Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series

* 1st song on Vol 5/1975 should shut up forever anyone who still thinks "Dylan can't sing"

* "Wallflower" - one of his most underrated songs, David Bromberg's version is great

I adore that vol 5 version of 'Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You' - track one, even using the phrase 'Rolling Thunder'. Thrills!

If you want to hear great acoustic Bob, you can't beat the three songs on Before the Flood: Don't Think Twice, It's Alright Ma and Just Like A Woman. All three are the best versions of those songs, and beat the piss out of the Royal Albert Hall acoustic stuff.

i'm also happy for the recently uprooted love of "shes your lover now". i about break everytime it just quits like that. Vol. 7 proves that the blonde on blonde sessions, though interesting, don't quite pack the punch of the final versions. i can't imagine what would have become of syln. the vol. 2 version is rough, but warm. b o b has a late night frosty glow. it coulda been better or worse.

the vol. 2 version of santa fe is great, better than the genuine basement tape's version....it makes you need to belt along with it.

i've gone on week long binges with each of the live records. Rolling Thunder got me to like "The Hurricane". The "It's Alright Ma" from 1964 brought back the almost crushing power of that song for me. And I still get chills with the 66 version of "Like A Rolling Stone".

all said, i love this series. i think it provides a brilliant look into how grand the dylan universe is.

dunno about "FA" but "MYBOMM" was covered by a few people--as the Scorsese doc makes clear, his publisher made sure his songs got covered.

I've had the the first box for a few years and been meaning to pick up vols. 4-7. Some faves from it that haven't been mentioned much:

Seven Curses (I'm sucker for mystical revenge/stolen virginity/evil lawmen/wronged man folklore stuff)
Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence ("She's turnin' me into an old man/and man, I ain't even 25!")
If Not For You (It's prettier than the official version)
Nobody 'Cept You (Good call kornrulez)
Seven Days (Since i dig this and the rolling thunder biograph tracks, how urgent is it for me to pick up Vol.5? And also is the 1st version w/the dvd worth tracking down?)
Foot of Pride (The homesick blues, nearly 20 years of schoolin' later, and still on the day shift)
Tell Me (Bob can do Pop)

Xpost
thanks for answering my question before I posted it. that sounds cool.

-- Matos-Webster Dictionary (michaelangelomato...), October 6th, 2005.

Most notably and beautifully by Rod Stewart.

1st Disc Standouts:
"Hard Times in New York Town"
"House Carpenter" (Is this a cover or an original? It's become one of my Dylan favorites)
"Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues"
"Rambling, Gambling Willie"
"Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues"
"Who Killed Davey Moore?"
"Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie" (if for nothing else, those ending lines:

"You'll find God in the church of your choice
You'll find Woody Guthrie in Brooklyn State Hospital

And though it's only my opinion
I may be right or wrong
You'll find them both
In the Grand Canyon
At sundown"

Sung with such beauty, control, and weight, I can't get over it. Devastates me every time.

Listened to some Live 64, did not think much of it really. But I shall persevere.

Crawl Out Your Window is on Biograph, I think, Pinefox. Should you wish, I could copy it for you when I rescue it from "storage". I also have a J. Hendrix version recorded for the BBC Light Programme.

glockenspiel!

It's a cover - it's a ridiculously old trad song. A great version is on Harry Smiths' Anthology of American Folk Music.

seconded; amazing song/performance, totally spellbinding

Madness. I can't really say if it's the best disc but it's definitely the one I've listened to most. 'Foot of Pride','Every Grain', 'Blind Willie McT', 'Angelina', 'Seven Days' = throwaway??

So classsssssic.
Also turned me on to "St James Infirmary", from which the melody is lifted. Checl out Bobby Blue Bland's version if you have the chance.

Vol. 1-3 I heard before a lot of the albums, and it's the thing that made me obsessive about Dylan. Had a 90 cassette of tracks, mostly discs 1 & 2, that I completely wore out that summer and beyond. It started with "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie". Upon hearing the original version of say "If Not For You" without the "Ready George?" and a certain wobbly reckless energy of a lot of the tracks on 1-3, the originals sounded rather polished or staid. "Santa Fe" is another good example. Even "Idiot Wind" at the end of Vol. 2 is more biting and mean than the album vers.

Vol. 4 opened my eyes in a big way to the pre-'66 material, as I'm sure it did for a lot of people. I actually prefer disc 1, particularly the devestatingly sad "Desolation Row" and Dylan's expressive harp playing thoughout. Almost like he's testing the audience with his harp playing, similar in aggression to part 2 "Play it fucking loud". I find the guitar playing on disc 1 tattered, like he means it, it all fits the mood nicely.

Vol. 5 I bought when it came out and only listened a handful of times. Need to return to it. I remember it sounding very punk rock, though.

Vol. 6 is the 1964 disc, right? Never bought that.

Vol. 7 don't have yet.

but anyway, i love the bootleg series' one and all, but part of me wishes that Dylan (or Columbia) would do like Elvis Costello and just reissue the albums each with a bonus disc of outtakes/live stuff/etc. Of course they just did that big SACD reissue series a few years ago, so that's unlikely to happen any time soon.

The fall reissues have an extra disc, but as they mostly have Peel sessions, they are pointless if you have that "Ah, the Fall Peel Sessions box set, you guys" set.

Latest discoveries:

'Tangled Up In Blue' - a centrepiece of the set to me when I first heard it - is it in E, and the LP version in G?

'Call Letter Blues' is doing more for me than before: some poignancy in the words.

I have never loved 'Idiot Wind' but am now impressed by the relative tenderness of this (NYC?) version as vs the LP.

The bootleg 'If You See Her' is a lot better than the LP's, surely.

Is 'Golden Loom' the first time Bob and Emmylou H sang together? Assuming it's her.

It's funny how that is country, then 'Catfish' is blues. I have always thought 'Catfish' kind of unimportant, but actually I like the depth of its sound, the reverb around those slides and harmonicas.

Is the barking dog the reason that this 'Every Grain of Sand' was not used? I like this song a lot considering that it's religious.

The whole set is an amazing way to take a rapid-fire time-tour through Dylan's career, hearing the flavour of one year (those Desirous violins) for a track or two before the next sound comes along.

Unlike PJM, I like Live 1964 a lot.

This glockenspiel rumour remains mysterious to me.

But christ, so many great things: 'Barbed Wire Fence', 'Train To Cry', '... Go Now' on bootleg 2. Peerless!

fun and sad at once ! (especially considering the quality of this song you can imagine all the gems lost forever...). jeez, you'd think someone would have had the idea to record EVERY SINGLE NOISE dylan was making at the time...
it's around the same time that he and the beatles recorded a track that made paul understanding the mysteries of the universe...but then forgot all about the next day !

The sad version of Idiot Wind is fantastic, I think. Ditto If You See Her.

I have not yet paid attention to 1964. Not properly. But I will. One of my problems with these records is that you have to pay attention, rather than just use them as a background to nosepicking or whatever.

I finished my consecutive listen to Bootlegs 1-3 the other day. It is worth doing, I think. An odd thing is that I have listened to CD3 a lot in the past but certain tracks seemed almost previously unheard to me: 'Tell Me', for instance. I note that the sleevenote on this track is misleading.

PJM is right about the acoustic, quiet 'Idiot Wind', so much better than the LP version; yes, right too about 'If You See Her. Say Hello'. But PJM, I thought you already liked heads-down, no-nonsense boogie rock!!

I'm glad Don likes 'Golden Loom' with ELH. Big surprise for me from the notes: it's not ELH singing on 'Every Grain of Sand', but Jennifer Warnes! I almost think this must be another mistake.

Has anyone explained the barking dog yet?

'When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky' is disappointing. 'Blind Willie McTell' is more about the US South than I had realized. 'Series of Dreams' is still good.

I think I need to listen to 'Eternal Circle' again.

Today I almost went and re-bought some 'proper' albums. But I think I probably have enough with the Bootlegs and Biograph. Enough to be going on with.

I wonder if I kept that Mo-Jo comp or if I threw it away like a pranny.

PS: This is the only thread I like now. I may 'subscribe' to it.

Miller, I am glad that you like the thread.

Last night I went to The Fopp to re-buy Blonde on Blonde, but the queue was too long and they kept messing about and I was missing the football.

However, perhaps I would be better off getting Volume 7 instead. Thing is, it's £15, whereas the previous volume was £13.99 (I still have the receipt). That's £1.01 more expensive. Perhaps if I think about it long enough, the urge will pass.

Also, I note that Germany has entered a Grand Coalition.

More troubling is a member of the Animals going uncriticized for opening a bottle with a hotel piano. Does Dylan let pass from a star what he would justly rebuke in an ordinary person? It happened behind Dylan's back. Maybe he was unaware of it.

The LC album is called I'm Your Man.

The Grand Coalition seems to have been shunted off the front pages since last this thread was updated.

The story I heard is that this take was a home demo. You can also faintly hear a door close after one of the barks.

or so the Germans would have you believe... I think careful editing amps up this impression. I do agree that NDH exposes the kind of crap Dylan had to put up with at the time. Or as a recent Stereogum post put it, "Suck On Your Glasses, Judas!" I usually don't laugh out loud at things I find on the Internet, but that did me in.

How about 'I Was Young When I Left Home'? Does vol 7 repeat the version issued with Love & Theft; either way, does anyone save me rate the latter? Its very guitar playing seems poignant.

It seems that vol 7, unlike other volumes, repeats existing and possibly familiar material.

Lou Reed NYC Man - a best of, 2 CDs for a fiver, from Fopp. So it was a part-exchange.

Sung with such beauty, control, and weight, I can't get over it. Devastates me every time.

No. It's my single favourite Dylan performance.

I like the alternate take of "Stuck Inside of Mobile" the best.

