Bob Dylan 66: The Unheard Start of an Iconic Tour

The year Bob Dylan 66 remains etched in music history as a period of seismic shifts, electric controversy, and artistic evolution. It was a year that culminated in the infamous “Judas!” shout and produced the seminal album Blonde on Blonde. Yet, the very beginning of this legendary run started quietly, unrecorded, on February 4th, 1966, at the Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. This date marked the kickoff of arguably Dylan’s most famous tour, but the sounds and specifics of that first night remain largely lost to time.

The Louisville Kickoff: An Unheard Beginning

Unlike the later, well-documented European leg of the 1966 tour, the initial stretch across the US and Canada is shrouded in mystery. Of the 24 shows played in early 1966, almost none were recorded. Audience taping was uncommon, and sound engineer Rich Alderson, responsible for capturing the high-quality soundboards from Europe, had not yet joined the crew. Consequently, the Louisville concert exists only in memories and scant contemporary accounts.

We know the date and the venue, but crucial details are missing. Was the performance even more incendiary than the later Manchester Free Trade Hall show? Did Dylan engage in prolonged, perhaps confrontational, tuning sessions as he did in Paris? Did any memorable stage banter rival the famous “Play fucking loud” directive? Without audio evidence, these questions remain unanswered, making the start of the Bob Dylan 66 tour a fascinating historical enigma. The only concrete song confirmations come from a local newspaper review, which quoted lyrics from “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” and “Visions of Johanna,” both performed during the solo acoustic first half of the show.

Ticket stub for Bob Dylan's February 4, 1966 concert at the Convention Center in Louisville

Crafting the 1966 Setlist: Educated Guesses

While the exact Louisville setlist is unknown, Dylan’s performance structure in this era was remarkably consistent. The later European/UK dates featured identical setlists each night. Based on the few available recordings and setlists from other February 1966 shows, we can reasonably reconstruct what the Louisville audience likely heard. The concert probably followed the established half-acoustic, half-electric format:

Acoustic Set (Probable)

• She Belongs To Me
• To Ramona
• Visions Of Johanna
• It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
• Desolation Row
• Love Minus Zero/No Limit
• Mr. Tambourine Man

Electric Set (Probable)

• Tell Me, Momma
• I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
• Baby Let Me Follow You Down
• Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
• Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
• One Too Many Mornings
• Ballad of A Thin Man
• Positively 4th Street
• Like A Rolling Stone

Acoustic Echoes and Electric Debuts

Many songs in the probable acoustic set would have been familiar from previous tours and the Bringing It All Back Home album (“Love Minus Zero,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “She Belongs To Me”). However, “Visions of Johanna,” still sometimes referred to by its working title “Freeze-Out,” was relatively new, having only debuted live the previous year.

The electric set likely featured the live premieres of significant tracks destined for Blonde on Blonde. Louisville audiences were probably among the first to ever hear the driving rock of “Tell Me, Momma” and the wry narrative of “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat.” They also likely experienced the radical new electric arrangement of “One Too Many Mornings,” transforming the folk ballad into a powerful, churning performance with The Hawks – a prime example of Dylan’s declaration, “It used to go like that, and now it goes like this.”

Behind the Kit: A New Drummer Takes the Stage

Another significant first for the Louisville show was the debut of a new drummer. Levon Helm, the original Hawks drummer, had departed the tour in late November 1965, reportedly weary of the hostile reactions to the electric sets. Session veteran Bobby Gregg filled in for the final 1965 dates but was not interested in continued touring.

Taking the drum stool in Louisville was Sandy Konikoff. Recommended by guitarist Robbie Robertson, Konikoff had participated in an early Blonde on Blonde recording session just weeks earlier, on January 21st. According to Clinton Heylin’s book Judas!: From Forest Hills to the Free Trade Hall, the session did not go smoothly, with Konikoff apparently struggling to mesh with Dylan’s demanding pace. Heylin notes Konikoff “was the intended replacement for Bobby Gregg… and it was immediately apparent he was out of his depth.” Despite this rocky studio introduction, Konikoff would drum for Dylan on the road for the next two months before being replaced himself. Bobby Gregg was recalled for subsequent Blonde on Blonde sessions in Nashville, which Dylan flew to via his Lodestar aircraft shortly after the first run of February shows concluded in Norfolk, Virginia.

Bob Dylan's Lodestar aircraft, used during the extensive bob dylan 66 tour schedule

Contemporary Reactions: A “Pallid” Evening?

What little we know about the audience experience comes from a single review by Phillis Funke in the Louisville Courier-Journal. Her assessment was lukewarm, describing the evening as “pallid” and noting Dylan’s “chalk-white delicate face” and “lifeless manner.”

However, Funke also observed that the audience, a mix she characterized as “part left-over Beatle fans and part escapees from Greenwich Village,” seemed “rapt.” She quoted a young man with a beard, fur coat, and bowler hat who called Dylan “hip.” Another attendee, described as having “hair trailing down his back,” liked Dylan “because he’s pretty. He looks like Mardi Gras beads.” Notably, Funke’s review made no mention of any controversy surrounding the electric half of the show, suggesting the hostility encountered later in the tour might not have been present, or at least as pronounced, on this opening night.

Newspaper advertisement promoting Bob Dylan's 1966 Louisville appearance

The Enduring Mystery of Bob Dylan 66

The February 4th, 1966 concert in Louisville stands as a pivotal yet elusive moment in Bob Dylan’s career. It launched the transformative Bob Dylan 66 tour, introduced future classics and a new band member, yet remains unheard by the wider world. Relying on fragmented reports, probable setlists, and educated guesses, we can only piece together a partial picture of that night. While subsequent shows on the tour would be captured on tape, revealing the raw power and confrontational energy of Dylan and The Hawks, the true sonic beginning of this legendary chapter remains tantalizingly out of reach, preserved only in the memories of those who were there.