Bob Dylan: "Trouble No More 1979 - 1981" - The Bootleg Series Vol. 13

Occasionally overshadowed, and sometimes simply taken in a different and compelling direction. I love how Dylan sings Tears Of Rage, but the phrasing and harmony of Ian & Sylvia's version just match my sensibilities ever so well.

 

Is this really part of The Bootleg Series though?

 

If you're referring to the new Live '66 box, then no.

 

Thanks sorry ended up on the wrong thread.

 

It stands on its own as an archival release, neither Bootleg Series or 50th Anniversary Copyright Extension release.

 

Well, by its very existence it certainly is a Copyright Extension release -- otherwise why include poor-sounding audience tapes and so many repetitive concerts? They're not branding it that way, of course -- although it would have been fun (and consistent for the collection) if they did. It will be strange when there is no 1966 CE release in December, and then we resume again in 2017...

 

I am really excited about next year already. I know that it's jumping the gun big time since we haven't even gotten our hands on Live '66. But how great is it gonna be to hear the JWH outtakes? Are we 100% sure there were no extra songs that didn't make the cut? Seems like Bob had at least one for every album. Maybe this one is the exception. Dang, that's gonna be great too. But I think BS 13 is a lock on the BOTT. That would make three absolute home run Bootleg Series in a row. Kinda like 65-66.

 

John Wesley Harding: Original mono mix, original stereo mix, new 2017 stereo remix, plus alternate takes.
Includes rare session photos and Bob's original unedited liner notes (Vera, Terry and Frank talk a little more)

 

I don't know if Clinton Heylin got to listen to any tapes when he was writing his Recording Sessions book, but he studied the session sheets and reports that there were no extra songs recorded during the JWH sessions. He lists only two alternate versions that were "short-listed" for the album, but there has to be alternate takes for most of the songs. All I know is, every time the Bootleg Series team dives into the vault, they find stuff they didn't know they had -- so it can't hurt to take a listen to every minute of those tapes. I wouldn't expect anything miraculous -- like, say, a run-through of several Basement Tape songs with the JWH team -- but I'll literally take anything from those sessions. I treasure the full ending of "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" (released on the recalled Biograph in 1997), and that's only about 20 seconds.

Where do I sign?

 

On the cross

 

(abstract of sessions, cribbed from bjorner.com)
BOB DYLAN: "JOHN WESLEY HARDING" SESSIONS
17 October 1967
NCO120927 Drifter's Escape (3 complete takes + 2 false starts)
NCO120928 I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine (3 complete takes + 1 take interrupted)
NCO120929 The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest (one take only)
6 November 1967
NCO120955 All Along The Watchtower (3 complete takes + 2 false starts) SPLICED ver. rel'd
NCO120956 John Wesley Harding (2 complete takes)
NCO120957 As I Went Out One Morning (3 complete takes + 1 false start + 1 interrupted)
NCO120958 I Pity The Poor Immigrant (3 complete takes + 3 false starts + 4 interrupted)
NCO120959 I Am A Lonesome Hobo (4 complete takes + 1 false start)
29 November 1967
No recordings sheets are available from this session
NCO120960 The Wicked Messenger recorded 6-9 pm.
NCO120961 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight recorded 6-9 pm.
NCO120962 Down Along The Cove recorded 9-12 midnight.
NCO120963 Dear Landlord recorded 9-12 midnight.

Summary
UNRELEASED ALTERNATE TAKES -- "COMPLETE" VERSIONS
The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest -ZERO-
John Wesley Harding ONE
Drifter's Escape TWO
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine TWO
As I Went Out One Morning TWO
I Pity The Poor Immigrant TWO
I Am A Lonesome Hobo THREE

All Along The Watchtower T/B/D
The Wicked Messenger T/B/D
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight T/B/D
Down Along The Cove T/B/D
Dear Landlord T/B/D

 

Thanks, Hominy -- this tells me that it should be VERY easy to compile a "Complete Sessions" set for JWH next year! Should only fill a few CDs...

 

While I would really want a Complete JWH set, I have a feeling that the Dylan camp is itching to move beyond the 1960's now.
IMO, these three seems highly likely:

1. BOTT sessions.
2. Gospel Years. Could be done in slightly different ways. To me there are two distinct periods here. 1979-May 1980 (the true born again period, playing only new material), Fall 1980-1981 (where Dylan starts mixing it up again). There is also the angle of giving us more studio outtakes vs live concerts. Several possible angles.
3. Studio outtakes 1983-87. Re-examining the mid 1980's where there is a potential for true gems to be unearthed, I think. Could be a revelation like ASP was for 69-71.

Personally, I want the Gospel set most right now, but of course hope they will all happen eventually.....

 

If you look at the amount of time spent making the album, and then take into consideration that surely the tapes weren't running constantly, and probably subtract the released takes (or not, a la Cutting Edge), it makes for a very compact set.

 

Good Lord. They should title this: Bootleg Series 14: JWH, A Dream Come True

 

I think so, too. Charlie McCoy, who played bass on JWH, said the entire project only took about nine hours.

 

Would love to hear all the JWH recordings. Maybe something will happen to the material at some point. I know some Nashville Skyline (at one time JWH volume 2) was used on Another Self Portrait but those sessions could perhaps be used as well. Also there are always the recording with Johnny Cash.

 

Bootleg Series 14: That Home Across the Road - the JWH Sessions

Ha ha. JWH is one of my very favorite Dylan albums and I'd love to hear more from the sessions.

 

Lol wonderful....nearly spilled my wine...............nearly.

 

Completely agree with everything you say. They may well want the Bootleg Series to move past the '60s for awhile -- I've noted that myself in this thread -- but they will have to address the copyright issue for the JWH tapes somehow. Whether that's through the Bootleg Series, or the Copyright Extension series, or something else, remains to be seen. I suggest perhaps a "Tulsa Archive" series, for even more narrowly-focused, even more hardcore-directed releases. Live 1966 shows that they don't want to let "The Bootleg Series" become a catch-all banner for EVERY vault release, so maybe a "Tulsa Archive" series could release things like the Dylan/Cash sessions, the JWH sessions, the complete Rolling Thunder concerts, and any number of NET shows. We'll see...

 

Bump. In case it was announced and you forgot to post about it here.

 

I will make a guess, and I will emphasise that it's only a guess -

Bootleg Series 13 in May 2017.

'The 1975 Live Recordings' box set in November 2017.

 

Love the idea about a Rolling Thunder box, though I'd like it to include both 75 & 76 shows (which would become quite large, but not outside the realm of possibility given the huge scope of some recent boxed sets). AND the extant rehearsals. Thanks to Renaldo & Clara, it's possible there is a similiar wealth of high quality recordings in the archive, apart from the ones we already know about. Not sure if any other Dylan tour has quite that potential.

There are also complications that weren't part of the 66 tour, namely the other artists involved. A compilation like BS5 could get away with just focusing on the Dylan performances, but will a comprehensive collection have to work out separate arrangements with all of the artists (and their labels) who participated?

 

Am I being unrealistic in thinking a complete JWH sessions set might fit on a 2CD set?

 

My neighbor, who recently retired to a community in Fort Myers tells me, Charlie McCoy lives in the same neighborhood, and plays occasionally entertaining the locals...
When I was visiting a few weeks back, he tried to talk me into going over for a visit.. I refrained...