Double Dose Of Dead: Hear Bob Dylan Fit ‘Only A River’ & ‘Truckin’ Covers Into European Tour Closer In Rome
Listen to Dylan keep “Truckin'” and Bob Weir’s “Only A River” in his setlist for tour closer in the Eternal City.
By Nate Todd Jul 10, 2023 • 10:35 am PDT
Bob Dylan continued to cover the Grateful Dead at his European Tour closer at the Sala Santa Cecilia, Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome on Sunday. The legendary singer-songwriter delivered “Truckin’” along with Dead guitarist Bob Weir’s solo cut “Only A River.”
There has been a healthy exchange of songs between the Grateful Dead, its members and Bob Dylan for roughly 50 years. Jerry Garcia’s projects covered several Dylan tunes including “Positively 4th Street,” “Tangled Up In Blue” and “Simple Twist Of Fate” just to name a few. Bob has said that Jerry Garcia’s interpretations of his songs have influenced how he himself has played them later on.
The Dead/Dylan connection culminated in a joint tour together in 1987 with both GD and Dylan delivering sets with the Dead acting as Bob’s backing band. Around that time a number of Dylan songs popped up in GD’s repertoire including “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” and more.
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Dylan began adding Grateful Dead covers to his Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour setlists in Japan and continued to perform Dead songs as the tour moved to Europe. So far Bob has covered “West L.A. Fadeaway,” “Stella Blue,” “Brokedown Palace” and more. For his tour closer in Rome, Dylan delivered the GD classic “Truckin’” and Bob Weir’s co-write with Josh Ritter, “Only A River.”
In Rome, Bob — who played piano throughout — pretty much stuck to the same setlist he’s used for his Rough And Rowdy Ways Tour, kicking things off with “Watching The River Flow,” another song the Grateful Dead performed with Dylan on the ‘87 tour. After the Blonde On Blonde (1966) cut “Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine),” Dylan got into material from his latest studio album, Rough And Rowdy Ways, with “I Contain Multitudes.” Bob would perform nearly the whole album save for the nearly 17-minute “Murder Most Foul.” He also offered the Rome-referencing “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and Rough And Rowdy Ways’ “Crossing The Rubicon,” a phrase stemming from the most famous Roman, Julius Caesar.
After Rowdy Ways’ “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You” and a cover of Johnny Mercer’s “That Old Black Magic,” Dylan trotted out “Truckin’” and “Only A River” toward the end of his set. Bob debuted both songs during his stint in Japan. The Rome versions were the second Bob Dylan performance of each song. Listen to “Truckin’” and “Only A River” from Rome below:
Only A River
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Setlist (via BobDylan.com)
Set: Watching the River Flow, Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine), I Contain Multitudes, False Prophet, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Black Rider, My Own Version of You, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Crossing the Rubicon, To Be Alone with You, Key West (Philosopher Pirate), Gotta Serve Somebody, I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You, That Old Black Magic, Only A River, Truckin’, Mother of Muses, Goodbye Jimmy Reed, Every Grain of Sand
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