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

Under another Red Sky. With the more organic less 'punched in vocal' studio takes and a second disc of live versions of Born in Time.

 

BOTT

Gospel is not going to sell, so they need a strong seller after it.

 

That's what they said about Another Self Portrait.

 

I'm hoping Vol. 14 is "Another Vol. 13" - through alternate alternate takes, remixed outtakes and different live performances, they present a complete historical revision of what's presented on Vol. 13.

 

If I remember correctly an article, more albums 'll get the Cutting Edge treatment, Oh Mercy and Infidels, among these. Consider that after 2023, if not before, all the releases will be probably massive Anniversary Collections for meeting the usual copyright deadlines.

 

They'll probably leave the 60's alone for a few years, but there are several 60's performances that still haven't gotten a proper (widely available) release.

NYC Town Hall '63
Carnegie Hall '63
Royal Festival Hall '64
Hollywood Bowl '65
Newport '63-'65

I'd expect to see some of these show up among BS 16-20, interspersed with some of the "tougher sell" entries.

 

Whenever a thread starts for a speculated new Bootleg Series volume, I post this updated list of possibilities, as hinted at by Dylan sources in Rolling Stone articles. Here are the quotes I've collected from our talkative Dylan "source" over the past few years:

COFFEEHOUSE BOB: "We've always wanted to do one of pre-album stuff where Bob is just singing songs in Greenwich Village coffeehouses," says the Dylan source. (September 2015)

BLOOD ON THE TRACKS: "Sets for Blood on the Tracks and Blonde on Blonde will eventually come out." (July 2013)

"We don't know exactly what the next Bootleg Series is going to be," says a source close to the Dylan camp. "There's a couple of things on our minds, but the natural next one is Blood on the Tracks." (January 2014)

"We're thinking we'll revisit the 1975 era and Blood on the Tracks," says the source. "The unheard stuff from there is crazy. You can hear the first day of recordings before they put all that echo on. It's amazing." (August 2014)

"We'd also love to revisit Blood on the Tracks, Infidels, Oh Mercy and the gospel albums." (September 2015)

The only other set under major consideration is one that chronicles the 1974 Blood on the Tracks sessions. "Personally I think the gospel set is more interesting," says a source close to the Dylan camp. "Blood on the Tracks is similar to The Cutting Edge in what you're hearing is different version of the same thing. You're hearing process." (October 2016)

ROLLING THUNDER: We asked our source about the documentary of Dylan's 1975/76 Rolling Thunder Revue, which has been in development for years. "We’re still working on it," says the source. "I hope it comes out in the next couple of years." (August 2010)

Another project that's been in the works for years is a documentary about The Rolling Thunder Revue … "We're going to keep mum on that for the time being," says the source. "We have no clue when it's going to come out. Maybe this year, but we're just hoping it happens sometime in our lifetimes." (January 2014)

A documentary about Dylan's 1975/76 Rolling Thunder Revue tour is also in the works. Much footage was shot for the 1978 film Renaldo and Clara, and over the years, many of the surviving members of the tour have been interviewed. "You'll see that sooner rather than later," says the source. "I'm hoping in two years." (October 2016)

BOOTLEG SERIES DVDs: After [a Rolling Thunder documentary] does finally come out, the Dylan camp plans on releasing a series of Bootleg Series DVDs. "We'll put out the [1976] Hard Rain TV special," the source says. "We have other TV special we'll put out after that." [NOTE: I assume they meant "specials" (plural) rather than "special."] (August 2010)

1978 TOUR: Dylan's 1978 world tour has also been much-maligned, largely because the Live At Budokan album captured a very early show before the band really gelled. "There was so much going on with that big band that Bob didn't always need to give off that much energy," says the source. "But they kept doing the show and it got better and better. Unfortunately, somebody erased most of the tapes. It's very frustrating. We had soundboards of all of them. We do have a couple now, though." (January 2014)

BORN-AGAIN YEARS: The Toronto stop on Bob Dylan's 1980 gospel tour was also professionally filmed. "That was shot on two-inch tape," says the source. "The band is really great though. You can see some of it on YouTube. Many shows on that tour were just incredible, but I'm not sure that particular night, unfortunately, captures the incredibleness of those shows." (January 2014)

