Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series

heard it was pretty good stuff

The Best of the Bootleg Series comp was just released to streaming services... looks like a pretty good tracklist, at a glance.

Yeah this set is pretty awesome, I fuck I love this alternate vers of Visions of Johanna so much

A great idea, and this is a reasonably good execution - The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 was supposed to be everything this playlist was meant to be, but on a larger scale.

The playlist grabs plenty of great lost classics but misses quite a few while including some choices that pale in comparison. They skipped Live 1964, which I think was the right call - a tipsy performance, always seemed disposable compared to the 1963 shows at Town Hall and Carnegie. The Nashville set covering 1969 to 1970 is nowhere near as good as the earlier volumes, and the one take of "Wanted Man" is probably all they should have included, if at all.

Will check, but also I liked Vol 1-3, and, as said upthread, Travelin' Thru, along with overlap of those sessions into Another SP.

Oh did yall see that on Is Bob Dylan Overrated about return to Radio Time Theme Hour, with link to new whiskey-theme ep? Wonder if he ever plays any Bootleg Series or other BDootlegs on there?

xxxp Wow - I never heard this particular take of “Visions...”. Hot stuff!

I’m gonna have to get “The Cutting Edge” set... that’s one I skipped, but damn!

When you play THE CUTTING EDGE, it feels like the greatest record released in the history of popular music.

I now have the 2CD set in hand... the liner-note essay by B1ll Fl4nagan (a guy I once worked for) is really good.

Oh, sweet—this set has “I’ll Keep It With Mine” and “Farewell, Angelina” (pretty worthy repeats).

Reminding me: I slept so long on The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964, finally got it! Reminding me also to listen.

I'll Keep It With Mine, complete with the producer accidentally recording, "keep doing what you're doing," over the tape, is one of my favorite Dylan tracks. It starts off so tentative and just builds and builds.

So has it been definitely decided who he wrote that for/about? Nico/Edie Sedgwick/someone else? Was reading the so far excellent, dense That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound late Friday night and there was some discussion about this.

From having read a little bit elsewhere, and via my own turn of mynd---think it might have been for whoever he was currently trying to pull, although if so, at least, far as I know, he didn't do like George Gershwin, according to some of his buddies: "I've been having a little trouble with this---listen, and see what you think. (Later) It will be our song."

I heard similar about Vinícius de Moraes from a Brazilian friend.

Can’t wait to hear this alt take of “She’s Your Lover Now” — one of my all-time favorites.

Sorry, I was suffering from a bit of mixed-up confusion. The real question was whether “I’ll Keep It With Mine” was written for Judy Collins, who first recorded it, or Nico. What I read seems to favor Nico slightly. “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” was about Edie Sedgwick.

That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound is written by Daryl Sanders, an author with whom I am otherwise unfamiliar. I am however familiar with the author of this piece: https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/874-that-thin-wild-mercury-sound-bob-johnstons-work-with-dylan-cohen-cash-and-beyond/

Didn't know Collins did it! From 5, from 1965, so maybe she did it first. Just listened on YouTube: it's fast, an early folk-rock jangle 'n' lilt, a suggestion of Latin, might could've done better with congas and more bass, maybe any bass---she tries to ride it as carefully as possible, not rushing into the money shot chorus, but is not entirely successful, also her loud-soft dynamic doesn't quite go with the echo, I think--echo is distracting, getoutta here, but there is some potential otherwise, maybe with another producer
Then YouTube played her version of "Mama You Been On My Mind", changed to "Daddy": much better, just her and the fingerpickers, also fairly fast, but it works, the 'pickers are right with her (Baez also did a good version of this, even faster maybe, maybe a bluegrass cadence, words flying around, but no loss of clarity or feeling).
Of course then I played Fairport's "Keep It," so unfair, so killer.Denny handles the tempo and volume perfectly, like she's thinking out loud, word by word forming for the first time, then the chorus hits, pump up to the peak, let yourself back down, to more level ground, or looking out the window---in her/their version (she's got those other voices, players giving her room, helping her just enough, like Collins doesn't), the part about the reliable train and the weary conductor registers (and always did, even when I was a kid), as metaphorically and emotionally appropriate for her having to head into THAT chorus one more tyme---repeating her effects somewhat, but no prob, they work again---without pushing her/their luck---it's def not too long; YouTube says 5:38, which I never noticed on the album cover, never felt that long (which was pretty long for back then, I think).
This is remastered, so now I catch what I never had, after, "But how long can you search," it's "for what's lost." So now the thought occurs that, "Everybody will help you," which never did seem like a very Dylan sentiment, and she makes it seem a little teary, also "Some people are very kind," some sense of neg. experience along w irony, and so "Come on, give it to me," the almost regal desperate tender and maybe horny breakthrough to expression, reaching up and out to the other person---can see why Dylan would want to hear a woman singing this, for musical and other reasons, can imagine the song dealing with the way he felt, too, in some situation---wonder what he thought of this rendition? She got it from a tape or acetate circulating in the UK, not one of those special hotel meetings.
(Don't think he would have dared bring it to Collins with such a plan, at least judging by Hajdu's Positively 4th Street, in which Collins wanted to meet him early on, because who the fuck is this guy with all these amazing songs---so she invited him to lunch, and he babbled the whole time like an unnerved teen (my summary).
She got to be pretty good with his songs sometimes, but don't know that they ever got together again.

Oh I meant to say something about her interpretation makes me see Dylan as---not really that crazy/sure about that crowd, "Everybody," duh considering the crowd on John Wesley Harding etc

So this is streaming only? It's not mentioned on the Dylan website. I assume none of this is previously unreleased.

