Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour (1988-present)

On June 7th, 1988, Bob Dylan kicked off his so-called Never Ending Tour at the Concord Pavillion in Concord, California.  That night in Concord, Dylan played "You're A Big Girl Now" and "Gates of Eden" for the first time live since 1978; "You Gotta Serve Somebody" for the first time live since 1981; and "Boots of Spanish Leather" astonishingly for the first time since 1963. According to Swedish researcher Olof Björner, Dylan played his 2,000th show of the Never Ending Tour on October 16, 2007, in Dayton, Ohio.  He played his 3,000th show of the Never Ending Tour on April 19, 2019, in Innsbruck, Austria. Having by now circumnavigated the globe many times over, Bob Dylan and his band encored at Olympiahalle with "Blowin' In The Wind" and a wistful "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry".

In 1986, Dylan played 60 dates, including 13 in Australia, 2 in New Zealand and 4 in Japan, on the True Confessions Tour featuring Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Both Dylan and Petty took a break after this tour before returning to the road in June to perform a 41 date tour of the United States and Canada.

In July of 1987 he did 6 dates in large stadiums featuring the Grateful Dead with each concert beginning with a lengthy set by the Grateful Dead of their own material (sometime broken into a first and second set, per the Dead's own practice), followed by a roughly 90-minute set of the Dead acting as Dylan's backup band.

Then again that fall of 1987 Dylan played another 30 dates featuring Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on the Temple In Flames tour. This would prove to be the last time Dylan toured with Petty and the last tour before the beginning of the "Never Ending Tour". Dylan and Petty would, though, briefly reunite in Holmdel, New Jersey in the summer of 2003 as well as throughout their work with the supergroup the The Travelling Wilburys.

The name itself, though commonplace by now, is more than a bit of a misnomer. It's not even something Dylan set about to name a single one of his tours in the first place. The tour's name was cemented in an interview by journalist Adrian Deevoy with Dylan in Q Magazine (December, 1989, no. 39). But when the critic Michael Gray went back and listened to Deevoy's interview tape, he pointed out (in The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia) that though Deevoy's article put the phrase into Dylan's mouth, in fact the label came from Deevoy in the following exchange:

AD: "Tell me about this live thing. You've gone straight into this tour again — one tour virtually straight into the next one."

BD: "Oh, it's all the same tour."

AD: "It's the Never Ending Tour?"

BD: (unenthusiastically) "Yeah, yeah".

Dylan has himself been dismissive of the Never Ending Tour tag. In the sleeve notes to his album World Gone Wrong (1993), Dylan wrote:

"Don't be bewildered by the Never Ending Tour chatter. There was a Never Ending Tour but it ended in 1991 with the departure of guitarist G. E. Smith. That one's long gone but there have been many others since then: "The Money Never Runs Out Tour" (Fall of 1991) "Southern Sympathizer Tour" (Early 1992) "Why Do You Look At Me So Strangely Tour" (European Tour 1992) "The One Sad Cry Of Pity Tour" (Australia & West Coast American Tour 1992) "Outburst Of Consciousness Tour" (1992) "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Tour" (1993) and others, too many to mention each with their own character & design."

In a 2009 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Dylan went on further in questioning  the validity of the term Never Ending Tour, saying:

"Critics should know there is no such thing as forever. Does anybody call Henry Ford a Never Ending Car Builder? Anybody ever say that Duke Ellington was on a Never Ending Bandstand Tour? These days, people are lucky to have a job. Any job. So critics might be uncomfortable with my working so much. Anybody with a trade can work as long as they want. A carpenter, an electrician. They don't necessarily need to retire."

Love it or leave it, it's the name that has stuck. Despite some very rocky patches, including one disastrous show in Germany in 1991 that cast a long shadow, Dylan throughout the nineties and aughts eventually drew himself into rare form both live and on record. The low water mark came in a particularly disastrous rendition of “New Morning” from his June 19th, 1991 gig in Stuttgart. It stretches for seven minutes, although much of it is just the band vamping, with someone on piano clomping out child-like chords, until Dylan kicks in at the 4:30 mark with incomprehensible muttering that sounds vaguely like the words to the song.

