Audio Example 11.6:

"Hard Rain," live instrumental (1978, Tokyo)

Dylan began his concerts for the first leg of the massive 1978 tour with "Hard Rain" as an instrumental. In this clip we hear the first soloist—Steven Soles on capo'ed acoustic guitar, playing a paraphrase of the melody—followed by the opening of Steve Douglas's tenor sax solo. Further solos from Alan Pasqua (soulful organ), Billy Cross (shredding electric guitar), and David Mansfield (old-timey fiddle) would follow—a generically motley bunch.