Sorry, I was suffering from a bit of mixed-up confusion. The real question was whether “I’ll Keep It With Mine” was written for Judy Collins, who first recorded it, or Nico. What I read seems to favor Nico slightly. “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” was about Edie Sedgwick.

― Erdős-szám 69 (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, October 5, 2020 12:37 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

As was "Just Like a Woman" iirc.

This revive sent me looking at Spotify and I realized that the entirety of The Cutting Edge (1965-1966) is now up on Spotify, whereas perviously only an excerpt had been. Some amazing stuff.

The new Best-Of seems to be streaming only, yes (to be clear, my subsequent remarks related to The Cutting Edge).

Oh, cool—this take of “115th Dream” has the crack-up/studio chatter that ended up on the album track!

One more thing about Fairport covering Dylan---Nashville Scene ballot comment reposted on Fairport post Liege and Lief thread:
Also in this (‘18) 50th year of FC, and released right before
said Anniversary concert (when they were
just headlining at the Cropedy festival, as usual),
we got Fairport and Friends’ (Fotheringay, Sandy Denny solo)
A Tree With Roots, gathering their Dylan covers, suitably
knotty and smooth enough when called for, even adding
a few kinks
----kicking off with their translation of “If You Gotta Go,
Go Now” into French language and cajun (?) music,
the latter pretty unusual on non-cajun radio in the 1960s,
but a UK hit nonetheless, their biggest ever, I think. They
(orig line-up, so sung by Judy Dyble, later crew with Denny
on lead vox) even covered “Jack O’ Diamonds." From the folk
song of that title, Bob Dylan took "Jack o' Diamonds is a hard
card to play, " for a long poem
on the back or sleeve of Another Side of Bob Dylan, but
apparently never recorded any musical application;
Ben Carruthers did, and gave D. a co-write credit.
Good discussion here, with links to both Fairport tracks and
Carruthers’
https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/8280
“Percy’s Song” is a rousing anti-anthem, like “Blowin in the Wind”:
both sway and march all ye right up through the brink
of unknowing. Percy’s friend bravely goes to confront the
mean ol’ judge, who slams the book on P. once again: he’s the
reckless driver, killed people, case closed. Narrator goes
right into the Headline News True Crime trope
---how can this be, he was always such a nice boy
--- refrain:”Turn, turn to the wind and the rain”
---so familiar, this mystery, so off-the-record Relatable, but somehow never in
a country (or other) song?

Wow, that Cutting Edge full content is huge !
Some great stuff indeed.
Lol at a whole disc of LARS takes.

you guys know there's an 18-disc version of the Cutting Edge set, too, right?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bootleg_Series_Vol._12:_The_Cutting_Edge_1965%E2%80%931966#Deluxe_edition_track_listing

Now that might be a little too much !

FYI, the entire Trouble No More is now available on Spotify as well. And, holy shit, this Girl From The North Country live in London is one of the greatest Dylan tracks ever.

Which album and/or playlist is that in?

On, even.

I assume it's Trouble No More disc 7 - pretty good version, for sure

Yes, Disc 7, Track 8. Damn. The arrangement almost reminds me of a Springsteen song off Live at the Main Point.

I have had the live "Lenny Bruce" off this set in my head for the last several days. Good lord.

Now that might be a little too much !

Yeah, that full version of the Cutting Edge was also ridiculously expensive iirc. I wasn't all that excited about having nine (or more!) different versions of the same song, so the nicely curated distillation was fine with me. When it comes to these Dylan sets I'm much more excited by lots of new live material than I am just demos.

One of the big reasons I love the “Trouble No More” box set is you can throw on any disc and it’s not just 6+ takes of “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go,” which is great but variety in this collection’s case goes a long way.

Yeah Trouble No More was one that I had no problem forking the $$ over for the full thing, but iirc it was priced pretty reasonably, even taking into account that it was half the size of Cutting Edge.

I have the vinyl Trouble No More which doesn't have the full Toronto and London shows, so I am digging it now that the entire thing is on Spotify.

The version of “One of Us Must Know” on the 2CD Cutting Edge set (“Take 19 alternate take”) is fire... it makes me feel like I’m hearing the song for the first time. It just pours out, in a total thin-wild-mercury emo flow...

(wish I could say something positive about the take of “Stuck Inside of Memphis” that follows it... weird time signature or something, definitely a misfire.)

(Mobile, not Memphis, duh)

I've found my favorite way to listen to the 6CD Cutting Edge on Spotify is to play it on shuffle so you avoid listening to 4 versions of the same song back to back.

Speaking of crazy time signatures—what’s going on in “Just Like a Woman” (Take 4 alternate take)? I don’t even dislike this one, it’s just really wild...

Wish I had a 2CD set containing just this BoB outtakes (no offense to the other albums represented here, but this set really takes off with “Visions,” halfway into disc 2).

Yeah, the really upbeat Visions are incredible.

Guys, come over here to comment on my theorizing: Tom Wilson, RIP

Looks like yall nailed it as closely as possible by now.

Rolling Thunder Collection
~Revisited~
Just in time for Fall, the limited edition collection from Barking Irons that envisions iconic looks from Bob’s career as modern everyday wear has been marked down 40% for this holiday season.

Featured in GQ, Rolling Stone, and Billboard, this may be your last chance to own a piece of this one-of-a-kind collection at reduced prices
more info and slick pix:
http://view.fans.legacyrecordings.com/?qs=f5adf0d43cae75f8f7ab5a58e7aa47cd9e5e2377cac7c8daa3f8321a38ccec7abd3cf191563b55e53d85b8cbfce61a3449a5960467960a5c04b4c4654e83980b8bcf46c8deaadef21a0c25809e408f7c

The only one I would buy is sold out.

Is someone gonna make copies of these out of cheaper fabrics, and call them "The Bootleg Collection"?

All of “Trouble No More” on spotify.