Dylan

[Higgs]

Holy fuck! This is just what I needed tonight.

[doug rr]

loved it...the music was beautiful

[ghost]

Made it through Vols 1-10 of the Bootleg Series while WFH the last two weeks. Next week I'll tackle the Complete Basement Tapes.

I've enjoyed them all* but Another Self Portrait and Tell Tale Signs are on another level.

*The Witmark Demos didn't do much for me, and my disc 1 is damaged.

[Kevin Davis]

The Witmarks are probably the least purely enjoyable entry in the whole series -- more of a "historical interest" thing, though there is some cool stuff on it. Another Self-Portrait and Tell Tale Signs definitely illuminate their respective eras beautifully. Interested to hear how you enjoy the next few installments -- the Basement Tapes set is definitely where the series tipped the scale from "carefully curated albums" over to "comprehensive, warts-and-all box sets designed to capitalize on those die-hard old timers who still buy physical media." Both have their uses.

[Kalevi]

The 2 disc version basement tapes is outstanding

[liebzz]

I’ve never been a Dylan superfamily but always admired his work. I listened to his first album the other day and really enjoyed it. The covers are all outstanding. And the harmonica playing is on another level in certain spots at least to my uneducated ears.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

The 2 disc version basement tapes is outstanding

Dylan and Hudson actually compiled a mono reel of what they considered the "master takes" of the songs and it was originally released as a private LP and then recently as an RSD LP. It's as close to a "real album" as you'll get from the basement sessions. It's very different from the bullshit album that Robertson put together. I have an excellent rip...sounds great!

https://www.discogs.com/Bob-Dylan-The-O ... se/6913225

[Ms Harmless]

Greta Grunberg?

[Higgs]

Holy fuck! This is just what I needed tonight.

"Murder Most Foul" really is magnificent. I've listened to this each night for the last week.

[Higgs]

I find myself returning to this over and again.

[LetMeSleep]

Another new song.

[liebzz]

I loved I Contained Multitudes, but Murder Most Foul is good but goes on a bit too long in the same space and isn’t as conducive to repeat listening.

[Hatfield]

I’ve never been a Dylan superfamily but always admired his work. I listened to his first album the other day and really enjoyed it. The covers are all outstanding. And the harmonica playing is on another level in certain spots at least to my uneducated ears.

What a ride your listening journeys could take us on if you tackled Dylan!

The albums I always return to:

Bringing it All Back Home
Nashville Skyline
Blood on the Tracks
Desire
Shot of Love
Infidels
Oh Mercy
Rolling Thunder Revue
Another Self Portrait

[liebzz]

I actually intend to do so at some point relatively soon. This is the sort of prelude. And yeah I know that will be a wild ride.

[oasisfan35]

I actually intend to do so at some point relatively soon. This is the sort of prelude. And yeah I know that will be a wild ride.

Thirty-eight studio albums, that isn't a ride it's a goddamn amusement park.

[liebzz]

I actually intend to do so at some point relatively soon. This is the sort of prelude. And yeah I know that will be a wild ride.

Thirty-eight studio albums, that isn't a ride it's a goddamn amusement park.

I made it in spades through Neil Young’s albums.

[oasisfan35]

I actually intend to do so at some point relatively soon. This is the sort of prelude. And yeah I know that will be a wild ride.

Thirty-eight studio albums, that isn't a ride it's a goddamn amusement park.

I made it in spades through Neil Young’s albums.

I must have missed that. I was actually trying to think of artists with 30+ albums and obviously Neil was there.

The wrench in the works to this would be Buckethead

[Kevin Davis]

Going to share a couple compilations of mine today. This is a Dylan mix I made last year.

