The Complete Budokan 1978 – Bob Dylan
*** ½

The first of many times I saw Bob Dylan in concert was at the old Chicago Stadium on October 17, 1978 on his Street Legal tour. My future wife Tammy, who I had been dating for just over a year, and I sat in the upper balcony behind the stage for the concert. Dylan, as I would later find out he often does, changed many of the song arrangements to the point you didn’t immediately know what they were. Tammy hasn’t yet forgiven me for that night yet. Here is the setlist from that concert.

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** More of this review
**Song of the Week Lyrics~ “How Great Thou Art (Until That Day)” by Matt Redman and Friends

Dylan’s 1978 tour took place after the end of his marriage, and just before his conversion to Christianity in 1979. The 1978 album Bob Dylan at Budokan (never one of my favorites), featured 23 songs from his February 28 and March 1 shows at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan Hall. This new project includes 56 songs (plus two band introductions), with each concert in their entirety, front to back. Thirty-six of the songs were previously unreleased, and are newly remixed from the original 24-channel analog tapes. The album features dramatically reworked versions of many of Dylan’s best-known songs, including a few new ones from Street Legal, which wouldn’t be released for another four months. His band included background singers (Debi Dye, Jo Ann Harri and Helena Springs) Steve Douglas on saxophone, Bobbye Hall on percussion, Billy Cross on lead guitar, Alan Pasqua on keyboards, multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield, bass Rob Stoner, rhythm guitar Steven Soles, and Ian Wallace on drums. As you might expect, some of the new arrangements work better than others.

The new project has excellent production quality, and will be enjoyed by fans of Dylan.

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 “How Great Thou Art (Until That Day)” – Matt Redman and Friends

This week’s song of the week is “How Great Thou Art (Until That Day)” by Matt Redman and friends. Marking the 75th anniversary of this song – one of my favorites – written by Stuart K. Hine, a group of award-winning artists (Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Matt Maher and more), came together to celebrate and record a new version, “How Great Thou Art (Until That Day)”, written by Hine, Redman and Mitch Wong. Watch the video for the song here.

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hand hath made
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

And when I think that God, His Son, not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then shall I bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, “My God, how great Thou art”

Until that day when heaven bids us welcome
And as we walk this broken, warring world
Your kingdom come, deliver us from evil
And we’ll proclaim, “Our God, how great You are”
With hope, we’ll sing, “Our God, how great You are”
Oh, You are

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

How great Thou art, how great Thou art
How great Thou art, how great Thou art