If you have BS4 or the Live 1966 Recordings bricks you don't need the Japanese version of Live 1962-1966. It may even cause a problem for your CD player because disc 2 is over 80 minutes long with the addition of the Manchester LARS. Also, the EU version is dirt cheap. Dirt cheap! ) If you don't have BS4, what are you waiting for....?) Join us here, if you haven't already... Bob Dylan – Live 1962–1966: Rare Performances from the Copyright Collections [2018 2-CD release] * #
Due to the additional lyric booklet, the Japanese version is also twice as wide as the non-Japanese versions (for those of us short of storage space)...
Price drop to under $20 now, so I just pre-ordered the D. Sanders book. REALLY looking forward to it. https://www.amazon.com/That-Thin-Wi..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=D0WFV9ZKSRTNQWZ6EDCG (Off topic, but I also picked up a copy of the Saved CD for only $2.79 as an 'add-on' -- only had it on the original vinyl. Maybe I'll like the CD better than the LP. )
Only have heard the 2 cd set the past few weeks. I really like the BIABH selections and alternates included. Pretty special stuff there. Impressed. The HWY61 tracks were more kimd of hit and miss for me but a few keepers or repeat listens. A bit 'disappointed' in the BOB tracks. After hearing disc 2 a few times I started to fear I would lose my sense of 'relative pitch' if I contined listening. The vocals on the BIABH stuff were uniformly much better imo than some of the HW61/BOB tracks. Still the latter are often a fascinating listen...
I thought they did a pretty good job with the 2-CD version of Cutting Edge, with one glaring omission - they should have included the solo version of "She's Your Lover Now," the only complete take of the song that Dylan recorded. Otherwise, I think your review is pretty spot-on. The BIABH sessions went pretty smooth, and Dylan seemed well-prepared, while the Highway 61 and Blonde sessions could be all over the road at times. Of course I love ALL of it, and I'm really glad they put it all out there.
I may still yet get the 6 cd set and trawl through lists here on what special tracks to look for in the 6 cd set. Sad Eyed Lady would be 1 of them! I thought iTunes had the 18cd set but I must be confusing that with the 6 cd set. The Basement Tapes complete was that 6 cds also or 18 lol? I truly can no longer keep track of the lengths of this series not to mention the complete '66 box set and not even to mention the 'copyright releases?" which I haven't even attempted to try to sort through! I'm still listening to the 5 cds of 'Sinatra covers'!
I hear you -- it's been 'Bob's Bootleg Series Bonanza' over the past few years, and a lot of people (like me) have been struggling to take it all in. And now we've got the Blood on the Tracks sessions and the Gaslight Tapes coming down the line, too...hope I make it through.
It was much easier in the old days when outtakes were few and far between and almost impossible to find...
I hope I can make it, too. I've played BS 13 just once and it's not because I don't like it - I do. There has been so much to absorb these last five years.
As much as I love (and I mean love) the "more is better" approach that Sony has taken with the Bootleg Series in recent years, I can't help but feel that the traditional curated sets would have been more rewarding as far as repeated listenings go. That's what playlists are for, I suppose.
Exactly! The formats currently available can dictate the form (if not the content) of what’s released. That’s why Sgt. Pepper is the same length as Beethoven’s Fifth...
Whilst I have enjoyed every Bootleg Series Volume (and I was lucky/foolish enough to purchase all the deluxe versions including 'Big Blue'), I don't think any* come close to the joy and sheer 'listenability' of that very first volume (okay first three volumes!!) purchased back in 1991, that was a proper treasure trove of delights... *'Tell Tale Signs' was a close second perhaps...
I agree with you, and I've always seen BS1-3 as a "sampler" -- the best (mostly) of the vault material, to be expanded and filled in later by the subsequent sets. Disappointed at how few 1966-67 tracks there are? Well, just wait for BS11 and BS12! Tell Tale Signs was (to me) the "sequel" to BS1-3 -- a highlights sampler picking up where Vol. 3 left off (1989) and continuing through 2005. What!? No Love & Theft outtakes? Don't worry, BS18 will take care of that. Only two tracks from the Bromberg sessions? Be patient, BS22 will fill that gap. Honestly, with each new Bootleg Series release, I separate the tracks into two categories -- "BS1-3 worthy" and "Everything Else." I keep a running playlist of "The Best of The Bootleg Series" where I can listen to the absolute cream of the crop(s) -- and that's where songs like "Sign On The Cross" or "Yonder Comes Sin" or "Born In Time" or the piano "She's Your Lover Now" are welcomed "home" to the Bootleg Series Vol. 1-4 that never was...
I'm in the same boat. However, my pre-listening run of the three Gospel albums and whatever material I had from that era was very enlightening for me.
