates
The tour’s date count reported by Tinnitist; other articles describe the leg as spanning 25 dates.
25 dates
The tour’s date count in the release information carried by Grateful Web, which differs from reports of 27 dates.
Contested Issue
How many concerts or shows are represented in the 39-disc set
Flagging Down describes the collection as containing 22 shows.
The Arts Desk says the 381 tracks come from 21 concerts.
Exclaim describes the set as capturing 25 professionally recorded 1976 shows.
Coverage began with advance reports that Columbia and Legacy would issue a 39-disc archive of the 1976 tour, including 381 tracks and a separate Fort Worth concert release. Reviews published before release focused on what the recordings reveal about the tour’s sound and Dylan’s performances, while noting the collection’s uneven recording sources and gaps. On release day, coverage confirmed the box and companion Fort Worth edition were available and highlighted the Fort Collins recording; a later review further emphasized how the performances and arrangements vary across the tour.
- 11-04-2026
Advance coverage announced the November 6 release of the 39-disc collection, describing 381 tracks from the tour and a separate three-LP edition of the Fort Worth concert.
- 11-05-2026
Reviews assessed the archive ahead of release: one described a large, mixed-source collection with gaps, while another argued that the performances show the 1976 tour had its own force and character.
- 11-06-2026
Release-day reports said the box set and separate Fort Worth edition were out, reiterating the 381-track total and calling attention to the Fort Collins recording associated with Hard Rain.
- 11-07-2026
A post-release review presented the set as a fuller account of the 1976 leg, highlighting complete Fort Worth and Fort Collins performances and the range of Dylan’s interpretations across the recordings.
Articles in this story are part of a shaping these topics.