Bob Dylan
“Odds and Ends”
A compilation
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5nm0u3j97 ... n.rar/file

1. Song to Woody (1970 studio outtake)
2. Man of Constant Sorrow (Stuttgart, 4-16-2002)
3. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (Nantes, 6-30-1984)
4. Soon After Midnight (London, 11-28-2013)
5. Tomorrow is a Long Time (1970 studio outtake)
6. Nobody ‘Cept You (1973 studio outtake)
7. Heart of Mine (Eugene, 7-19-1987)
8. Tomorrow Night (Hiroshima, 2-16-1994)
9. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven (Lisbon, 4-7-1999)
10. Nothin’ Here Worth Dyin’ For #2 (1985 studio outtake)
11. She’s Love Crazy (St. Louis, 10-29-1978)
12. Boom Boom Mancini (Seattle, 10-7-2002)
13. Idiot Wind (‘spooky organ’ version) (1974 studio outtake)
14. Hurricane (1975 studio outtake)
15. Like a Rolling Stone (Clearwater, 4-22-1976)
16. Ring Them Bells (Adelaide, 3-20-2001)

My original notes:

Spoiler: show

This is a compilation of live and studio cuts that either (a) found their way to me devoid of context and which I really liked, (b) were featured as ‘bonus’ tracks on one of the “Thousand Highways” collections and needed a permanent home, (c) were left behind by one or more Bootleg Series releases, or (d) stood out as highlights of otherwise unremarkable shows. I did some minor volume adjustments for consistency but it’s still not perfect – you might be tempted to turn the volume up or down from track to track (sorry) – but I added fades where appropriate to make it easier on the ears, and overall I think the music flows really nicely and touches on a variety of eras. Some notes:

“Song to Woody” – the 1970 George Harrison session remains largely untouched by the Bootleg Series, despite multiple volumes having flirted with this era. Most of the songs from the session are a little loose for my tastes but this one is perfect.

“Man of Constant Sorrow” – despite the covers in the Fall, I find 2002 to be a relatively poor year for Dylan’s vocals, especially during this European spring tour. However, this rocking version of “Man of Constant Sorrow,” clearly modeled after the version from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” that was popular at the time, is a major exception. I like the juxtaposition between this track and the previous “Song to Woody” – both reimagined tracks from Bob’s first album, 30 years apart.

“It Takes a Lot to Laugh” – this was a bonus track on the 1984 “Heat and the Pulse” compilation at Thousand Highways. This is the only live arrangement I’ve heard that is faithful to the gently swinging arrangement of the studio master take, which I greatly prefer to the generic blues rock treatment it usually is given live. An oddity considering that, if there ever was a tour where Dylan would have been tempted to give something a standard blues rock arrangement, it seems like 1984 would have been it.

“Soon After Midnight” – this was a bonus cut on the Thousand Highways London 2013 comp. This is my favorite “Tempest” song, and this is my favorite live version I’ve heard of it. Lovely.

“Tomorrow is a Long Time” – this was on one of the first bootlegs I ever traded for back in the early 2000’s (the New Morning Acetate), which was a revelation for me at the time. The sublime takes of “If Not For You” and “Went to See the Gypsy” got proper “Bootleg Series” homes; this didn’t. So this is where I’m putting it.

“Nobody ‘Cept You” – this is pretty similar to the released version, but for whatever reason this is the take that hooked me on the song. I first heard it on the “Genuine Bootleg Series” bootleg. Now it’s one of my favorite songs from the Planet Waves sessions.

“Heart of Mine” – this song has always been something of a sleeper favorite for me, and this version with the Grateful Dead from Oregon in 1987 – while not as powerful as the 1981 versions – has a sort of sweet, ramshackle magic that really hits the spot for me. Jerry Garcia plays a really nice solo here, turning in some mournful, melodic phrases but never veering too far from the song’s musical core.

“Tomorrow Night” – 1994 is possibly my least favorite NET year, in which the whine-purr (not to mention the song lengths) of 1993 goes toe-to-toe with the oafish, lumbering drums of 1995. I’ve just never been able to get into the tapes from this year. But this breezy, swinging take on “Tomorrow Night” from Hiroshima is a notable exception.

“Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” – I think this is the live debut of the song, notable for its all acoustic arrangement. The 1999-2000 acoustic material seemed to either be utterly transcendent or paint-dry boring, and this definitely falls into the former category, though the show it comes from never did much for me.