Performances like Stuttgart, though there are countless others, some of which fans have rightly described as "traumatizing", generated a toxic buzz that has surrounded Dylan's live show even to this day in some quarters. But in the span of two short years Dylan crested to a particularly high tide when he did a short stand of shows in November of 1993 at New York's Supper Club, by all accounts a stunning achievement and arguably a career highlight. 

Excellent bootleg recordings of two of Dylan's four club dates were released as (And It Ain’t) In The Seats Of A Supper Club on the Liberator label. Although they are called soundboard releases, they sound more like professionally mixed multi-track recordings that arguably sound better than many official releases. Dylan's band has had, of course, a considerable amount of churn over the years but you can hear the musical lock between several constants, including his longtime bass player Tony Garnier, guitarist John "J.J." Jackson, Bucky Baxter on pedal steel and drummer Winston Watson.

The Supper Club shows really are masterful and the musicianship is nearly unparalleled, particularly as captured in a small intimate room. The set from November 16th has the first live version of his arrangement of the traditional tune “Blood In My Eyes” which was released on World Gone Wrong. It also marked the debut of acoustic “unplugged” versions of “Absolutely Sweet Marie,” “Lay Lady Lay,” “Queen Jane Approximately,” “Tight Connection To My Heart,” “Disease Of Conceit,” and a particularly fine “I Want You.” 

The setlist places emphasis on the album World Gone Wrong which had been released three weeks prior. “Tight Connection To My Heart”, from 1985's Empire Burlesque, is a definite highlight. Stripped of the mid eighties production, this unplugged arrangement displayed the song’s pristine beauty. Purists bemoan that it hasn't been performed since. “Ring Them Bells” from Oh Mercy is likewise beautiful. The set ends with “Forever Young” in the same arrangement he would employ two nights later on Late Night With David Letterman. On the 17th his set included a debut of the traditional "Jack-A-Roe" (which many people know through the Dead) and an "I Shall Be Released" show closer.

That early nineties line-up was particularly popular amongst devotees. Gigs from 1995 and 1996 continue to be favorites in the Dylan bootleg community. Guitarist John “J.J.” Jackson was a common link in that period during his six years with the band between 1991-1997. As was drummer Winston Watson who played 400 shows in his five year tenure. 

Dylan's longest-running sideman, sometimes characterized as his "musical director", is bass player Tony Garnier. He was a long-time sideman for David Johansen in his Buster Poindexter persona, and was also briefly a member of the Saturday Night Live house band. Before joining Dylan's Never Ending Tour Band in 1989, Garnier added bass tracks to films by Jim Jarmusch, most notably the film Down by Law, which stars Roberto Benigni, Tom Waits and John Lurie, which was filmed in Louisiana. Garnier has strong musical ties to the downtown New York Jazz scene, by way of Marc Ribot and Lurie's group The Lounge Lizards. He's also recorded with Tom Waits, Loudon Wainwright III and Paul Simon

What really elevated Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour band to the next level, though, was when Garnier introduced guitarist Larry Campbell into the fold. Campbell, who replaced Jackson, would go on to be a member of the band from March 31, 1997 until November 21, 2004. Campbell expanded the role to multi-instrumentalist, playing instruments such as cittern, violin/fiddle, pedal steel guitar, lap steel guitar, mandolin, banjo, and slide guitar. His passion and enthusiasm is credited with elevating Dylan personally and his live shows to a new level. A great way to put it would be to say that Larry Campbell did for Dylan and his band what Bruce Hornsby did for Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.

Dylan has attributed much of the versatility of his live shows to the talent of his backing band, with whom he recorded each of his 21st Century studio albums: Time Out Of Mind (1997); Love and Theft (2001); Modern Times (2006); Together Through Life (2009); Christmas in the Heart (2009); Tempest (2012); Shadows in the Night (2015); Fallen Angels (2016); Triplicate (2017) and Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020).

