Bob Dylan – Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks (2 Nov 2018)*

Nice find on youtube -- from Newport Folk Festival DVD THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR.

 

There were multiple takes recorded of most of the JWH songs.

 

That wasn't an outtake, it was an unfaded ending -- and it was released in 1997, so there's nothing to protect or extend there. All the unreleased JWH sessions are what would have been on Copyright 1967, if they had chosen to release it.

 

The next copyright release will likely be The Dylan/Cash Sessions next year.

 

You have reason to think so?

 

There were quite a few Basement songs that were not included on BS 11, as revealed by Sid Griffin in his updated "Million Dollar Bash" book.

The JWH sessions were documented by Michael Krogsgaard many years ago. Plenty of outtakes, but alas nothing has surfaced. Yet....


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

 

I bet there were home demos too.

If this "copyright" release thing were a very serious issue, we would see many more such releases from many artists throughout the industry. Thus, I do not believe SONY feels issuing them is a necessity. They are probably done with them altogether.

 

There was a time, with bootlegs, that the worse the sound quality, the more overwhelming it was to listen.

 

If Krogsgaard is totally correct, that Frankie Lee and Judas Priest was a first take is absolutely mind blowing to me.

 

Hasn't he been releasing those since Shadows in the Night......

 

MK's research, officially authorised of course, has stood the test of time, I think. It seems fairly clear from his 2006/2007 interview in The Bridge that he's heard those JWH tapes and seen the logs. I think it's likely that there were one or more off-tape partial or complete run-through's of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest before the record button was pressed. I mean, I know Bob Johnston did say that he always kept tape rolling when Bob was in the studio but the evidence on Big Blue indicates that this might not be entirely correct.

 

With long experience listening to bootlegs, I sometimes think that "if the tables were reversed", so would our opinions be reversed.

So, if long ago, the only official early (pre-1965) Dylan albums were the concerts from that time - no studio albums at all - and then suddenly in recent years a trove of studio sessions from 1961-1965 were released - we would all be going crazy for them.

 

I would certainly think that a decent amount of rehearsing occurred off-tape. And unlike BoB, I would wager that the songs were more or less fully formed, and that it was just a matter of the band figuring out what to play along with Dylan. And these cats were certainly good at that. Just looking at the low number of takes, it's easy to imagine all three days of JWH moved along the same way that the last day of BoB did.

 

Yeah - amazes me how little love that song gets. Underrated album overall imo.

 

Isn't Bob pretty notorious for showing up in the studio with a song fully-formed and ready to go, with minimal takes? Sure, we have all the Cutting Edge stuff from the years before, but those late-60s records always struck me as very, very quick work, and intentionally so.

 

No. He constantly reworks and rearranges songs from one take to another. He does not approach it like a rehearsed set of "clones" with one take virtually identical to the last.

 

I too imagine there were some rehearsals and musically FL&JP is a really easy song. I still think it's impressive to nail it at the end of a session in one go, good enough to release first time. I know they're all pros etc etc but it's the longest song after, presumably, a day of rehearsing and recording and it's got enough verses to flub something with ease. And it's a brilliant performance

 

Yes and no. I think the songs for JWH were pretty much fully-formed, given that there appears to have been no other songs attempted at the short sessions (and goodness knows he had plenty of other originals from The Basement that could have been tried out). But, given the information that has emerged recently from the lucky people who have heard the outtakes at Tulsa, different arrangements of at least one or two of those songs were tried out in the studio.

 

Of course, those would be interesting to hear. However, at this point, it does not seem very likely that major revelations await us. As great as The Cutting Edge was, the real revelation was not previously unheard music, but the fact how interesting it was and is to listen to "the full sessions". It is just so much fun, even the false starts.

As for JWH, it may be interesting to hear alternate versions of some of the songs, but due to the nature of arrangements it may be of limited interest to all but the most devoted of Dylan fans.

 

There are plenty of devoted fans. Few casual fans buy the Bootleg Series at all.

 

That'll be me, then!

Excerpts from "Rolling Stone" Tulsa Archives articles:-

"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."

"Chaiken has only begun to dip into the hundreds of hours of raw Dylan recording sessions, but he's already come across.... 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."

 

Blackbushe Aerodome concert 1978.

 

What about it? my dad was at that festival

 

It should be released in the Bootleg Series!

(Fantastic that your dad was there!)