We don't know much, admittedly -- that's part of what makes the JWH sessions so compelling. Nothing -- NOTHING -- additional from the sessions has been released or booted, save from a few seconds of the full ending of "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" (on the withdrawn 1997 remaster of Biograph), and a few outtakes which have been rumored to be in the hands of collectors, and not public. If Clinton Heylin's Recording Sessions book offers complete documentation, then we only have one outtake of "All Along The Watchtower" and one of "John Wesley Harding" -- but I find it hard to believe that every other song was captured in its master form in one take. There are no known SONGS from the sessions that have gone unreleased, and perhaps this is why Bob Inc. have avoided them, but as always with Bob, alternate takes can also be illuminating. Recently, thanks to the creation of the Tulsa archive, we have gotten a bit more information. In this Rolling Stone article, curator Michael Chaiken reports that he's heard the JWH tapes: Chaiken has only begun to dip into the hundreds of hours of raw Dylan recording sessions, but he's already come across a completely different version of 1997's Time Out of Mind produced by pianist Jim Dickinson and the complete John Wesley Harding sessions. "It's such a mysterious record," he says. "I heard a couple of alternate takes of 'All Along The Watchtower' that were, to me as a fan, just incredible." In another article from this past April, Chaiken says something similar: Chaiken found himself doing a deep dive on the sessions that would become the album titled "John Wesley Harding." "To hear the alternate versions to 'All Along the Watchtower,' it was amazing," Chaiken said. "He's like a Miles Davis character when he goes into the studio, there's so much improvisation going on and moving things around, trying to find the rhythm." Here's another tidbit from a Rolling Stone article -- which really should be read in full: To guard against bootlegging, the archive will maintain the audio files on a secure, offline network accessible only by three computer terminals at the library. Employees are still in the process of transferring many of the audio files, though they do have John Wesley Harding outtakes that have never been heard by fans. A click on the first take of "As I Went Out One Morning" reveals a drastically slowed-down, dirge-like rendition of the song. Maybe I'm just easily persuaded, but that's enough evidence for me that some kind of JWH sessions release is warranted.
It's true, and you definitely have to be willing to "go along for the ride" with the Gospel Era. There's no doubt that Bob was writing and performing with intense passion and commitment during this time. If you're just dipping your toes into the Bootleg Series pool, though, I might suggest getting Vol. 8 to go with Vols. 1-3 -- together, they comprise a nearly 50-year overview of his entire "alternate" career. If you're sold by those, you can start getting the more period-specific sets.
Here's a concerning thought, and then I promise to go back to BS13-related posting -- Is it possible that Dylan Inc. sees the Tulsa Archive as its conduit for making all of Bob's recordings "available to the public" and therefore releasing them from the annual Copyright Extension obligation? I was just wondering why they would be reluctant to release any JWH material when we had three separate raves about the sessions coming from Tulsa ... and this occurred to me. The Archive is officially open, but only to a limited number of people -- still, more folks than were able to buy Copyright 1962 a few years ago...
But doesn't the material have to be accessible in Europe -- since that's the copyright extension that is being protected? Bob's good to go in the good 'ole US of A. I can't imagine that having recordings available to listen to in a room in Oklahoma satisfies the European copyright legalese.
Michael Krogsgaard was given permission years ago to examine the Columbia Archives. He began publishing his findings in 1995 in the now-defunct Telegraph magazine published by the late John Bauldie. In Issue #53 (Winter 1995) he included his examination of the John Wesley Harding reels:- Quote:- There have been rumours of a September 1967 session prior to the actual recording of John Wesley Harding. There are no session dates in Bob Dylan's name in the Nashville log books prior to the three John Wesley Harding sessions. For the first two sessions, all details are available: Studio A Columbia Recording Studios Nashville, Tennessee October 17, 1967, 9 pm - 12 midnight. Produced by Bob Johnston 1. Drifter's Escape CO120927 Take 1C 2. Drifter's Escape Take 2C 3. Drifter's Escape Take 3b 4. Drifter's Escape Take 4b 5. Drifter's Escape Take 5C 6. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine CO120928 Take 1B 7. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine Take 2C 8. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine Take 3C 9. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine Take 4C 10. The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest CO120929 Take 1C Musicians: Charlie McCoy (bass) and Kenneth Buttrey (drums). 