I am glad to hear about Vol 7. I'll have to get it!

it was sitting in the back of my memory untill cat power did it so damnedwell...these days i cant decide which i like better...

i've meant to dig up some old versions of it. a co-worker knows it from houseparty sessions when she was a kid..but hasn't pointed to any recorded versions..allmusic herei come

has anyone bought/heard the starbucks tapes?

So great.

Really enjoying the The Witmark Demos, but as I've been searching out reviews of the set I'm getting a little sick of the Dylan fanatics whining "well I've heard all these before, so this is nothing new and I can't believe they bothered to package this". Gee, thanks, but some of us like to not have to scrounge through tons of bootlegs and will happily pay for this stuff all collected and cleaned up nice.

ha, yeah, this is a great set, even though i may have been one of the fanatics complaining originally. second disc in particular is just a joy to listen to. i definitely prefer some of the versions here to the album versions.

I am listening to that second disc now!

I wanted to hear what 'I'll keep it with mine' sounded like in its very first instance.

And now I am hearing 'Boots of Spanish Leather' - my goodness. Such depth he seems to have found, to have plumbed or fallen into.

About 'keep it with mine', have I others mentioned before the basic difficulty with this song, namely that the 'everybody / will help you' line doesn't really fit vs the music, so every cover (and so many covers have occurred) has to solve this problem anew?

[= have I and / or others mentioned]

Just listening to Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Take 5) from Vol.7.
So great.
― Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 23 November 2005

my download code for the brandeis vinyl i bought in case anyone wants it:

http://www.myplaydirect.com/bobdylan/redeem_short_pin?cid=lg:4ve&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=retail

code: 349j3p56d57nd72

anyone know where i could find a version of "when i paint my masterpiece" from the rolling thunder revue tour?

just uh "replaced" the taped copy I had of the Bootleg Series Volume 2, as I'm sorta going through a mid-60s through the late 70s Bob-listening period at the moment and I am wondering at just how much there really is in the vaults from that '65-'67 period. Volume 2 really only includes a smattering - I have an unauthorized bootleg that I got back in the 90s called "Thin Wild Mercury Music" that has at least a dozen more tracks from the same sessions (Pilot Eyes, Just a Little Glass of Water, numerous alternate versions). Does anybody have any particular insight into this period or resources that would be worth checking out?

Also, did Dylan even tour the US with his electric band during this period? I mean I know about the inaugural folk festival shows and whatnot, but it seems like the live stories/bootlegs from this period are always from the two UK tours.

also - so glad to finally be hearing this 3/4 version of Like a Rolling Stone again

is that the one with the mickey jones replacing levon helm in the band?

I'm not sure...? it's very short, just over a minute-and-a-half. instrumentation is Bob at the piano, singing and playing harmonica too and I think there's some small electric guitar and organ bits at the end. I'll see if I can find a youtube...

wikipedia sez no

The recording sessions were produced by Tom Wilson on June 15–16, 1965, in Studio A of Columbia Records, 799 Seventh Avenue, in New York City.In addition to Bloomfield, the other musicians enlisted were Paul Griffin on piano, Joe Macho, Jr. on bass, Bobby Gregg on drums, and Bruce Langhorne on tambourine, all booked by Wilson. Gregg and Griffin had previously worked with Dylan and Wilson on Bringing It All Back Home.

On the first day, five takes of the song were recorded in a markedly different style from the eventual release—a 3/4 waltz time, with Dylan on piano. The lack of sheet music meant the song was played by ear. However the essence of the song was discovered in the course of the chaotic session. They did not reach the first chorus until the fourth take, but after the following harmonica fill Dylan interrupted, saying, "My voice is gone, man. You wanna try it again?" This take was subsequently released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991. The session ended shortly afterwards.

Also, did Dylan even tour the US with his electric band during this period? I mean I know about the inaugural folk festival shows and whatnot, but it seems like the live stories/bootlegs from this period are always from the two UK tours.

According to this, he did do an electric tour of the US/Canada in 1966, but the personnel fluctuated. The US/Canada leg of the tour started out with Al Kooper and Levon Helm, and ended up with the rest of the Hawks and Bobby Gregg.

ah. I've seen Eat the Document, for some reason I thought all that footage was from the UK tours. Not that there's a lot of um, explication in that film.

Tyler had a boot up from one of the US dates on his blog.

There was also a mult-disc Bootleg Series release through Sony Japan only, with little publicity. Yet another reminder of just how crazy he is, to sideline something this good (like leaving the Desire sessions' "Golden Loom" in the can so long, in favor of shit like "Joey"). It ranges from the very early 60s, when he sounds like a mean ol' compelling preacher man on "Wade In The Water". to the late '90s, I think. A few prev released tracks, but nothing too obvious. He even reads 60s poetry from the stage, way better than most of the stuff on back album jackets (before John Wesley Harding, that is). Telltale Signs is mostly excellent too, although it's mostly about lost love, gotta be ready for that(the music's always good)(of course I'm just talking about the double-disc, but you could probably get everything on the third disc from the bargain bin or downloads, for much, much less than the full edition, though still wouldn't have the book, boo-hoo)

there seem to be a handful of outtakes from his 65-67 studio sessions that I can't find:

California
You Don't Have to Do That
Why Do You Have to Be So Frantic?

and then I guess various alternate versions of some things...

Also see Tyler's link to Renaldo and Clara on YouTube, speaking of Rolling Thunder. I haven't heard the Bootleg Series Rolling Thunder, don't know how it compares with thar (the old Hard Rain live LP has some good R Thunder performances). It's 3' 36", but very episodic, no prob with breaks. Don't know why it got such bad reviews: you get mostly really good, already speculative re-arrangements of songs from early 60s to recent past, and the whole thing is also a continuation of the troubled relationship dynamic on Blood On The Tracks--not a rolling cinematic break-up album, but scenes with restless,wry, sly, not-buyin'-any-alibis women, and somewhat befuddled men, the latter inching towards middle-aged crazy. (The actually middle-aged men, like Ronny Hawkins, Allen Ginsberg and Ramblin' Jack, thrive in the spotlight.) Great sound and pungent 70s dirty silver screen visuals (Dyl had already made the Scorsese connection after all, and maybe thinkin Cassavetes, Pennebacker of course, hoping for success like that of Altman's Nashville, or Led Zep's Song Remains The Same, it's kind of in between those)

another question:

what the hell was Dylan doing between New Morning and Pat Garrett? So weird that he went so long without releasing anything except a couple random largely ignored singles

I may have the chronology wrong, but I think that's around when Bob was trying to shake off any number of stalkers (Weberman and the like). Since putting out a crap record (Self Portrait) on purpose didn't throw people off his trail, he probably decided to clam up entirely.

he was raising kids and chickens and shit

"Cow Pie!" Now that nobody goes to MySpace, tons of albums there: whole series and boxes of Hank, Cash, Miles and Dylan for inst. All of BD's original 60s releases (in their 2010 mono, plus Best of the Mono Recordings). Several in the Bootleg Series, like the Whitmark Demos, Halloween Mask, Vols.1-3: Series of Dreams, Live At Brandeis (not sure if that's formally incl in Bootleg Series, but def 60s)

http://s.discogss.com/image/R-4142927-1356735357-6465.jpeg

Not a part of the bootleg series, but may as well be. Sony/Columbia quietly released 100 copies of this across a few European countries at the end of December, and it was available for download in a few countries (at an exorbitant price) but that's it. The mp3 download version apparently uses the less subtle artwork above, while the physical copies used the 50th Anniv. title. Basically all the alternate/live tracks they wanted to not let slip into the public domain? I'm not sure I understand how copyright law works that they had to do this, but I wish it was more widely available.

http://www.discogs.com/Bob-Dylan-The-50th-Anniversary-Collection-The-Copyright-Extension-Collection-Vol-I/release/4142612

out there on t0rrentz, of course

haha, saw this. so weird. some good stuff on there, nothing that hasn't been around on bootlegs, i don't think?

Isn't there something major happening with copyright law in Europe this year? I seem to recall some hand-wringing about "and now Beatles songs will be public domain!"

Yes, there's an EU directive now in force which extends copyright in sound recordings from 50 to 70 years. So the Beatles are protected. More here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/sep/15/copyright-extension-cliffs-law-beatles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfME_KyTmc0&feature=youtu.be&t=6m48s

Thanks, that's what I was looking for!

xp

ugh y didnt my vid post it is the most necessary vid

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pPQUh%2B7aL._SL500_.jpg
guess the floodgates are kinda opening with these euro bootleg collections. available on amzon. four discs for pretty cheap i think.

record store day release -- Bob Dylan Wigwam b/w Thirsty Boots from the forthcoming Bootleg Series Volume 10, features the demo version of Wigwam and the unreleased track from the Self Portrait sessions.
kind of cool, guess it'll be a 69-70 collection or something? Self Portrait outtakes!

oh man self-portrait outakes....do we dare hope for new morning outtakes????

yeahhhh, i assume they'll be clearing the decks of that stuff. probably some of the isle of wight concert too? hopefully there's more cool stuff that's never been bootlegged -- i don' think these two tracks have made it out.

crazy that wigwam was released as a single back in the day
http://www.importsounds.com/images/BOB-DYLAN_WIGWAM_061512.JPG
i mean, i really love that song, but... did anyone think it was going to be a hit?

what is the demo going to be like, i wonder, hmmmm.

http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/9a/01/9a01fa3d715f1211f22450db86eeeb26.jpg

These sessions are great. It's nice to see the Self-Portrait era get a reassessment. Funny to think about how much the rock-crit establishment freaked out whenever Dylan dared release anything recorded more for the sheer love of making music rather thanuttering kind of profound poetic statement. I love the way he Dylanizes songs he chooses to cover. Plus his choice of covers has turned me onto some incredible stuff.

yeah, early morning rain is one of my faves from that era. i'm sure there was a little self-sabotage going on (as dylan claimed a decade or so later), but also, i think this was just a period where he wanted to make low-key country rock records, along the lines of gordon lightfoot, john prine, kris kristofferson, etc.

i'm sure there was a little self-sabotage going on (as dylan claimed a decade or so later)

love chronicles but i trust bob about as far as i can throw him when it comes to his own motivations

so stoaked for this

i wonder if it will have stuff that was part of that weird dark musical or whatever the fuck that new morning grew out of

feel like the biggest argument for self portrait as self sabotage is the live like a rolling stone, where Dylan completely flubs most of the lines. maybe bob just thought it was funny?

if he had only called it "like a rolling pin," then we would have known for sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbb-T7tIDi8

heyo

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-revisits-self-portrait-on-next-edition-of-bootleg-series-20130716

...the latest volume in his ongoing Bootleg Series: a four-disc set called Another Self Portrait, drawing on never-before-heard material from Dylan's original acoustic recording sessions and outtakes from Self Portrait along with select cuts from 1968's Nashville Skyline and 1970's New Morning. A deluxe edition will feature a complete recording of Dylan and the Band's 1969 set at the Isle of Wight Festival as well as a remastered version of the original Self Portrait. Both editions hit shelves on August 27th.