Other shows on the gospel tour were professionally recorded. "It'll make a cool Bootleg Series and we will do it one day," says the source. "The only issue is that we fear nobody will be interested. It's not a period people are clamoring for, so it's kind of a square peg for a round hole. That said, exploring the born again period would be very interesting. He played a lot of songs live that weren't recorded and a deluxe box would be fun to do. It's a period that been much-maligned, but with the benefit of hindsight it's clear that Bob was doing some great things." (January 2014)

"We'd also love to revisit [...] the gospel albums." (September 2015)

"Personally I think the gospel set is more interesting," says a source close to the Dylan camp. "The gospel is a lot of stuff that people ignored. Bob continued to tweak the gospel stuff on the road for a couple of years. It kept mutating." (October 2016)

"The 1981 shows were all professionally recorded," says the Dylan source. "There's also a bunch of video that nobody has ever seen. Besides the stuff on YouTube, there's really interesting [footage] that was shot onstage. It's beyond imagining, and it's gonna come out." (October 2016)

1986 TOUR: Another professionally filmed concert in the vault is a 1986 Sydney, Australia stop on Dylan's tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was broadcast on HBO and released on VHS, but it's been out of print for decades. "That's a good shows," says the source. "Though it's really 1980s Bob, with the black leather vest and whatnot. He plays 'In the Garden,' which is a very unusual song and Bob puts a lot of passion into it. Maybe we'll release that someday too." (January 2014)

INFIDELS / OH MERCY: "We'd also love to revisit Blood on the Tracks, Infidels, Oh Mercy and the gospel albums." (September 2015)

SUPPER CLUB: A CD/DVD set of Dylan's famous 1993 stand at New York's Supper Club was nearly released (in 2010) instead of the Witmark Demos. "I decided I liked the story of the Witmark Demos better than the Supper Club," says the source. "That will definitely come out on CD and DVD sometime soon, though." (August 2010)

BOB'S INVOLVEMENT IN THE BOOTLEG SERIES: "Bob really doesn't take his time going through the vaults," says the source. "He leaves this up to his record company. His focus is on touring, making new music and writing his memoirs." (July 2005)

GENERAL PHILOSOPHY & DIRECTION OF THE BOOTLEG SERIES: "We're trying to put this stuff out in an intelligent way," says the source. (July 2013)

THE ROLE OF THE TULSA ARCHIVE: At some point in the future, visitors to the University of Tulsa, home to an "endless ocean" of Dylan recordings, should able to hear any recording he made throughout his entire life, both onstage and in the studio. The plan is allow visitors to access it via computer. "There will be some kind of database," says the Dylan source. "Right now, they are struggling with the enormity of what they have to deal with and how to present it." (October 2016)

CHRONICLES VOL. 2: Simon & Schuster also plans to publish Chronicles: Volume Two, but don't expect Dylan to deliver a manuscript anytime soon. "It'd be wonderful to have it in the next few years," says Rosenthal. "But we'll get it when we get it." (March 2005)

Less likely to see the light of day: a sequel to Dylan's acclaimed 2004 book Chronicles Vol. 1. "I hope there's another one," the source says. "That's all I can say. If it was planned I'd tell you." (August 2010)

A question about a possible follow-up to Bob Dylan's 2004 book, Chronicles: Volume One, elicits a laugh and two words: "No comment." (August 2014)

 

A wonderful sunmary. Thanks!
Do we know why the Desire sessions are rarely mentioned in these discussions?

 

My dream BS Vol 14 ( 15? 16? 17? whichever) would be a complete professionally filmed Rolling Thunder concert with bonus footage of only Bob doing songs ( rare one offs or even every song they filmed). To me, the 75 RTR Bob was his apex. The passion, creativity and performance level on a consistent basis wouldnt be seen again for 25 yrs.

 

Wow, man, incredible job compiling all that! Big thanks!

 

I don't think the Desire sessions are considered as "sexy" as the Blood On The Tracks sessions, and the Dylan source is only going to mention the stuff that he thinks will get the most interest from fans. But I still think that the Desire sessions will be included in a broader 1973-1976 set (also including BOTT) -- or as part of a specific Desire/Rolling Thunder expanded set.

 

Thanks -- it was only time-consuming the first time I assembled it! Since then, it's just a matter of updating the file with new quotes, and posting it here! It's good to know that Dylan Inc. still has at least a decade's worth of interesting Bootleg Series possibilities in mind....

 

Ok, but I give you props for organizing it and presenting it clearly.

