Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series

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.

anytime i listen to "thief on the cross" i imagine it's that famous youtube drummer playing ZZ Top.

Just heard the “Real Albert Hall” release for the first time. Holy shit, that band.

Will check it out. Do I need to pay any mind to the acoustic set?

It's great for contrast. He usually sounds mighty stoned on the 1966 acoustic sets. (Because he is.)

R.I.P. Clem Burke, he actually played with Dylan:

Bob communicated through his music, but we did go to dinner quite a few times. One of the first things that Bob asked me was: 'What happened to Blondie?' I was working with Dave Stewart at that time, and he was like: 'You guys were this big thing. What happened?' I was sitting in the back of a Mercedes between him and Dave Stewart, going to dinner, and I said: ‘One word: drugs.’ And he got it. I had a great time playing with him. I thought we were recording the next Blonde On Blonde. We recorded a lot of stuff. I’ve still got a cassette tape of all the tracks.

Unfortunately, what's been released turned out to be Knocked Out Loaded, and the one great thing on that album was from an earlier set of sessions held for Empire Burlesque.

Anyway, posting it here because I wonder if there are any gems on that cassette - it didn't really seem like any made it on to Springtime in New York.

some footage of their sessions here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_zn4oHORc8

I imagine a lot of it is like this — maybe not exactly finished songs.

apparently one song they worked on was called "pipe organ ska" which sounds intriguing haha

Aw nice! Didn't realize they filmed some of it! (Maybe it was just stuff they're doing for the cameras?) They don't sound bad at all, which makes the resulting album all the more disappointing.

The new Bootleg Series looks great pic.twitter.com/cvH7XAOyqr

— Jokermen (@JokermenPodcast) September 4, 2025

https://variety.com/2025/music/news/bob-dylan-bootleg-series-through-the-open-window-boxed-set-1236521826/

wow

TALKIN’ BEAR MOUNTAIN PICNIC MASSACRE BLUES
September 6, 1961 – The Gaslight Cafe, NYC

WANT

I love those early recordings (prominently featured in the latest Heylin iirc) and will listen for sure, but returns are diminishing in this neverending series

this is all necessary stuff, but yeah, there's plenty of it that I won't be playing over and over. The Carnegie Hall and Town Hall shows are essential early Dylan, though, it's good that those will be out in full.

I want to say that there was an insider on the Hoffman forums saying that the series may be winding down and after this there is no strong consensus on what the next box would be.

kind of feel like they've been saying that for a decade now (maybe not quite that long). there's been talk of Oh Mercy collection, maybe a Rundown studio collection (late 70s/early 80s), the Bromberg Sessions ... but yeah, they're going to run out sometime! Unless it turns out that Bob has been secretly recording entire albums a la Bruce in the last 30 years.

oh mercy could be great - that "most of the time" acoustic kind of blood on the tracks feeling take that was on tell-tale signs is so great

are there outtakes from the as good as i've been to you/world gone wrong era?

maybe More Empire, More Burlesque for Alfred?

there are a couple world gone wrong outtakes on tell tale signs — not sure if there are more in the vault? Probably. If so, they'd fit in with the Bromberg Tapes (some of which have come out, but there are apparently a bunch more). There's Burlesque stuff on Springtime in New York, but there might be more stuff from the 85-87 era. This is obviously scraping the barrel a bit haha.

Wasn’t You Belong To Me from the Natural Born Killers strck an outtake from the GAIBTY/WGW sessions? I remember being appalled at that version and then gradually liking it before I was much of a Bob fan. It would be nice to have a version of that free of dialog/fades.

I bet the boxes start becoming smaller sets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eyIZsQSDU0

(a fan edit, but it works!)

I want expanded version of s/t debut, mainly for songs that didn't make it to LP, and yeah I know some of them have prob been breadcrumbed here and there, but want them all and all together dammit. Same for all original releases up through um--Desire? An album that needs all the help it can get. I don't mean every take, necessarily (and yes we've already got The Cutting Edge and Springtime in New York) just mainly the master takes of prev unreleased. (I'm thinking twofers, in other words).
Also early live sets in full, and official Minnesota Hotel Tapes, other Dinkytown stuff, and this can be done, with money and Dylan's People, incl lawyers, @ work (like w official Dead release of the Betty Board Cornell set, or the Complete Basement Tapes for that).

Same for all original releases up through um--Desire?

are there Love & Theft era outtakes?

^^^
I don't see them being as eye opening as the TOOM outtakes, because Lanois wasn't working on L&T drenching everything in swamp gas.

might be some l&t alternate takes, but I don't think there are missing songs or anything. then again, dylan's alt takes can sometimes sound like entirely different songs.

The new box set is frustrating because if they're truly using new and better sources/master tapes we haven't heard before, then legendary recordings like the Gaslight Café performance from Oct. 1962 and the Bonnie Beecher apartment recordings from December 1961 should be heard in their entirety. (At least we're getting Carnegie Hall in presumably a fresh mix - I give that a slight edge over Town Hall, but both are two of his greatest recorded shows ever.) It's already eight CD's so I realize adding more tracks could raise the cost to a large degree, but having these incomplete is still frustrating when this could very well be the final "early" Dylan release for a very long time. I do have the boots but you can tell there's room for improvement: for example, the Starbucks Gaslight CD clearly uses a better master.

maybe More Empire, More Burlesque for Alfred?

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown),

hell yeah

wouldn’t it be interesting if they did a series releasing one performance for every year from 1961 onward

I never heard the complete alternate full-band Desolation Row on Bootleg Series Vol. 10 (Take 5 Remake, Complete). It lacks some of the existential menace of the acoustic version on the album or the electric version from No Direction Home. The organ and piano sound so jaunty they make Desolation Row sound pretty fun.

Good backstory to Minnesota Party Tape linked on the thread known only as Dylan.
What are the origins of the 50s tracks in recent box? Another party?

No Direction Home version >>>>>> album version

the full band cutting edge version is interesting but what's al doing on the organ? not a great recording