2, 9 and 10 released on John Wesley Harding. Studio A Columbia Recording Studios Nashville, Tennessee November 6, 1967, 6:00 - 9:30 pm. Produced by Bob Johnston 1. All Along The Watchtower CO120955 Take 1b 2. All Along The Watchtower Take 2C 3. All Along The Watchtower Take 3C 4. All Along The Watchtower (Insert) Take 1b 5. All Along The Watchtower (Insert) Take 2C 6. John Wesley Harding CO120956 Take 1C 7. John Wesley Harding Take 2C 8. As I Went Out One Morning CO120957 Take 1C 9. As I Went Out One Morning Take 2C 10. As I Went Out One Morning Take 3B 11. As I Went Out One Morning Take 4b 12. As I Went Out One Morning Take 5C 13. I Pity The Poor Immigrant CO120958 Take 1b 14. I Pity The Poor Immigrant Take 2C 15. I Pity The Poor Immigrant Take 3b 16. I Pity The Poor Immigrant Take 4C 17. I Pity The Poor Immigrant Take 5B 18. I Pity The Poor Immigrant Take 6B 19. I Pity The Poor Immigrant Take 7b 20. I Pity The Poor Immigrant Take 8B 21. I Pity The Poor Immigrant Take 9B 22. I Pity The Poor Immigrant Take 10C 23. I Am A Lonesome Hobo CO120959 Take 1C 24. I Am A Lonesome Hobo Take 2b 25. I Am A Lonesome Hobo Take 3C 26. I Am A Lonesome Hobo Take 4C 27. I Am A Lonesome Hobo Take 5C Musicians: Charlie McCoy (bass) and Kenneth Buttrey (drums). A splice of 3 and 5, and 7, 12, 22, 27 released on John Wesley Harding. For the third session, the session tape has been located but not been available for examination yet: Studio A Columbia Recording Studios Nashville, Tennessee November 29, 1967, 6:00 - 9:00 pm and 9:00 - 12 midnight. Produced by Bob Johnston 1. Wicked Messenger CO120960 2. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight CO120961 3. Down Along The Cove CO120962 4. Dear Landlord CO120963 6-9 pm: The Wicked Messenger and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight recorded. 9-12 pm: Down Along The Cove, and Dear Landlord recorded. Musicians: Charlie McCoy (bass) and Kenneth Buttrey (drums). 9-12: Pete Drake (steel guitar). All tracks released on John Wesley Harding. Unquote Michael's documentation for all the Columbia recording sessions he examined can be found on PDF here (I keep meaning to go through them to see if he documented anything that was left off Big Blue, but I get distracted by other things like this BS13 monster:- http://www.dylanstubs.com/extras/sessions.pdf It is known (as Sean indicates above) that the JWH reels are at the Tulsa Archives. These tantalising images also emerged at the same time as Michael's Telegraph pieces:- #
When I promised to look for the quotes, I should have just said "Sean will do it for me, and present it far better than I would have."
Aw, shucks, Dee... The only reason I was able to access those quotes so quickly is because I maintain a running Word document where I copy and paste any and all news about the Tulsa Archive. Because I am not entirely mentally healthy when it comes to this stuff...
I think the track-by-track liner notes are better than they've been for some of the volumes (I'm looking at you, Basement Tapes Complete...). That, to me, is an added thrill.
I long enjoyed Rob Bowman's work (mostly I know him from his work on The Band's reissues and box). These are definitely some of the best track-by-track notes we've gotten in the Bootleg Series. Maybe the best. I certainly haven't found anything to nitpick yet (but I guess it must just be out there waiting for me).
Who did the online-only Basement Tapes Complete notes? Those were good, but also incomplete if I remember correctly (no sixth disc maybe?).
Ben Rollins, who has participated in several of the recent BS sets. It's odd his notes were absent from Complete Basement Tapes box (I think his notes for the relevant tracks WERE in the 2CD version). They were available on-line only, as you mention (my theory is they dropped Rollins' notes from the Basement Tapes in favor of Heylin's piece at the last moment. But I'm just guessing here). As I've mentioned on a few occasions, his Basement Tapes piece offered the intriguing tidbit that Dylan recorded a performance of "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue" during the Blood on the Tracks sessions. He might have confused it for another contemporaneous performance, but I'm inclined to think he was revealing something he had learned from official access.
Found a bad error on page 16: there is no book of "Revelations." It's Revelation. I know it's something people get wrong all the time, but it's that kind of pedantry I expect from my Dylan scholarship.
I think I prefer the San Diego "Covenant Woman" to the one on disc 1. But hey, that one's pretty great too.
One other minor quibble: I'd like to sit down comfortably with the track-by-tracks and really concentrate, but the book with those track notes and the discs themselves feels kinda fragile and feels like I should handle it delicately. Personally, I wouldn't mind having all the "written" aspects together in the robust separate book and the photos with the more fragile disc book if they'd need to do that. Or just put all the interesting notes and photos together in the separate volume and put the discs together my themselves in a slipcase of some sort.
Oh yeah. I think these books are gorgeous. But there are practical aspects that have been overlooked.
"Saving Grace" might be the song I've most overlooked all these years. It's not a barnstormer, but I'm REALLY enjoying these live versions.
They were. There always seems to be something in the 2-Disc versions which is not included in the deluxe versions. Dee: have you checked the 2-Disc set for BS13 yet? Any note or images not featured in the deluxe? (Don't let me interrupt your listening pleasure, though...)
I've always loved that song, and it's one of the few on the Saved album that I think lives up to the live versions (although the live ones may still be better).
I never really paid it any mind until I heard him play it live in 2003. I got it there and then, and now I enjoy the song every time I hear it.
My initial impression is they don't have anything unique (a rarity in the BS). I might be wrong, I know. I haven't done a page-by-page comparison.
So, after saying that something did not sound right at HD Tracks, with Trouble No More, they have refunded my purchase. It was $134 minus 15% discount. It turns out...not all the files were 96/24 Maybe my ears are pretty good after all! It appears that they have fixed the issue after all.