It is very good to know. For me, the Bootleg Series is very special, as the film (and then the soundtrack, BS7, for) NDH ignited my interest in Bob Dylan. Prior to NDH, I had zero Dylan in my collection and very little appreciation for him. After seeing NDH, I picked up BS4 and was hooked!

 

The Neverending Tour will turn 30 in 2018, so why not a 60CD box following the example of Grateful Dead's "30 Trips Around The Sun", with one show for every year, on 2CD each? This is my dream, but logic would say a Coffee Houses box set, since
I feel they will choose a very far period from The Gospel Years (1979-81), they usually don't choose very close eras of the Bob Dylan career (with the possible exception of BS10 and BS11).
In addition, I have no source, but I feel that BOTT will get a "Super Deluxe Edition", maybe a 3CD box with the complete sessions, but out of the Bootleg Series.

 

Wow, interesting that you got into Bob through his "alternate career" ... I'd say it was surprising, but I have a similar story. I had virtually no knowledge of Bob until around 1985, when I heard "Positively 4th Street" on the radio (blown away) and saw the "Tight Connection" video on MTV (completely baffled). I kind of knew that as a self-respecting music fan (17 years old at the time), I had to give Dylan a try, so I went to Sam Goody and bought the two albums that I thought had the most interesting song titles -- The Times They Are A Changing and Highway 61 Revisited. I was hooked immediately, obviously, and my next pair of LPs (because I would always put them back-to-back on a 90 minute cassette) was Infidels and Empire Burlesque. After that, I still felt like his catalog was too vast and overwhelming to get a handle on, so I jumped in the deep end and bought Biograph.

Long story short: Listening to Biograph was a transformative experience, and because I had a relatively clean Dylan slate I had no reason to differentiate between the "hits" and the "deep cuts" and the unreleased outtakes. As a result, for example, before I ever owned Blood On The Tracks, I knew and loved the "wrong" version of "You're A Big Girl Now." On the other hand, that box made a great "taster menu" -- Gee, I love the songs from this album or that album, so I'll have to get that next. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is -- I also got into Bob Dylan in an unconventional way, so I can relate!

 

I think the Petty Australia show is dead in the water for a long time, unless they get into this bootleg series dvd concept. Sounds like Bob doesn't look back to the 80's with smiles.

 

Cool! Thanks for sharing that!

I should give all credit to Martin Scorsese, though. His documentary absolutely blew me away. It opened the door to a world of treasures that is Dylan's recordings, again, starting with BS4.

The New York Sessions boot was my intro to BOTT. I heard that a dozen times before picking up the officially released album. I enjoy the NY Sessions boot a lot more. And I much prefer the sound on the Guitars Kissing boot to BS4.

 

Bootleg Series Vol. 14 is going to be Neil Young's Archives II box.

 

Well, that quote was from January 2014 -- not THAT long ago. It wasn't an overwhelming endorsement -- "Maybe we'll release that someday too" -- but the source wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't being considered. That said, the situation with the Tulsa archive could change the Bootleg Series considerably, with "second tier" stuff like this either becoming part of a "Tulsa Archives" series of releases (my speculation, not confirmed), or being left entirely for tourists in Tulsa to watch/hear in person.

 

The Scorsese film is really good, with so much cool footage and great performances. I should watch that again in preparation for the Live 1966 box.

I may be in the minority, but I prefer the official release of BOTT; the Minnesota tracks add some variety to what was a VERY "samey-same" sounding LP. The NYC "Idiot Wind" is a heart-breaker, no doubt, and I prefer the NYC "Big Girl" (in the mix from the acetate, with the organ), but I love all the other Minnesota substitutions. "Tangled" and "Jack of Hearts" in particular come alive in their reincarnations.

I haven't listened to Guitars Kissing in forever, but I really liked the added "atmosphere" on BS4 -- captures the electricity of the room while sacrificing some of the dry "clean" recordings of the performances. I should listen to that one again too!

 

Sorry for my ignorance, but would there be any live concerts that would be appropriate to release with a BOTT set?

 

Not really. They don't go with the 1974 tour with The Band or the Rolling Thunder tour from 75-76.

 

That's what I thought. Too bad he didn't do some BOTT centred shows.

 

I like that for the NET. I always felt one or two shows from a specific tour was good enough for the medium-core fans. The sheer weight of the Dead catalogue has always deterred me from buying a random live release. Also, I don't like anything I've heard by GD so far.

 

Sure, the Friends of CHILE Benefit in May 1974 (hehehe)


NOTE: Just kidding -- they were all drunker than skunks.