Yes, I have the very excellent Bootleg Series 4 -I have them all- and what you say is pretty much what I was feeling as it's pretty much only the Judas L.A.R.S. thats a bonus. Thank you also for pointing out the possible sound issue with the Japanese disc. I never considered that the running time was pushing it to the brink. Of course. I'm going to pick this up on Monday. And yeah, dirt cheap indeed. Not long now before we're hit with the annual Bootleg bill for More Blood On The Tracks. It's hard to keep up. As I said elsewhere I've only gotten around to Trouble No More in the past few weeks and it's been one of the biggest surprises in terms of exceeding expectations. The Toronto discs are fantastic.
I'm not actually sure myself. I've got the Live 66 boxset, all the official Bootleg Series -I don't yet have the big physical boxes for Tell Tale Signs and Another Self Portrait- but did manage to get the Isle of Wight concert from a fan on ER and also the third disc from T.T.S. Also all of the official live albums which most of them haven't done a whole lot for me. Hard Rain and Before The Flood are good, and dispite their reputations I found Budokan and Real Live ok. Dylan and The Dead is, well...you know lol. I know I'm probably in the minority here but I actually enjoy the MTV Unplugged album and dvd. I really like Bootleg Series 5 Rolling Thunder Review, Bootleg Series 6 -live 64, and Trouble No More's Toronto discs. I actually love Dylan's voice in the 80's. It's hard to know which era's because I've had my mind blown by something from every decade.
I'd be happy to share it, but might not be appropriate to this thread. Perhaps a thread of its own, where people could chime in about what they would or wouldn't include?
Dylan sounds absolutely exhausted on Blonde On Blonde, not to mention completely strung out, and that's partly what makes it such an incredible listen and such a brilliant piece of work. You've got that wild mercury sound and a Dylan ready to collapse but having to express theses songs. Honestly I don't know how he got through 66 without dropping. I remember the night -or morning- that B.O.B finally clicked with me. It was 4am and that album soundtracked how I felt. It was just perfection at that time of the day. Some of the material on that album is lightning in a bottle. For me it's perfection. I think that's why I've still not opened my 6-disc Cutting Edge over 2 years on; I'm not sure I want to get to the end of that yellow brick road and meet the wizard. I'm just happy lost in the magisterial mystery of it as it is. I'm not sure I'll ever be ready for Big Blue. It's too overwhelming.
Sounds like youre all over the place in your thinking. Let me see if I can help (or confuse you further ) This is the way I handle Dylan collecting.. First I have to decide upon three things: 1) Do I enjoy the live concerts more? 2) Do I enjoy studio outtake stuff more? Or 3) Do I enjoy both just as much. Because thats the two categories really: Studio outtakes and/or live. Once Ive decided that ( I prefer live stuff to studio outtakes) then I decide on which eras I like. I am a fan mainly of the RTR and late 90's to early 00's era. So I start searching on opinions of the best performances. Then I see which one of those are acceptable for sound quality. I prefer a good audience tape to a sterile soundboard. For instance for the RTR Id pick the "Cowboy Angel Blues" concerts to get a good overview. "Hold The Fort Lock Up The Wharehouse" is another good one. You have to think to yourself "What is it that the CC's (and others) add that official releases miss. One thing is a complete concert of the RTR. Why the 00's for concert Bob? Well, he was in strong old man blues voice and did some of his most expressive singing in those years. His interpretations and phrasing was great. And with Larry and Charlie he had a crack band. "Portsmouth 2000" is a great older Bob Dylan singing with authority. "Münster 2000" is another humdinger. His lower register just booms with might and expressiveness. So pick your poison. Start searching around and find a couple well revered from each era you like.
Yes, "all over the place" is pretty accurate. Basically I just want everything yesterday. Lol. Obviously, of course, I can't just take on everything at once because there's not enough hours in the day, and I'm a careworker so I work in shifts of around the clock. Then there's my wife, and then again there's the in-laws. Anyway, I like how you break it down into the categories of Studio or Live. I would definitely be a studio AND live fan. I just feel that everything with Dylan is worth atleast one listen. Even if I hear a concert or studio session with Bob that isn't life changing, there's always something on there that makes it worth it. Christ, I can't even bring myself to open the deluxe Cutting Edge and I'm talking about wanting everything ha! I agree with you about Dylan's 00's voice. I have seen criticism about it but I think his voice has aged magnificently. Has he had off nights? When you do that many shows your bound to, but when he's on form he sounds commanding, weatherworn and world weary in that brilliant way that only an artist of his calibre -namely only Dylan himself- can. When I get the time soon I'm going to do a bit of research into this and put some sort of list together.
Hopefully Ill be seeing him live soon. I have tickets. You never know with Dylan. Some nights hes on and many he dials it in. There are always a couple of beauties even amongst a beastly performance. Havent seen him in a decade. I felt he was in pretty poor voice in the near middle 00's. I do believe the Frank crooning has helped knock some of the croak out. So looking forward to the concert.
There's a good blog called a thousand highways. There are many curated setlists of both released and unreleased recordings from various eras. It's a nice place to start, especially if you don't know what you want.
I bought the six cd set certain that was all I needed. (Really I was convinced I shouldn't spend the money on the big box.) I wish I had bought the big box.