In March of 1997 Dylan kicked off the year by recording Time Out of Mind at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida. His 30th studio album was released as a single CD as well as a double studio album on vinyl, his first since Self Portrait in 1970. For many fans and critics, the album marked Dylan's artistic comeback after he appeared to struggle with his musical identity throughout the 1980's; he had not released any original material for seven years, since Under the Red Sky in 1990. Time Out of Mind is now hailed as one of Dylan's best albums, and it went on to win three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1998. 

The album has an atmospheric sound, the work of producer (and past Dylan collaborator) Daniel Lanois, whose innovative work with carefully placed microphones and strategic mixing was detailed by Dylan in his memoir, Chronicles: Volume One. Although Dylan has spoken positively of Lanois' production style, he expressed dissatisfaction with the sound of Time Out of Mind. Dylan has self-produced his subsequent albums.

While it had been marketed as the third in a conceptual trilogy, beginning in 1997 with Time Out of Mind, Dylan himself rebuffed the notion. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he stated that he "would think more of Love and Theft as the beginning of a trilogy, if there's going to be a trilogy". But Dylan was hospitalized in June 1997 with the chest infection histoplasmosis, forcing him to cancel a European tour, fearing publicly that he’d be “seeing Elvis soon.” By October he was back on stage though, just as glowing reviews for Time Out of Mind were pouring in and songs like “Love Sick,” “Cold Irons Bound,” and “Can’t Wait” were finally ready to be presented live. It all added up to the most positive buzz around Dylan since the Rolling Thunder Revue over 20 years earlier.

Time Out of Mind featured players from the touring band, including drummer Winston Watson, Bucky Baxter on pedal steel (who toured from 1992–1999) and guitarist Duke Robillard who had, by then, also joined on guitar. But Rolling Stone reported that Robillard seemed to have parted ways with Bob Dylan, just three months after the blues guitarist joined his touring band. (Robillard posted on Facebook “For sale: Bob Dylan CD and record collection, slightly used.” He later wrote, “I will be selling a lot of guitars and amps soon. I’ll keep you posted.”)

It's highly unusual for a musician to depart Dylan’s band midway through a tour. Robillard only played at 27 Dylan shows, but that isn’t even the record for shortest tenure in Dylan’s backing band. Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Billy Burnette joined the group in February of 2003, and he left after an 11-show tour of Australia and New Zealand.

In keeping with Dylan's expanded group of collaborators, both Lanois' go-to drummer Brian Blade played drums on Time Out Of Mind as did Jim Keltner who has been described on occasion as "the leading session drummer in America". Keltner had already played drums on both albums released by the 1980's supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, playing under the pseudonym "Buster Sidebury".

Dylan capped off 1997 by booking a series of clubs in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago before wrapping up with a five-night stand in Los Angeles at the El Rey Theatre that featured Beck, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, and Willie Nelson rotating as his opening act. The El Rey seats just 900 people and tickets were extremely hard to come by, although bootleggers still managed to capture tickets every single night.

The best one is the penultimate show at the El Rey on December 19th, 1997. This is an audience tape, but the bootlegger was clearly a pro and the sound is excellent. Many bootleg aficionados argue that great audience tapes are superior to soundboard recordings since they capture the ambiance of the room. This recording is strong evidence in their favor.

In addition to standard fare like confident opener "Maggie's Farm", the El Rey setlist includes rare gems like "Silvio", a song whose lyrics were written by Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and set to music by Dylan for a muddled collaborative record 1988's Down In The Groove. The Rastafarian influenced "I and I" from 1983's Infidels also makes an appearence in the set.