Sounds awesome.

I've only heard bits and pieces of SP, none of which made me want to delve further. I didn't think it was outright awful, but can't say I'm real excited to hear the stuff that wasn't deemed good enough for it.

(Then again, it could be an Old Ways/A Treasure situation, which I would welcome)

i've twice in the last couple months been in coffee shops playing self-portrait. maybe it's getting rehabilitated.

new morning also big w the cool kids in my experience. me, for example.

So excited for another Bootleg Series release, but what really piqued my interest was this quote:

"Sets for Blood on the Tracks and Blonde on Blonde will eventually come out. When fans hear the Blonde on Blonde set, they'll realize that the real hero of the sessions was pianist Paul Griffin. . . There will also be a Basement Tapes box one day. We're trying to get the best sources on all the Basement Tapes. That'll happen one day, absolutely."

Hope I live long enough to hear those two/three releases.

I think Dylan being relatively hands-off with the bootleg serieses bodes well for future volumes appearing in our lifetimes.

I'm excited by this and any upcoming sets. We'll likely see them all before the second volume of Neil's Archives.

I need me some Homegrown

I hope this is good--not a big Self Portrait fan here

The outtakes from this era are great so I'm pretty stoked.

the blonde on blonde bootlegs sound amazing from that description. it's hard to believe they aren't just floating around the internet somewhere....

i'm stoked about another self portrait too though. i like that one, even though it i agree that it is cynical and bitter and everything that everyone accuses it of being.

I really want the super-duper special edition but fucking hell not for $125.

http://www.bobdylan.com/us/node/31036

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GFdgwMhWcV4

Was Levon drumming at this show or was it Mickey like the early tours?

Wasn't excited until I watched that video--alternate versions sound good.

Think it was Levon

isle of wight is a good set -- pretty laid back for a huge festival gig. lots of cool, unique versions. and yeah it's levon drumming (and singing quite a bit too). there are two tracks from it on the official self portrait -- "minstrel boy" and a hilarious "like a rolling stone" (the latter being the worst song from the set probably). best thing might be dylan's solo "wild mountain thyme".

Alternate take of "Dogs Run Free"!!!

looks so good!
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971)
CD 1

1 Went To See The Gypsy (demo)
2 In Search Of Little Sadie (without overdubs, Self Portrait)
3 Pretty Saro (unreleased, Self Portrait)
4 Alberta #3 (alternate version, Self Portrait)
5 Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (unreleased, Self Portrait)
6 Annie's Going To Sing Her Song (unreleased, Self Portrait)
7 Time Passes Slowly #1 (alternate version, New Morning)
8 Only A Hobo (unreleased, Greatest Hits II)
9 Minstrel Boy (unreleased, The Basement Tapes)
10 I Threw It All Away (alternate version, Nashville Skyline)
11 Railroad Bill (unreleased, Self Portrait)
12 Thirsty Boots (unreleased, Self Portrait)
13 This Evening So Soon (unreleased, Self Portrait)
14 These Hands (unreleased, Self Portrait)
15 Little Sadie (without overdubs, Self Portrait)
16 House Carpenter (unreleased, Self Portrait)
17 All The Tired Horses (without overdubs, Self Portrait)

The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971)
CD 2

1 If Not For You (alternate version, New Morning)
2 Wallflower (alternate version, 1971)
3 Wigwam (original version without overdubs, Self Portrait)
4 Days Of '49 (original version without overdubs, Self Portrait)
5 Working On A Guru (unreleased, New Morning)
6 Country Pie (alternate version, Nashville Skyline)
7 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (Live With The Band, Isle Of Wight 1969)
8 Highway 61 Revisited (Live With The Band, Isle Of Wight 1969)
9 Copper Kettle (without overdubs, Self Portrait)
10 Bring Me A Little Water (unreleased, New Morning)
11 Sign On The Window (with orchestral overdubs, New Morning)
12 Tattle O'Day (unreleased, Self Portrait)
13 If Dogs Run Free (alternate version, New Morning)
14 New Morning (with horn section overdubs, New Morning)
15 Went To See The Gypsy (alternate version, New Morning)
16 Belle Isle (without overdubs, Self Portrait)
17 Time Passes Slowly #2 (alternate version, New Morning)
18 When I Paint My Masterpiece (demo)

Bob Dylan & The Band
Isle of Wight - August 31, 1969

1 She Belongs To Me
2 I Threw It All Away
3 Maggie's Farm
4 Wild Mountain Thyme
5 It Ain't Me, Babe
6 To Ramona/ Mr. Tambourine Man
7 I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
8 Lay Lady Lay
9 Highway 61 Revisited
10 One Too Many Mornings
11 I Pity The Poor Immigrant
12 Like A Rolling Stone
13 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
14 Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
15 Minstrel Boy
16 Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

There will also be a Basement Tapes box one day. We're trying to get the best sources on all the Basement Tapes. That'll happen one day, absolutely."

Hope I live long enough to hear those two/three releases.

― scubasteve, Tuesday, July 16, 2013 9:53 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there's that Tree With Roots 4CD bootleg floating around, tons of amazing stuff.....man...

See You Later, Allen Ginsberg

See you later, Crocogator! Bob Dylan & the Band invented the SyFy movie with that track.

Starring Jack Kerouac as The Lifeguard

We'll likely see them all before the second volume of Neil's Archives.

lol we need a thread that tallies all the ilx comments about how neil is never going to release archives II

fwiw, this'll make the second Bootleg Series that's come out since the first volume of Archives was released.

i'm guessing that bob isn't quite so heavily involved in this shit as neil - think it was maybe marcus who said that dylan felt better abt releasing his old archive stuff now that his newer recs were getting decent reviews, sales etc again, dunno if that's true or not, makes sense to me, tho

man i love al kooper

i think bob has basically signed off on the bootleg series as an ongoing thing -- would be surprised if he cares that much one way or another? obviously he doesn't want it conflicting w/ his new albums, but i'm sure he's ok with the steady stream of royalties.
neil on the other hand, yeah, you imagine he's deeply involved in every last thing having to do with the archives.

Hmm, so how much is the "Dylan" album being ignored as far as this set is concerned?

It'll be a secret bonus in the deluxe delux version, only purchasable at Dylan shows in states whose names end in vowels.

Dylan was a revenge/dick move by Asylum, so it makes sense that it's being ignored.

CBS/Columbia, you mean.

Right, whoops.

Asylum's dick move was releasing Planet Waves (I kid,I kid).

Actually, it was misspelling Richard Manuel's name on the cover.

^^That's never been fixed BTW.

Well, maybe he should complain.

Might be old news but this announcement has led me to this amazing RS 1984 Dylan profile by Kurt Loder - where they actually openly discuss what the bootleg series will become. Also some good stuff on Self Portrait:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-recovering-christian-19840621

two of Dylan's most trusted friends — Larry "Ratso" Sloman…

i dunno, does that sound like a guy to trust

y

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Bob-Dylan-Larry-Sloman/dp/1400045967

he is named after a wily con man!!

http://media.spincds.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/265x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/o/bob_portraits_1.jpg

The cover is new artwork by Bob Dylan. The liner notes have been written by Greil Marcus, who wrote the original Self Portrait review for Rolling Stone that infamously asked, "What is this sh**?".

that cover art is amazing. total guess, but is it dylan's dad?
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m11h7bTGva1qma5p0o1_400.jpg

pretty excited for this release -- only wish they had just gone on to cover pat garrett / planet waves stuff too. it'd fit into the "Wilderness Years" aspect of this set. also a little disappointed there isn't anything from the john wesley harding sessions, but knowing what i know about that record, there might just not be any outtakes at all. the JWH numbers on the isle of wight set w/ the band are wonderful though. i love that record, but it might've been better if he'd just asked those guys to play on it.

Might be old news but this announcement has led me to this amazing RS 1984 Dylan profile by Kurt Loder - where they actually openly discuss what the bootleg series will become. Also some good stuff on Self Portrait:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-recovering-christian-19840621

Keep trying, it's worth it. And speaking of his house in Malibu, as he does, here 'tis (brace yourselves) http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k20/thaliasghost/2995_Malibu3ir.jpg
Reminds me of some of his albums (and interviews).

What is that thing on the far left--?

chimney covered w/vines?

His old political leanings, xpost

that cover art is amazing. total guess, but is it dylan's dad?

I understand it's Jack Kerouac.

Super excited for this!

Keep trying, it's worth it.

Still plowing through it -- there's some serious gold in here.

On video:

What do you make of video? Do you think it's all that important?

Uh, to sell records, yeah. But videos have always been around. David Bowie's been makin' 'em since he started. There was one thing I saw on a video, and I thought it was great. Then I heard the record on the radio, and it was nothin', you know? But video does give you something to hook onto.

