The First Live "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" at Tour '74 Night Two

1974-01-04, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL

A number of changes took place between the first and second Tour ’74 show, but for our purposes 50 years later, here’s the biggest: This is the first good tape! No it’s not one of the soundboards—those will come later—but it’s miles more listenable than yesterday’s. The first electric “Hero Blues” is historic, but the second is the one you’ll listen to more than once.

You notice things you don’t when listening through five extra layers of murk. For instance, the organ. Garth Hudson sounds phenomenal on “Tough Mama,” wailing away on the high notes like a man possessed (Bob also really leans into the “hotter than a crotch” line). Ditto on another new song, "Something There Is About You,” where halfway through that organ gets joined by Bob’s pointed harmonica jabs. Bob and Garth, just wailing away on the high notes.

Something else you hear: Bob’s committed singing. Not on every song—he sounds like he’s thinking about what he wants for dinner during “The Times They Are A-Changin’”—but on many. You don’t always hear him deliver a greatest-hit like “Forever Young” with such care, but then you remember: It wasn’t a greatest hit. It was a new song he had to sell to an audience hoping for “Like a Rolling Stone,” and you can hear him take the care to put it across.