“Nothin’ Here Worth Dyin’ For” – one of the high points of the 1985 demo tape that leaked a few years back, and probably the closest thing to a finished song. Great groove, great singing – it coulda been a contenda!

“She’s Love Crazy” – this was another Thousand Highways bonus cut, one one of the miscellaneous comps I think. Not much to say about it, just that it’s a fiery performance of a rocking song from a cool era that deserves a home.

“Boom Boom Mancini” – another Thousand Highways bonus track, from the Fall 2002 set. Dylan performed all of these Warren Zevon covers with such verve – can’t help but wish he would have tried “Excitable Boy!”

“Idiot Wind” – the famous spooky organ version that was omitted (in this form, anyway) from “More Blood More Tracks.” An odd omission – this, for years, was probably the one thing I thought of when I thought of the BOTT New York Sessions. Either way, lest it be left behind for good, I’m stashing it here.

“Hurricane” – while less fiery and thus less suited to delivering its message than its released counterpart, I think I prefer this sweeter, more leisurely take, which I also first heard on the “Genuine Bootleg Series” boot.

“Like a Rolling Stone” – this is a version of “Like a Rolling Stone” from 1976 in pristine audio quality. No justification needed.

“Ring Them Bells” – this is my all-time favorite live version of this song, but it comes from a relatively unexciting concert (fraught with maddening upsinging, as was not uncommon in 2001) and the audio quality isn’t the best. But I need it in my collection. Maybe you do too.

[oasisfan35]

Going to share a couple compilations of mine today. This is a Dylan mix I made last year.

Bob Dylan
“Odds and Ends”
A compilation
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5nm0u3j97 ... n.rar/file

1. Song to Woody (1970 studio outtake)
2. Man of Constant Sorrow (Stuttgart, 4-16-2002)
3. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (Nantes, 6-30-1984)
4. Soon After Midnight (London, 11-28-2013)
5. Tomorrow is a Long Time (1970 studio outtake)
6. Nobody ‘Cept You (1973 studio outtake)
7. Heart of Mine (Eugene, 7-19-1987)
8. Tomorrow Night (Hiroshima, 2-16-1994)
9. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven (Lisbon, 4-7-1999)
10. Nothin’ Here Worth Dyin’ For #2 (1985 studio outtake)
11. She’s Love Crazy (St. Louis, 10-29-1978)
12. Boom Boom Mancini (Seattle, 10-7-2002)
13. Idiot Wind (‘spooky organ’ version) (1974 studio outtake)
14. Hurricane (1975 studio outtake)
15. Like a Rolling Stone (Clearwater, 4-22-1976)
16. Ring Them Bells (Adelaide, 3-20-2001)

My original notes:

Spoiler: show

This is a compilation of live and studio cuts that either (a) found their way to me devoid of context and which I really liked, (b) were featured as ‘bonus’ tracks on one of the “Thousand Highways” collections and needed a permanent home, (c) were left behind by one or more Bootleg Series releases, or (d) stood out as highlights of otherwise unremarkable shows. I did some minor volume adjustments for consistency but it’s still not perfect – you might be tempted to turn the volume up or down from track to track (sorry) – but I added fades where appropriate to make it easier on the ears, and overall I think the music flows really nicely and touches on a variety of eras. Some notes:

“Song to Woody” – the 1970 George Harrison session remains largely untouched by the Bootleg Series, despite multiple volumes having flirted with this era. Most of the songs from the session are a little loose for my tastes but this one is perfect.

“Man of Constant Sorrow” – despite the covers in the Fall, I find 2002 to be a relatively poor year for Dylan’s vocals, especially during this European spring tour. However, this rocking version of “Man of Constant Sorrow,” clearly modeled after the version from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” that was popular at the time, is a major exception. I like the juxtaposition between this track and the previous “Song to Woody” – both reimagined tracks from Bob’s first album, 30 years apart.