I was just talkin' to Ronnie Wood the other night. He went to the Duran Duran show at the Garden, and he said it was really funny, because they had a great big screen up over the stage with huge close-ups of the band members. And every time they showed a close-up of somebody in the band, the audience would just go crazy — they'd go mad, you know? So while they were showing a close-up of somebody in the band, the guitar player'd be playing a lick. So he'd think they were all doing it for him. Then he'd play the same lick again to get the same response — and get nothing.

On Self Portrait:

But why did you make it a double-album joke?
Well, it wouldn't have held up as a single album — then it really would've been bad, you know. I mean, if you're gonna put a lot of crap on it, you might as well load it up!

On change:

In the Sixties, there was feeling that this society really was changing. Looking back, do you feel it changed that much?
I think it did. A lot of times people forget these modern days that we know now, where you can get on an airplane and fly anywhere you want nonstop, direct, and be there — that's recent. That's since what, 1940? Not even that — after the war, it was. And telephones? Forget it. I mean, when I was growin' up, I remember we had a phone in the house, but you had to dial it; and I also remember there was a party line of maybe six other people. And no matter when you got on the phone, you know, there might be somebody else on it. And I never grew up with television. When television first came in, it came on at like four in the afternoon, and it was off the air by seven at night. So you had more time to . . . I guess to think. It can never go back to the way it was, but it was all changing in the Fifties and Sixties.

My kids, they know television, they know telephones. They don't think about that stuff, you know? Even airplanes: I never rode on an airplane until 1964 or somethin'. Up till that time, if you wanted to go across the country, you took a train or a Greyhound bus, or you hitchhiked. I don't know. I don't think of myself as that old, or having seen that much, but . . .

That's very possibly the best profile of a major star I've ever read. Damn.

I remember we had a phone in the house, but you had to dial it

^^Unused lyric from "Clean Cut Kid".

hahahaha:

You've seen the Clash, I understand?
Yeah. I met them way back in 1977, 1978. In England. I think they're great. In fact, I think they're greater now than they were.

You mean since Mick Jones left?
Yeah. It's interesting. It took two guitar players to replace Mick.

Ah, the brief window of optimism possible before Cut the Crap was released....

http://www.npr.org/2013/08/18/210228529/first-listen-bob-dylan-highlights-from-another-self-portrait-1969-1971#Dylan
some previews. this is sounding amazing.

:D

this is gonna be really great

still pretty irritated that the isle of wight show is only available on the pricey deluxe version. i guess it'll be "out there" though. i love that show -- a little wobbly at times, but totally unique versions. also pretty interesting that there's that "minstrel boy" reportedly from the basement tapes sessions, which hasn't appeared on any of the many bootlegs of that material. wonder if there's even more basement tapes that haven't gotten out there?

not even included in the vinyl box which is sooooo annoying

i bet it'll be some kinda record store day release

Ha oh good at least it will completely infuriating to buy then as well as overpriced

Not to worry, it will be in Fopp for £20 within 6 months..

Nice mini-doc on Amazon--a freebie, and you don't even have to sign in, streaming 'til Aug. 26. Think all the excerpts are from the xpost sampler still streaming on NPR. Good visuals, although Bob Johnston's lost some more teeth. Also see "What is this shit?" and session lists incl "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" and others I haven't heard (some are bolded-in w extra pen; are these the only ones still around/actually recorded?) Best stuff from Al Kooper, who got to remix at least a couple of tracks from New Morning, and says all the NM songs were from the unfinished Broadway collaboration w Archibald MacLeish. Dunno about that; they always seemed pretty personal, or at least self-referential. but could be all of the above---anyway http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_288950_32092510_pe_button/?docId=1001297451&ie=UTF8

his voice sounds so good on these tracks. def my favorite dylan era.

Was just thinking the same thing. It's him a bit past the "singerly" voice of Nashville Skyline.

snagged a pre-release copy of this through #secrete means and it is fucking great. partly biased because this era is my favorite Dylan era, but there's a ton of good stuff on here. reaaaaaaaaally wish the isle of wight wasn't deluxe only.

the unreleased songs are an amazing lost album from that era. neil young needs to step his archives up

fuck a sony for releasing this in a 2-CD edition and a 4-CD edition, the latter only purchase-able at an enormously inflated cost and with all kinds of pointless bells and whistles.

in response I'll just download the 4-CD edition and spend my cash elsewhere.

(will be the first bootleg series volume I haven't bought btw)

Cheaper..
(£63 or so)

http://www.popmarket.com/?cid=nl%3A721255174&;utm_medium=email&utm_source=generator-popmarket&utm_campaign=email-generator-popmarket-20130823-nl721255174&utm_content=nllink-2afd3e8b-PopMarket.com%20IMAGE

I just bought the 2-CD version. Would have happily paid *twice* as much for the 4-disc version - but five times as much? no ta.

Enjoying this immensely, though.......

This might not be the right thread to include this, but the announcement below promises even more "unreleased" material. Albeit in a rather unnecessary 41-disc box.... Interesting that 14 albums have been remastered - which ones would those be (Hard Rain, for example??)

Bob Dylan: The Complete Album Collection

Coming Fall 2013. Includes:

- All 41 official albums, including 14 newly remastered titles.
- Side Tracks - 2 CD compilation of previously released songs not included on the original albums
- All the original artwork reproduced
- Hardcover booklet with extensive new liner notes and rare photos

my guess is that the side tracks thing will be made up of that "copyright collection" that came out last year in a ridiculously tiny edition?

this thing
http://i.imgur.com/unQ6s.jpg

What was on that, tyler? (I must confess I'm terrible at keeping up with these things).

I'm interested in the fact that more albums have been remastered. I'm sure these remastered albums will be made available individually - I could certainly replace a couple of my ancient vinyl LPs.

iirc it was all stuff from 62-64 -- some outtakes, some live things, some home recordings, all of it bootlegged previously.

& yeah, i'd like remastered versions of some of these things, especially hard rain (which has never been remastered, right?). feel like that could use an upgrade, kind of a weird sounding CD.

yes, I've just read a few articles about that "Copyright Extension" release. If I'd known about it, I'd have checked my local record shops: I live in Germany!

Agree, Hard Rain comes to mind immediately when I think about Dylan albums in need of a remaster

The next Copyright Extension volume is gonna have some meat on its bones.

ha, yeah is the idea they'll just keep on doing those things? crazy.
another self portrait just showed up in my mailbox! psyyyyyched.

They have to or bootleggers can profit. Think about what we should see in the next few years. Complete basement tapes, anyone?

False-Starts and On-Mic Farts: The Bootleg Series Volume 27

http://www.bobdylan.com/sites/bdylan/files/imagecache/470xscale/luna_azul.jpg
great single sleeve

that bob dylan logo rules want that on a shirt

oh man this "house carpenter" is amazing.

Pretty Saro is streaming on Spotify.

all of this stuff that's just dylan, bromberg and kooper is deeply killer.

not sure if it would've worked all that well in the context of the album, but this horn-overdub version of New Morning is a delight. Seems like it could've been an AM radio hit this way. hilarious that Al Kooper did all of this orchestration work (see the version of "Sign on the window" here too) and then Dylan was like "nahhhh."

The CD deluxe set sold out, but the 3-LP/2-CD Box set is still available here, £45

http://www.popmarket.com/

Oh man, Pretty Saro is one of my favorite old folk songs, cool that he did a version

love "this evening so soon"

what's the relationship between "in search of little sadie" and johnny cash's "cocaine blues" - they both use some of the same lyrics, assuming obv it's stuff floating around in the folk tradition but is there one that was "first"?

iirc "cocaine blues" is a country rework of "little sadie"... I think Dylan is borrowing his version from Clarence AShley?

Clarence Ashley's "little sadie" would've been recorded sometime in the 30s, I think.

i'm sure they both got it from there

probs!
man, this whole thing is pretty great. it is weird to think if Dylan had just decided that this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his career. he'd basically be michael hurley or something.
love dylan's fumble fingered piano on some of these tracks.

Hmm so I need to get this, yes?

Two disc set is on Spotify now.

got this; interested in the insert for the "complete album collection", but wondering if the 14 newly remastered ones are the only remasters, or if they include e.g. the Blonde on Blonde remaster from a few years back

also hoping that this is my way into New Morning, which has evaded me all these years

yeah, in that xp mini-doc Kooper quotes Dylan as saying, "I'm gonna erase most of this", and he doesn't seem indignant, but does seem excited to find that the full horn tracks do still exist, and that he got to work on the remasters. I like 'em as alt takes, but do think they might've oversold the happiness of "New Morning"("Automobile comin' into style", which also implies the way new mornings get old, "planned obsolescence", as everybody's econ teacher used to say, but he's not being ironic, just a passing nod to such, while still happy). And horns could've def been too much company for the isolation of "Sign On The Window." The lone french horn on the corner seems right. And Kooper also loves the way Dyl sings "slee-ee-eet".

Two disc set is on Spotify now.
Right now I'm just seeing 15 tracks; think they're the same as the "Highlights" thing NPR was streaming.

Could be right.

"slee-ee-eet"

always loved the phlegmy inflection of this too.

horns!

this album is awesomely MINOR

I'm gonna have to give New Morning another try after this, because the mellow jams on this are totally beguiling. I even liked "If Dogs Run Free"!

dogs run free on another self portrait is wild -- it's actually a song!

euler, i don't recall exactly, but i think i first cottoned to new morning after gradually working my way forward in dylan's catalog, but it helped a lot when i realized that 'the man in me' was dylan - i had heard it umpteen times in 'the big lebowski' without realizing who it was, even though i had been listening to dylan for years all the while. that, and the general posi vibe, somehow really made the album blossom quickly for me. (and maybe a tom ewing remark about fat happy bearded family-dylan?)

yeah it's like the final frontier for me and Dylan, & even reading Chronicles didn't trigger any new insights

I guess I don't really "get" Planet Waves yet either, but there it's Bob's shouty voice that bugs me (even worse on Before the Flood)

still wanna poll Bob singing voices one of these days

i don't want "if dogs run free" to be a song; it's nothing without the scatting and dylan's dopiest ever vocals

this is the only album i'm gonna listen to for like a month tho

ha, his vocal is still dopey on this version, but there's a chorus. it's nice!

