Dylan's collection a holiday bonus

In 1975, Bob Dylan toured the Northeastern states and parts of Canada in a medicine-show spectacle he called the Rolling Thunder Revue. Traveling like a circus with Dylan were such characters as T-Bone Burnett (producer of the "O Brother" soundtrack), Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Roger McGuinn and Allen Ginsberg. In retrospect, '75 was seen as a year Dylan returned to form; he released his heartbreaking Blood On the Tracks album, came back to protest with "Hurricane" and generally seemed happy and engaging on stage.\nThe Bootleg Series Vol. 5 is a fabulous Christmas-time product. The sound is absolutely pristine, the packaging is beautiful and it comes with informative liner notes by Larry Sloman and a bonus DVD to boot.\nThe material on Live 1975 presents Dylan in his most funky and playful mood. The all-star backup band is loose in a democratic fashion. Dylan sings with a tone of voice delivery, but the hero of this tour must have been Scarlet Rivera's violin.\nApparently, Dylan was riding around the streets of New York and saw Rivera, a young woman with long, jet-black hair walking around with a violin case, so he stopped and asked her if she wanted to play with him. \nIt's impossible to guess what was going on in Dylan's head, and Live 1975 is pleasant at worst. There are people out there who might find these performances transcendent, but it's the most domestic and mannered Dylan's ever sounded.\nUncle Bob seems as if he was in a nostalgic mood on the tour; he reaches back in his catalog for favorites like "Mr. Tambourine Man," "It Ain't Me, Babe," "Blowin' In the Wind" and "Just Like a Woman." The mid-'70s was a time when he was more of a populist artist; though the songs are lovely and comfortable, Dylan seems to be in awe of himself.