“It Takes a Lot to Laugh” – this was a bonus track on the 1984 “Heat and the Pulse” compilation at Thousand Highways. This is the only live arrangement I’ve heard that is faithful to the gently swinging arrangement of the studio master take, which I greatly prefer to the generic blues rock treatment it usually is given live. An oddity considering that, if there ever was a tour where Dylan would have been tempted to give something a standard blues rock arrangement, it seems like 1984 would have been it.

“Soon After Midnight” – this was a bonus cut on the Thousand Highways London 2013 comp. This is my favorite “Tempest” song, and this is my favorite live version I’ve heard of it. Lovely.

“Tomorrow is a Long Time” – this was on one of the first bootlegs I ever traded for back in the early 2000’s (the New Morning Acetate), which was a revelation for me at the time. The sublime takes of “If Not For You” and “Went to See the Gypsy” got proper “Bootleg Series” homes; this didn’t. So this is where I’m putting it.

“Nobody ‘Cept You” – this is pretty similar to the released version, but for whatever reason this is the take that hooked me on the song. I first heard it on the “Genuine Bootleg Series” bootleg. Now it’s one of my favorite songs from the Planet Waves sessions.

“Heart of Mine” – this song has always been something of a sleeper favorite for me, and this version with the Grateful Dead from Oregon in 1987 – while not as powerful as the 1981 versions – has a sort of sweet, ramshackle magic that really hits the spot for me. Jerry Garcia plays a really nice solo here, turning in some mournful, melodic phrases but never veering too far from the song’s musical core.

“Tomorrow Night” – 1994 is possibly my least favorite NET year, in which the whine-purr (not to mention the song lengths) of 1993 goes toe-to-toe with the oafish, lumbering drums of 1995. I’ve just never been able to get into the tapes from this year. But this breezy, swinging take on “Tomorrow Night” from Hiroshima is a notable exception.

“Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” – I think this is the live debut of the song, notable for its all acoustic arrangement. The 1999-2000 acoustic material seemed to either be utterly transcendent or paint-dry boring, and this definitely falls into the former category, though the show it comes from never did much for me.

“Nothin’ Here Worth Dyin’ For” – one of the high points of the 1985 demo tape that leaked a few years back, and probably the closest thing to a finished song. Great groove, great singing – it coulda been a contenda!

“She’s Love Crazy” – this was another Thousand Highways bonus cut, one one of the miscellaneous comps I think. Not much to say about it, just that it’s a fiery performance of a rocking song from a cool era that deserves a home.

“Boom Boom Mancini” – another Thousand Highways bonus track, from the Fall 2002 set. Dylan performed all of these Warren Zevon covers with such verve – can’t help but wish he would have tried “Excitable Boy!”

“Idiot Wind” – the famous spooky organ version that was omitted (in this form, anyway) from “More Blood More Tracks.” An odd omission – this, for years, was probably the one thing I thought of when I thought of the BOTT New York Sessions. Either way, lest it be left behind for good, I’m stashing it here.

“Hurricane” – while less fiery and thus less suited to delivering its message than its released counterpart, I think I prefer this sweeter, more leisurely take, which I also first heard on the “Genuine Bootleg Series” boot.

“Like a Rolling Stone” – this is a version of “Like a Rolling Stone” from 1976 in pristine audio quality. No justification needed.

“Ring Them Bells” – this is my all-time favorite live version of this song, but it comes from a relatively unexciting concert (fraught with maddening upsinging, as was not uncommon in 2001) and the audio quality isn’t the best. But I need it in my collection. Maybe you do too.

Funny that Learning To Flinch was the first album I listened to today and Boom Boom Mancini just ended. I wish Dylan was on the Live Music Archive.

[LetMeSleep]

Thanks KD.

I'm currently going through the Christian period whilst listening to the pod "Dylan : Album by Album". He discusses the mixing process to Shot of Love and how Plotkin worked laboriously on the mixes only to have Dylan opt for basic session rough mixes as the final mix. The clunky mix of the album is a hindrance. KD, do you know if the Plotkin mixes ever surfaced on the bootleg scene? I've not heard of any and wondered if you'd come across any.