The Persuasions did a really good a capella version of "The Man In Me" back in the 70s; may be on their more recent all-Dylan album too. Always loved "If Dogs Run Free", but not every dawg can hear it. A tip o' the red Panama to Mose Allison, seems like. Hit it baby.

wow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsx9YBV9EnM

haha! that is sweet.

wish there was a solo piano demo of man in me on the new bootleg series. love dylan's piano playing.

I just discovered "All the Tired Horses" on Self-Portrait – I can only imagine how that must've been received at the time of its release.

I think Greil Marcus' response has gone down in history.

I could barely get through the first page of it.

kinda interesting to hear Kooper's version of "Went To See The Gypsy" in light of these other versions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EGnIgNkbwA
seems like everyone had pretty different ideas of how this song should go!

isn't "went to see the gypsy" supposed to be about Elvis? or am I making that up?

that's how I hear it

that's the theory -- makes sense to me, vegas, big hotel, etc. greil marcus says in the new liners that he doesn't hear it, but grein of salt there.

Even if it isn't about Elvis, it is about Elvis.

ha! yeah... like "The Hole He Said He'd Dig For Me" by Jerry Lee. Can't not be about Elvis.

On Another Self Portrait... I've read far too many reviews expressing the need to re-evaluate the original album based on the material included in Bootleg #10. Idiots; then and now.

the first time i heard self-portrait was in my local record store and the guy working was playing it...i asked him "this dylan bootleg is awesome, where did you get it?" and he said "this is self-portrait"

i dunno, i'm pretty into self portrait, but i have no idea what I would've thought of it when it came out.

i mean, i can see how someone in 1970 would think it was the most out of touch record bob dylan could possibly put out. which in some ways was the point, and in some ways is why it's actually a good record.

the Pitchfork review was excellent fwiw

this era in general has the feeling of bob dylan being free of the weight of being Bob Dylan

this era in general has the feeling of bob dylan being free of the weight of being Bob Dylan

how is what you said a contradiction? He started being himself by being free of the weight of Bob Dylanness.

I meant the same thing I think, free of being Bob Dylan: Voice of a Generation

the Pitchfork review was excellent fwiw

― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, August 30, 2013 5:17 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ah yes, the customary "it's not all hip-hop mixtapes and metal" Pfork review of an archival release by an irreproachable sacred cow; a review that fails to quote a single Bob Dylan lyric in a review of a fucking Bob Dylan record. Yes, indeed, Bra-VO.

Sorry if it seems like I'm picking on you, Alfred. I do disagree - quite vehemently - with your review of Blue Jasmine from that other thread, but I posted the above before I saw your name on the original post, so, coincidence. In this case, it's the Richardson review that made me wanna barf, not your praising of it. It's out of my system now, carry on, I was never here, etc

Got the 2cd today, so great

Bob's "oh my goodness" during Days of 49 is one of my new fav Bob moments

Yes, but technically that's not Bob saying that. It's the rambling sign.

Ah yes, the customary "it's not all hip-hop mixtapes and metal" Pfork review of an archival release by an irreproachable sacred cow; a review that fails to quote a single Bob Dylan lyric in a review of a fucking Bob Dylan record. Yes, indeed, Bra-VO.

erm I'm glad it doesn't quote Dylan lyrics! The review creates a context, which is, "We non-boomers are not as full of shit as our parents. What's your excuse?"

Another great Days of 49 moment.... "thoseweredaysof49"

"Ah yes, the customary "it's not all hip-hop mixtapes and metal" Pfork review of an archival release by an irreproachable sacred cow"

pfork is all hip hop tapes and metal? those are usually the buried 4th-5th reviews on the "newest albums" page

there is a metal review like every day

that is a lot

the singing on both self portrait and bootleg series versions of "days of 49" is atrocious

No way dogg

This is so good

a review that fails to quote a single Bob Dylan lyric in a review of a fucking Bob Dylan record. Yes, indeed, Bra-VO.

There aren't too many "Bob Dylan lyrics" to quote from SP.

So far the ultimate Dylan Sunday morning album

"New Morning (Van Morrison Remix)"

the singing on both self portrait and bootleg series versions of "days of 49" is atrocious

You remind me of New York Jake, the butcher's boy, spoiling for a fight.

i mean he hits bum notes all over the place. not his usual wavering "i am the Volk" tone but just fucking bum notes. kind of massacres the song like that aunt of yours who is tone deaf. the outtake on the new set is better than the one on the original LP but it's still, and i quote, "atrocious."

this is from a guy who thinks dylan can really sing. i mean REALLY sing. some of the stuff he writes for himself is challenging to sing and he pulls it off. you must leave now take what you need you think will last. that's a hard line to sing, go ahead try it. but his singing on days of 49 and some other stuff is just so bad. i think something was happening to his voice. he says he laid off cigarettes so maybe that's it. starting smoking, stopping smoking can fuck your vocal cords up for a while.

listening to this, i'm struck by how much dylan was really sticking to a basement tapes approach, just taking it outside the basement. (talking about the actual basement tapes sessions, not the official LP). trying out covers to stimulate creativity, writing "genre" songs, trying out different voices... he doesn't seem like he's having quite as much fun, but he's in a big studio in nyc or nashville, not someone's house, I guess.
anyway, really enjoying this set -- i definitely want more of these thoughtfully compiled overviews of specific eras from the bootleg series.
oh and hey, speaking of "thoughtfully compiled overviews," this site is where it's at: http://thousandhighways.blogspot.com/

i bought this. they had exactly one copy at the FYE atore. as i noted elsewhere, when i was paying for mine one of the FYE dudes was on the phone with someone who wanted to know if they had any John Philip Sousa. Americana day. and it was labor day at that.

i have listened in the store but i would have to take it home and really listen to have anything to say. sounds cool. i like Self Portrait anyway so i figured i'd dig it. i still haven't read the GM essay.

I DLed the 2cd version and am getting pretty sucked in with each listen. Tyler otm that this is like the rest of the basement tapes, the part that was all Ian and Sylvia covers and shit.

Now I really want the god damn Isle of Wight part!!! That version is 21 bucks at emusic. Which would be almost my whole emusic credits for this month. Grr I bet I'm gonna do it.

yeah i saw you could DL the mp3s of the isle of wight stuff, but it is expensive on amazon too. lamesville. i will probably break down and get it. amazing that they make playing in front of 100,000+ people sound like they're playing in an upstate NY living room.

No digital option for the remastered original album, it seems...

irritating. let me pay you a reasonable amount of money for these things, record company!

Jon - check your facebook mail.

Ruh roh!

Amazon MP3 Store has the 2-CD tracks plus Isle of Wight, 53 tracks in all, for $27.98, last time I checked. I might get that.

Remastering's not gonna help the original Self-Portrait, unless they mix down a bunch of strings etc., and even then some of the vocals are way too bland, and deliberately so, according to Chronicles. He wanted to deflate great expectations, exploitations, etc.

Dude just wanted Weberman to stop digging through his garbage.

I downloaded the 2 CD version of this from eMusic. I think this is one of my favorite Dylan periods. He was (is?) a great interpreter of traditional songs. World Gone Wrong was another big discovery for me recently. This sounds great too. It reminds me that my copy of New Morning sounds like crap. I have the pre-remaster version though. Does the reissue sound as good as this? It would be worth buying it again if it does.

better - re-mastering plus studio sound, but 'natural'

i really need to illegally download the isle of wight show *cough cough is anyone holding cough cough*

i bought the 2cd like a good citizen but this is just fuck you territory by the label IMO

while you're waiting just watch this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWfiAK0EKSo

why don't you guys just download this stuff illegally like everybody else? bob dylan doesn't need your money (much less sony).

Hook a brother up!

check your facebook messages, homeslice.

:)

dylan doesn't need our money but he certainly likes it. everyone d/loading his shit = disinclination to release more of it.

he's probably released enough by now.

listen i bought the fuckin Another Self Portait 2CD set. i've purchased p much every dylan album that's been released (except the xmas one) on the first week since like time out of mind, not to mention all the old stuff on CDs i bought back in the day.

i would have gladly purchased the isle of wight show on its own, as an individual 2CD set or whatever it is....but since the company said the only way i could have gotten it was to buy a $110 deluxe set version i really can't afford, i couldn't do it.

hell i might have even gone for the vinyl box which is like 70 and saved up but they didn't even include the goddamn isle of wight show CDs in that! its' just 2 CDs of random songs that you just purchased on vinyl (which obv could have been done with a damn DL code anyway)

so yeah i don't need a lecture ward, thank u very much

everyone d/loading his shit = disinclination to release more of it.

Considering Dylan fans essentially invented the bootleg in "Great White Wonder," I'm not so sure about this.

dylan doesn't need our money but he certainly likes it. everyone d/loading his shit = disinclination to release more of it.