It’s an explosive show from the opening chords of “Maggie’s Farm” to the final notes of “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” but the highlights are a blistering “Highway 61 Revisited” and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" with Sheryl Crow on guitar and vocals, a rare take on the Desire deep cut “Joey,” and a haunting “Cold Irons Bound.” The show also includes a mid-show acoustic set of "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie", "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" from Bringing It All Back Home and "Tangled Up In Blue".

A show from February 9, 2002 at Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia, which circulated for years under the name Got A Line on You, is particularly revered amongst fans. It was reportedly sourced to an Assisted Listening Device connected straight to the soundboard, which explains why the sound quality is absolutely perfect. Simply put, it sounds just about as good as any official live album.

The immaculate sounding concert opens with the Ralph Stanley number "I Am The Man, Thomas" sounding like something right out of O, Brother Where Art Thou? The set which leaned towards Love and Theft material, including "Floater (Too Much To Ask), "Summer Days", and "Sugar Baby" also featured "My Back Pages", "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)", "Lay Lady Lay" and a stunning "It Ain't Me Babe" as well as deep cuts like "Drifter's Escape" from John Wesley Harding and "Masters of War" from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

The show captured Dylan and the Never Ending Tour band during a peak era. This was just five months after Love and Theft hit stores and the new songs infused the show with incredible energy and purpose. Rolling Stone described Charlie Sexton and Larry Campbell as "two of the best guitarists he’s ever played with, and he gave them a lot of freedom to stretch out and even harmonize with him on the vocals."

There's been a fair bit of musical chairs in the guitar department over the years. Larry Campbell's amenable departure in 2004 opened the door for Denny Freeman on guitar and slide guitar (from 2005-2009) and Stu Kimball (from 2004-2018) who has played 1,323 shows alongside Dylan- the longest of any guitarist. Sexton first played guitar from 1999-2002 replacing Denny Freeman. Between the years 2003-2004, Tommy Morrongiello, a technician on the tour, would frequently play guitar with Dylan & his Never Ending Tour band. 

Initially Sexton was replaced by Duke Robillard for the first half of 2013, before returning on July 3, 2013. Sexton was then himself also replaced for seven concerts by Canadian blues guitarist Colin Linden, including one at Toronto's Molson Ampitheatre, which apparently didn't stick either, returning once again on July 26, 2013. The final year of the Sexton/Campbell era was on the Never Ending Tour was 2002. And, although Sexton returned to the band in 2009 after a seven-year absence, they’ve never managed to recreate the magic of this period, despite some incredible shows in 2018 and 2019.  

Dylan's album, Modern Times was recorded with Dylan's then touring band, including Freeman, Tony Garnier, Stu Kimball, and George G Receli who joined on drums (from 2001-2019) plus multi-instrumentalist Donnie Herron. Dylan produced the album under the name "Jack Frost". During a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone, Dylan spoke about his then current band:

"This is the best band I've ever been in, I've ever had, man for man. When you play with guys a hundred times a year, you know what you can and can't do, what they're good at, whether you want 'em there. It takes a long time to find a band of individual players. Most bands are gangs. Whether it's a metal group or pop rock, whatever, you get that gang mentality. But for those of us who went back further, gangs were the mob. The gang was not what anybody aspired to. On this record (Modern Times) I didn't have anybody to teach. I got guys now in my band, they can whip up anything, they surprise even me."

Dylan's newest guitarist, Bob Britt, was invited by Leon Russell to audition as a young man and spent a decade playing with the elder statesmen. Britt, who also recorded on Time Out Of Mind, does constant session work and has toured with The Dixie Chicks and John Fogerty. In 2011, Delbert McClinton enlisted Britt to play guitar in his band, which then lead to him becoming his music director, co-writer and co-producer of gigs.

Currently, Bob Dylan's band consists of the following members:

Bob Dylan — vocals, piano, harmonica, guitar

Donnie Herron — pedal steel, lap steel, electric mandolin, banjo, violin

Charlie Sexton — lead guitar

Tony Garnier — bass guitar

Matt Chamberlain — drums, percussion

Bob Britt — guitar