― Ward Fowler, Thursday, September 5, 2013 6:13 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh, plenty of people are going to buy this

i want to buy it! just not for $110!

they could have done the 2CD Another Self-Portrait + Isle of Wight on another for like $35

& then later just individually packaged self-portrait remaster if they wanted to

but also that's a $4 LP almost anywhere so sorry

AAAAANYWAY GUYS THIS IS STILL GREAT SO LETS NOT DO THE ETHICS OF DOWNLOADING PT. 4,390,890

while you're waiting just watch this

Right on.

upper, i really really wasn't trying to 'lecture' anyone about the ethics or o/wise of downloading stuff, was just trying to say that my impression is that dylan is a bit of a breadhead and that a large part of his motivation for releasing the bootleg series is the cold hard cash they generate - like i just can't seem him sanctioning more archive stuff if they didn't make him any money - he's not doing this for the fans, or for posterity, imho

the outrageous price of the extra discs on this (and on tell tale signs) make me puke, seems like pure hardcore fan gouging and def makes me like dylan - or his management or his accountants or his rec label or whoevs - a little bit less

does bob dylan post here? i heard that some famous people do. is he who they are talking about?

and hell yeah dylan is gouging fans for money and you would be a sucker to buy this shit instead of download it. he is a great american songwriter, but he pretty openly doesn't care about his fans. it shouldn't make you like him more or less... it is an integral part of his mystique.

Lately the impetus for various releases seems to be the extension of copyright. See: that huge UK rarities dump last year.

hey james franco feel like we should talk

the isle of wight set is so nice to hear in full, in sbd quality. favorite things are the john wesley harding numbers -- i love that album, but i can't help but be mystified as to why Dylan didn't just record it w/ The Band. i guess he thought about having hudson and robertson do overdubs, but decided against it.

The like a rolling stone is crazy, as if they melded the original with the basement tapes "all I have to do is dream". One too many mornings another hilite.

i e-mailed GM to tell him that i enjoyed his notes for this latest bootleg thing and i was happy when he told me that he loves Nazareth's version of "The Ballad of Hollis Brown". one of the best dylan covers of all time if you ask me. he'll be in boston this fall for an upcoming lecture series. i'm gonna try and make the dylan one. looks good.

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~amciv/massey/index.shtml

wow thx for the tip! this is nuts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoNoUw9br5M

Christ, that's a motherfucker.

yeah they basically invented doom metal with that

omg that guitar sound--what year is that?

that song seems to have been a favorite among "heavy" bands--stooges did it in concert.

this is a wonderful collection of songs. really happy i bought this. i would be curious to hear the vinyl, but the CDs sound fine. i wonder who they got to put it on vinyl. its all from old tapes, so, it could sound great if they did a good job.

Nazareth's version roolz, ditto their ultrapainful, truthful "Love Hurts." I'd like to hear a whole metal or "proto-metal" album of Dylan covers. More links please!
One seemingly likely reason for not doing JWH w The Band: he wanted somrthing much more austere and near the knuckle; droll smoke ring curlicues and occasional death marches, re grimy Basement Tapes, would have blunted these songs. (The album was trippy enough: my personal acid folk.)

yeah, i agree, JWH is perfectly realized in its own ultra stripped down way. but the isle of wight versions are quite nice, maybe it's just too bad they didn't play a few more shows around that time. this one from 74 is killer -- the only time it's ever been performed iirc
http://vimeo.com/63727027

I'd like to hear a whole metal or "proto-metal" album of Dylan covers. More links please!

Otm

i brought my 45 of "love hurts" to music class to share when i was a little kid and everyone was like whuuuuuu-getthefuckoutofhere...more styx please! kind of embarrassing.

Also their Joni Mitchell cover: shriek of "Turn this crazy bird around" is word to "Freebird."
xp Tyler: Oh yeah, thanks for the link!Good to have both, but better to have the existing LP first, and then live explorations with the Band, in the great tradition. As far as austerity goes, they could say,"No prob, Boss!", cos they're consummate pros, but, for one thing, there are five of them, and while there may possibly be five instruments on some Harding track, never sounds like near that many, at least on my old LP. Even on Planet Waves' "Dirge", which may be just Dylan's outreach vocals, plod piano, and Robertson's one-take guitar response, the latter is kind of barbed wire flamenco--still too fancy for Hardingville. The Band is just too colorful for this dark grey charred backwoods prowl.

yeah JWH is mostly just dylan + bass & drums (with a little pedal steel there at the end).
no dylan doom comp would be complete w/o this one of course
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBU9pEQwtQE

JWH = acoustic power trio

Yeah, that xp works too: the slow Indian burn, meditation of the torturer. Even better: Dylan and his road crew in the early 90s, galloping toward the Hendrix/D & The B '74 extended guitar solo--and then right past it, fading away,faking out the quality along the watchtower and we'uns in the mountainside ampitheater cheap seats too. Then back for another turn, over and over. Never got used to that, and it didn't end, just turned into another golden oldie.

JWH = acoustic power trio Amen.

thanks to a kind board member i'm listening to the isle of wight festival

not bad...though i'm a bit disappointed....that killer "highway 61 revisited" on the 2CD box might have raised my expectations too high.....not that this is bad but i'm glad i didn't drop 100 to get it

would be happy to be another bro helped out there!

not so doomy but one of my favorite dylan covers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8IodIxh5S4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-h1K64LusY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-hqaBHC7Ek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_iE_RqiljQ

Ha, was just about to post that! Best collection of Dyl covers I've heard (although that title track gets very high-pitched at the very end of choruses)

(they make joek)

hollies dylan album is bad. post-nash album. or i remember it being boring and i love the hollies.

didn't nash quit because he knew it was going to be bad or something?

Nash quit cuz he had to go fight in Vietnam iirc

this is true. graham and stephen stills led an elite fighting squad into the bush.

Meanwhile, Crosby went native and lorded over his jungle kingdom with the help of Dennis Hopper.

pretty amazing how loose the isle of wight show is -- dylan realizing mid song he has the wrong harmonica for "tambourine man," the sound of Robertson reminding Dylan how "lay lady lay" goes...

Wild Mountain Thyme!

yeah that one is pretty amazing. kinda perfect for a pastoral English setting like the isle of wight.

Younger me, who only knew at most the Dylan hits, was introduced to JWH by way of Yo La Tengo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73qny9RqVEM

I remember thinking, huh, what a pretty song, maybe there are other Bob Dylan songs beyond the hits that I should hear ...

That's like me with Robyn Hitchcock covering "odds & ends" at the Croc in Seattle in 94 or so. I had never heard the basement tapes yet...

And on thread topic rh has covered at least two self portrait tunes (copper kettle and let it be me).

I guess Dylan probably got "Copper Kettle" from Joan Baez, who recorded it in 1962, but how do you get from this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLf1fDfSMN8

to Dylan's version? They're not even on the same planet.

yeah wow that's different

yeah on that one i assumed that dylan nicked his arrangement from someone (dave van ronk maybe?) but i can't really find any precedent for it.

I had to read Jon's post a few times before I worked out he didn't cover Bob Dylan with Robyn Hitchcock there...

Haha

My rich fantasy life

man joan baez's voice is just unbearable

^

OTM

Against us is the power of poliiiiice

Younger me, who only knew at most the Dylan hits, was introduced to JWH by way of Yo La Tengo:

"i threw it all away" is on nashville skyline, not JWH

xpost

i like that morricone/baez sacco & vanzetti song

http://25.media.tumblr.com/6095624797cc27029119fe29c481571b/tumblr_msxbbz5KxA1qay9wgo3_1280.jpg

awww

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61D537fsLAL.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Dogs-Run-Free-Bob-Dylan/dp/1451648790

"i threw it all away" is on nashville skyline, not JWH

Yeah, exactly! There's even less of a chance younger me had that one, since JWH at least has Watchtower.

man, the overdubbed 'sign on the window' would have made it seem like the sky were opening up if it were on 'new morning'

Yeah I want to make a new new morning with with that, plus the alt versions of time passes slowly and dogs run free

pretty great -- someone's synced up the sbd isle of wight recordings w/ this audience footage
http://johannasvisions.com/bob-dylan-the-band-at-isle-of-wight-1969-video-clip-wgreat-sound/

the more i listen to this show, the more i'm bummed that there aren't more band/dylan gigs from this period, such a cool sound. no idea what it would've been like if dylan had toured in 1969, just from a cultural standpoint. mayhem?

That clip is great! More please.

yeah, very cool to see the interaction onstage... i know there's more audience footage out there, some dylanologist is probably working hard right now to sync it up.

Unbelievable backing vocals on Mighty Quinn almost worth the cost of the deluxe version. Is there footage of that performance out there?

here's the tracklisting for that sidetracks thing - pretty boring, looks like it's mainly the unreleased stuff from biograph?

Baby, I’m in the Mood for You
Mixed-Up Confusion
Tomorrow Is a Long Time (live)
Lay Down Your Weary Tune
Percy’s Song
I’ll Keep It with Mine
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?
Positively 4th Street
Jet Pilot
I Wanna Be Your Lover
I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (live)
Visions of Johanna (live)
Quinn the Eskimo
Watching the River Flow
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Down in the Flood
I Shall Be Released
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
George Jackson (acoustic version)
Forever Young
You’re a Big Girl Now
Up to Me
Abandoned Love
Isis (live)
Romance in Durango (live)
Caribbean Wind
Heart of Mine (live)
Series of Dreams
Dignity
Things Have Changed

Yeah, non-album singles and Biograph. I think it's smart, in that it rescues the Biograph tracks and keeps the Bootleg Series as a separate entity. At least you can sell Biograph along with all the albums you already have to get $40 to put toward the box.

wow great clip - nice find

Remember Bob Dylan? He's back! In app form!

that app is a neat idea, though not perfect functionally. Looking forward to more versions, videos, etc.

there seems to be some confidence that the next one will at least include the Blood on the Tracks sessions.

yeah it'll be interesting to see how they do it -- i can see them just doing a two-disc Blood On The Tracks sessions thing, but they might also do a broader 73-75 kinda thing, including material from pat garrett, planet waves the 74 tour w/ the band and desire? might prefer the latter...

on a broader note this whole bootleg series thing is so great--dylan is obv uniquely suited to it but surely there's a few other acts out there that could sustain something similar.

Neil young is doing it, Springsteen too...

Bruce is being too control freak about it. His archive releases keep getting finessed into essentially new albums, polished with new sessions. Several if not most tracks on "Tracks" included new vocals or other new additions; a least one track on "The Promise" is completely re-recorded. Neil is going about things his own way, which mainly means ... slow, and designed to satisfy no one. Dylan, or whomever he pays, is pretty much of the only one doing the official bootleg thing right, imo.

Pete Townshend did a good job with his Scoop series.

yeah, i mean, the bootleg series is a good argument for the artist not being involved in it at all. young and springsteen might just be too fussy.

Pete Townshend did a good job with his Scoop series.

Yeah, but the rest of the Who's reissue program is a fucking disgraceful mess.

Is it? Why?

There's a whole bunch of expensive 'deluxe' editions of stuff, but of you ignore those and keep to the 2cd versions, it seems alright.

Or not?

There are at least seven (but likely more) officially/professionally recorded full Moon-era live shows that have either not been released at all or, more commonly, only been released in dribs and drabs, scattered across multiple (and hard to find) releases.

The recent deluxe boxed sets are a perfect case in point. There are at least two 1973 shows that were officially recorded, but nothing from these appeared on the Quadrophenia box. Neither did the previously-released 1973 studio recordings "We Close Tonight" or "Four Faces" (to say nothing of any unreleased studio material, cf. "Bank Holiday").

The recent Tommy box boasted a "live bootleg of 1969 recordings!" These all came from a 1969 Ottawa show, with two exceptions: "I'm Free" and half of "We're Not Gonna Take It" were from a 1976 show (on the latter, the first half is from '76, the second half from the Ottawa show's "See Me, Feel Me" segment of "My Generation"). The 1976 recordings are not mentioned in the liner notes, but after this was released, the official Who website posted a "Hey, look what we 'just' found!" MP3 of a 1969 (Stonybrook, NY) recording of "We're Not Gonna Take It." For a week.

I will say that the recent 2CD The Who Sell Out and the 2003 2CD Tommy largely get it right: the former has the mono and stereo mixes, along with various outtakes, and the latter has some Who outtakes along with a handful of Townshend demos. But no Who reissue has been comprehensive -- along with the studio album, you get some demos or some live tracks, but never all the demos, never the whole live recording -- and they very easily could be.

My all-time favorite Who album is View From A Backstage Pass, a 2CD compilation of Moon-era live recordings that is, to put it mildly, mind-boggling. But you could only buy it by paying $50 for an "official" website membership, and Ebay auctions for the set were shut down. And now it's out of print.

there are 2 completely separate versions of Blood on the Tracks right? The mpls one and the NYC one? then they mixed them to form the released album?

still think A Tree With Roots needs to be done ASAP

I think in a lot of cases it's the quality of the tapes that are an issue. Something like Springsteen's "Nebraska," that's an anomaly. Major labels don't usually OK spending money to restore old shitty tapes for release. Stuff like A Tree With Roots, I'm fine with it existing as this sort of samizdat talisman. Maybe Garth has OK tapes, maybe not, but the principals don't seem terribly interested in that part of their history.

I wouldn't be surprised if the quality of the Who live stuff is an issue, too. Townshend is a compulsive archivist, and seems to have no problem dusting off stuff from the vaults, so there must be something up.

There are lots of acts, like U2 and Nine Inch Nails, that record every single show. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Dylan or Springsteen or whomever do, too. A lot of them record this stuff for reverence. But it seems a lot simpler to do what Pearl Jam does, in real time, going forward, then to go back and spend time on old stuff.

Frankly, I've always wondered what will happen with all the Prince stuff, Springsteen stuff, even Neil Young, all the cats who leave behind albums and albums of unreleased material. Will it just disappear? I guess if someone like Miles Davis can serve as an example, it's that someone will eventually go through, clean up and release everything.

still think A Tree With Roots needs to be done ASAP

when they do this it'll probably be in some giant box plated with 24 karat gold that contains a titanium flash drive on a red silk pillow. and it'll cost $7,500.

Garth Hudson will just start charging admission to his living room. You can only listen to it all at once, one person at a time.

curious as to whether there's actually anything else of note from the basement tapes that hasn't been bootlegged. I guess "Minstrel Boy" which showed up on "Another Self Portrait" had never been bootlegged as far as I know. there's supposed to be some other tune called "wild wolf" that no one's heard.

I've heard Wild Wolf it's just 45 minutes of the dudes stoned as hell howling like banshees

oh man can't wait

I wouldn't be surprised if the quality of the Who live stuff is an issue, too. Townshend is a compulsive archivist, and seems to have no problem dusting off stuff from the vaults, so there must be something up.

Townshend is indeed compulsive about archiving, but mostly (only) about his solo stuff. He hasn't expressed much interest in potential projects like a live Who box or a Dick's Picks-type series, and he's nixed two Who live releases (Philadelphia '73 and Woodstock).

I don't think quality (sound or otherwise) is an issue. In terms of performance, there are two profoundly crapulent live Who albums out there (Who's Last, Join Together), and the sound quality of the released Ottawa '69 and Isle of Wight shows is a little rough.

now i want that backstage pass who comp. i didn't even know it existed.

Parts of it have been released on the first disc of Greatest Hits Live, and other parts came out on the Hull 1970 show. A few songs on it were previously released: the live '76 songs on The Who By Numbers reissue and "Baby Don't You Do It" (b-side to "Join Together"). But even the latter song is edited on VFABP; the unedited version (an extra 3 minutes) is only available on a now out-of-print Japanese reissue of Who's Missing/Two's Missing.

lol confusing

lol internet

still think A Tree With Roots needs to be done ASAP
when they do this it'll probably be in some giant box plated with 24 karat gold that contains a titanium flash drive on a red silk pillow. and it'll cost $7,500.

― ★feminist parties i have attended (amateurist), Monday, January 13, 2014 9:17 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

honestly though, that's another thing i like about the Dylan stuff, is that it's generally pretty reasonably priced...I got Another Self Portrait 2CD on sale for like 16 bucks

also if anyone on here for instance i dunno like knows anyone who is the proprietor of a popular classic rock bootleg blog or something and has a lead on that ol' tree w/roots (i lost my cd-rs a long time ago)...holla @ ya boy

Here's that great (stereo?) distillation:

h t t p ://100greatestbootlegs.blogspot.com/2011/12/bob-dylan-band-complete-basement-safety.html

Someone should check their facebook messages.

dylan bootleg seekers should register on the expectingrain.com forums. once yr signed up you have access to the rare recordings board which generally has everything you could ever want.
also this blog does a great job w/ dylan rarities: http://thousandhighways.blogspot.com/

that safety tape thing is my basement tapes standby now; all killer, no filler

ez - :)

honestly though, that's another thing i like about the Dylan stuff, is that it's generally pretty reasonably priced...I got Another Self Portrait 2CD on sale for like 16 bucks

― ilx snitch (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, January 13, 2014 10:24 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

dat's true but they also come in ultra super mega deluxe editions with an extra CD that cost like $300

yeah the safety tape sound quality is 10x the tree w/ roots and other bootleg sets, and still better than the officially released basement tapes. which means that when we do get the "official" complete basement tapes there is no reason for it to sound anything but amazing

i love some of the folk ballads he does on the full basement tapes e.g. banks of the royal canal

jesus christ finding Dylan outtakes for free on the internet is next to impossible (and I am just trying to replace stuff that I bought and lost!)

http://thousandhighways.blogspot.com/

yeah I've been there

I was looking for a handful of tracks from Bootleg Series 1-3 and Biograph

http://www.bigozine2.com/ also has lots of Dylan from time to time: mostly shows these days, although I got several things that ended up on Another Self-Portrait, way before that was even annoiced, and some Basement Tapes tracks not on A Tree. However, the latter has lots of tracks not on that xpost safety tape (thanks for pointing me toward a chance for better audio, though).
PS: bigo's got the sounds for sure, but you might wanta avert yr eyes from the political shit.

Soulseek!

Oh, speaking of The Basement Tapes---behold The New Basement Tapes: mid-60s left-behind BD lyrics, with new music by---well, let's hope they rise to the occasion (fairly hopeful about Rhiannon Giddens, of Carolina Chocolate Drops): http://www.thenewbasementtapes.com/?cid=nl%3A990116528&utm_medium=email&utm_source=uscolumbia-bobdylan&utm_campaign=email|990116528|20140819&utm_content=nllink-3b04431e-thenewbasementtapes.com

Haven't brought myself to watch the video yet (bottom left of this page)

jesus christ finding Dylan outtakes for free on the internet is next to impossible

yessssssssssss

ineluctable really but that took long enough

it's happening???!?!

Apparently, Garth Hudson was closely involved with the restoration process for this set, and possibly the mastering (I think they were even his tapes?). Hope he gets some dough from it.

yeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssss

but why only highlights on vinyl and complete set on cd?

Considering the CD set is ... $148 (over a dollar a track!), I can only imagine what they would charge for vinyl.

yeah, you're right

I wonder if they make a lot of money on a release like this - believe I read somewhere that the original boots 1-3 (limited to 5000 copies on vinyl, couldn't be a big seller?) were more an idealistic project by some studio heads that were bobheads too - maybe the game done changed

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-complete-basement-tapes-bootlegs-released-november-20140826

Now that the Basement Tapes are finally being released, the Dylan camp is considering its next archival project. "We're thinking we'll revisit the 1975 era and Blood on the Tracks," says the source. "The unheard stuff from there is crazy. You can hear the first day of recordings before they put all that echo on. It's amazing." A question about a possible follow-up to Bob Dylan's 2004 book, Chronicles: Volume One, elicits a laugh and two words: "No comment."

oh wow, OK I will probably buy this at some point

If the mp3 version of the complete edition is less than 40 bucks I'll cough up for that. I'll never be able to afford the physical deluxe ed.

i already didn't pay for a bootleg copy, i'm surely not going to not pay again just to help major labels in their endless quest to profit from repackaging the music of the past in newer formats

That'll show them.

repackaging? it's never been released!!

; )

i.... don't know what that means

he's saying pay up, dude

no wai i can't afford that shit

why is a 6 cd set 150$ anyway? is the compiling/remastering/packaging very expensive? with these prices they're sure to drive down sales - probably everything will be available on spotify anyway...

hardcover book, fancy packaging, and they can get that damn much from fools like me.

yeah, they can also get me to pay for the vinyl - and I don't even get the full package! Still haven't heard the Isle of Wight show from Bootleg 10 because it wasn't on vinyl edition... Guess I'll pay for the vinyl but dl the massive collection, then buy it used on cd in 5 years when cds have even less resell value than now.

why is a 6 cd set 150$ anyway? is the compiling/remastering/packaging very expensive? with these prices they're sure to drive down sales - probably everything will be available on spotify anyway...

― niels, Tuesday, August 26, 2014 1:02 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Compared to the extra $100 for the 3rd disc on Tell Tale Signs, $150 for 6 discs is a bargain.

And Amazon prices usually drop between pre-order announcement and release day.

And fopp will end up with loads of unsold deluxe boxes for £30 or thereabouts

There's a version of Odds and Ends up on Soundcloud
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/premieres/bob-dylan-basement-tapes-odds-and-ends-premiere-20140826

Sounds great! A lot of the expectingrain.com-fans are already declaring this somewhere between best Bootleg since '66 live and "best rock album in the past 60 years"...

Really hope they have proper cover art on the way.

I saw that there was a 2cd/3lp version of the set being released too. Is taht what they're calling RAW? or is that a general name for the release?

Anyway, now that I know that the full set is going to be that expensive I'll probably plunk for the smaller release in physical form, possibly something else digitally.

Was there an issue with the sound on the released Basement Tapes? Something is at the back of my mind on that but I can't think what it is.

Also did the 70s lp version wind up getting a remaster at the time the definitive masters were coming out in the 00s? I don't remember seeing one at the time, but think I may have come across some reference to one later. Also did the 1st s/t lp get a remaster in that series? I think I got a remastered version but not sure if it was done at the same time nor where my copy is. I always loved taht 1st lp semed like acoustic hardcore when i first heard it, probably because of other things I was listening to at the time but also because it has an amazing amount of attack for an acoustic folk lp.

don't know if there were sound issues per se, but I think Robertson overdubbed some parts

maybe Dylan's voice seems clearer in the Odds&End take?

anyway, a remaster should be good, Another Self Portrait had amazing sound compared to SP, Dylan and New Morning

I thought a lot of the stuff on the Basement Tapes was not even from the sessions just tacked on Band studio tracks (like Bessie Smith)

The original Basement lp got remastered alongside Before The Flood, New Morning, and, er, Dylan & The Dead back in 2009. Shortly thereafter a leak of Garth Hudson's safety tape reel of like 20+ tracks in pristine quality appeared online.

As for tinkering on the o.g. album, Robertson over saw a faux stereo mix in addition to overdubbed vocals and instrumental parts from The Band (mostly guitar and drums iirc) on the Dylan material. As noted, all of The Band's own songs on the album were all recorded later, even though it was material tied to that time.

I'm curious if Helm's on this set at all. I think he might've done an overdub or two for the 1975 release (and was obviously on the Band tracks), but had he returned from Arkansas in time to be heard on these tapes?

yeah he's on some stuff -- right around this point he pops up. maybe he's on some of the un-booted stuff too?
14. 900 Miles from My Home (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
15. Wildwood Flower (written by A.P. Carter)
16. One Kind Favor (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
17. She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
18. It’s the Flight of the Bumblebee

Oh, cool! It's hard for me to imagine Band singing without him.

It's funny, Robertson always talks about, "it was so casual, we were just hanging out, doing whatever, didn't think anyone would hear it" but then also "I CALLED LEVON AND SAID GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, THIS IS AMAZING WHAT'S HAPPENING!"

yeah i'm sure robertson was having his mind blown on a regular basis during that time, even if he plays it off as being just dudes hanging out.
levon also returned to the fold because danko told him they were being offered a six-figure record deal too iirc, haha. bizarre to imagine the band if he had been like "nah, i'm going to continue working on this oil rig."

Ha, yeah, I figured it was more than "hey, we're hanging with Dylan -- you know, that guy who's tour you quit -- in his house recording music no one will hear" that got Levon off the oil rig.

listening to a tree with roots this morning - THE BASEMENT TAPES ARE SO GOOD

^^^^

https://38.media.tumblr.com/8f6d3264c9b622a4f3f63fb57d37d429/tumblr_naxgvk3uY31rbwx2xo1_500.jpg

woah where is that from

was over on the expecting rain forums -- seems like it's from the same time as this one?
http://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/macmillan_us_frontbookcovers_1000H/9780312572914.jpg
same hat anyway.

Some weird synchronicity: woke up this morning thinking 'I really need to listen to a Tree with Roots today', fired it up, listened on commute, got to the office to see they're releasing this thing finally. So strange

he needs to bring back the Davy Crockett hat + up-to-the-chin overalls, getting kind of an Adam Ant vibe from that look

For all the sturm und drang over RR's overdubs and Band demos, I've always dug the shit out of things like "Yazoo Street Scandal." Big Pink Funk with Calliope Garth Hudson wheedling over the top is ok in my book. And however they came up with it, the BT's version of "This Wheel's on Fire" is fucking definitive.

i love all those songs! it was more just ppl grumbling that it was sort of phony to have them there

Yeah that album is a total classic, overdubs and non basement songs included.

If the official adulterated/overdubbed basement tapes had a version of All I Have To Do Is Dream on it it'd be all I need tbrr

floorbirds = essential

Whole thing streaming online at NPR right now:

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/26/357630611/first-listen-bob-dylan-the-basement-tapes-complete-the-bootleg-series-vol-11

sampler

Sasha Frere-Jones sez, "Robbie Robertson already picked all the winners!"
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/03/fall-4

Historically, these sessions have been treated with awe, as if something essential about both Dylan and popular song can be found on the tapes. That’s at best half true. The performances weren’t approached with any kind of gravity, and are best listened to with no reverence at all. For every moment of revelation and synthesis, there are five throwaways.

sampler

he's right that there are plenty of throwaways, but there's also plenty of wonderful stuff that hasn't yet seen official release. i like a lot of the ballads on this one especially, some of which were never released because the takes aren't complete.

i mean song for song that recent bootleg series volume on 1969–1970 might beat this one

dunno, the "throwaways" are a big part of the basement tapes, aren't they? they're the basement tapes!
i like the unfinished-ness of these recordings. I think it was paul williams who said it was more like hearing the idea of the song, rather than the song itself.

i can't imagine what hearing an idea of a song sounds like

You will if you listen to this whole thing, or A Tree With Roots. Also, I love how he sings "Still In Town," "Young But Daily Growing" (such a voice on the boysky then, when he was in the mood); very crisp, non-throwaway covers of other folk & country chestnuts too, giving the originals some competition (though I assume "Silent Weekend," on the xpost pre-release sampler posted at npr, is an original, and also country strong" a tad blurry around the edges, but appropriately so: swigging and swinging that moonshine consolation)

So no, Robertson didn't pick nearly all the keepers---and for all his thoughtful fixes in the mixes, this sampler has better audio.

hey dow - are any of the songs that cut off prematurely in tree w/roots available in a full version on this? or was that all there was?

Haven't heard the whole legit version, just this sampler. Lot of track info grayed out on iTunes and Amazon, last time I checked (but iTunes did have the whole digital thang for $59.99; Amazon's only digital is 2-discs-worth, for $19.99 I think [that's Raw, the Robertson picks minus his fixes, plus a few more]; their only Complete is 6 CDs and a book or booklet, for $127.99)

rollingstone.com's prob got more info about tracks.

You will if you listen to this whole thing, or A Tree With Roots

i have, many times.

i too love "still in town," "young but daily growin," "spanish is the loving tongue," "the french girl," etc.

my comment above was just taking issue with that critic's line about "hearing the idea of a song"--i have no idea what that means

Well, like on the sampler's version of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," you sort of have to squint at it, or some of it is a squint; D. hasn't quite gotten it in focus yet, seems like.

SFJ is such a cunt

That first track on the NPR sampler sounds no better than my boot version -- lowering my expectations

30 unbootlegged tracks in the box, right? No idea if they make it worth buying for those who have A Tree With Roots (at the moment,it's a moot point for me, financially).

there's no way i'm buying this for $150 or whatever. what's in the box? bob dylan nose hair? a t-shirt? redundant vinyl? a hardbound box i will look at once, maybe? fuck a sony.

for that much money i want the actual basement tapes in the box, like, the original tapes.

You get temporary custody of Garth Hudson.

And the screen door he fixed.

on a side note, why does greil marcus keep retitling his books?

Ordered a copy from Overstock.com - $99.15 with free shipping.

Xpost "Temporary Custody of Garth Hudson" sounds like a Dylan tune from 1966.

Overstock? Anticipating low sales out-the-gate? Given the NPR sneak-peak, unless the book is super fantastic, gonna buy this one second hand.

gaaaah this is so goooooooood

better sound quality than tree w/roots?

are any of the former partial songs there in full form?

$109 on pop market deal today

yurrrgh, just starting in on disc one, this is the besssst.
sound quality seems a little bit improved from tree with roots to me.

I would say it's a bit better but not artificially cleaned up. When the original distorts or skips or whatever, they've done nothing to try to remove it. It's still a warts and all release.

some of the super-wide stereo mixes on the bootlegs seem to have been centered a little bit. sounds a-ok to me so far.

It's amazing. What we've been waiting for all these years.