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

Oh, man, that made me laugh so hard...

 

This can't be said enough! If anybody needs further instruction on what we're evangelizing for, please create about 12 minutes of time to devote to the performance of "Solid Rock" from 4/20/80, Toronto. Rolling Stone actually did an article about this performance a few years back (possibly a trial balloon for this material as a request from Bob Co.?) They posted a link to a YouTube clip that contained the entire sermon and song performance. Well, I can't find that article in a Google search...maybe it's been taken down. And I did find the clips on YouTube but they've been cut in two: sermon and song performance.

You'll miss out on the sublime, some would say transcendent, effect of the song as it develops but as has been said repeatedly by us true believers in Gospel Bob, the sermon is most definitely a part of the musicality of the performance.

So here's the sermon:



And here's the main performance:

And...never mind. Versions of this performance have been blocked for copyright. Oh well. Bookmark the sermon for when you get BS Vol. 13.

 

There was a copy for sale on fleabay this morning for 8 bucks + S&H, and I was tempted to get it, since I still have a working 8-track player in the closet, but then I came to my senses...

 

Chances are, it's not going to have any exclusive material anyway (unless edits are your thing.) I'm betting that material repeats between the break, or else something is repeated somewhere.

 

One of my favorite moments in all my Bob Dylan listening. In its own way, it's up there with the "Judas" call.

Bob was talking about playing on a college campus and getting booed. Someone shouts out and he laughs, "Oh, were you there?" He goes on to say that he reads the Bible and finds a lot of truth in it. He starts to getting into making a contrast with colleges and the "higher learning people" there that teach philosophy. He says "You know, Plato, and..uh...who else?" Right then, clear above the din of the crowd, you can hear someone shout "Charles Darwin!!!" And Bob, without skipping a beat, says with what sounds like a smile on his face, "Jimmy Reed." I like to think Bob was making a callback to one of the foundational "higher learning people" of his musical evolution with that comment. Just an utterly perfect moment, something so of the moment, that is sadly left to the bootleggers seems like.

 

Sounds intriguing. I'll certainly approach with an open mind. It might indeed be a good compromise, and since it's obviously something Bob is okay with then as much as I'd prefer an uncut film, you have to respect it.

 

How about an all studio box set JWH/BOTT/Desire outtakes? Makes little sense thematically but would easily fill out to 6-8 cds.
Then the big RTR live box the next year.

 

No way would they bundle John Wesley with the 75-76 era. There are some additional gems they missed from 1967-1971 for ASP, so maybe they'll do a set of that and keep the BOTT-Desire-RTR set for next year.

 

Some of the world's best sound systems are also the cheapest








And for those who insist on STEREO:

 

Could you post a link to this? I'd really like to post this on my Facebook page.

 

The link to this article has been posted a couple of times today in the Bootleg Series 14 thread, and that's where this discussion should be.

 

This is absolutely true. There are audience Dylan tapes from the 1990s-early 2000s that legitimately sound like soundboards. It's downright freaky how good those guys got.

I'm also not 100% sure on the provenance or truth of this seemingly apocryphal story, but there was apparently a blind Dylan taper that took advantage of that fact to sneak in recording equipment (who's going to search the blind guy?), and he also happened to have the accompanying heightened ear that comes with the body's compensation for a lost sense, so his tapes were unreal. Heard that story so many times from seasoned folk in the GA sections of Dylan shows that I'm inclined to think it might be true.

 

Sorry -- didn't want to come off like a jerk -- here's the link:

What's Next for Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series?

 

According to Clinton Heylin, the two New Orleans shows were recorded by a mobile unit for documenting the tour before the disband. Houston and Avignon shows were said to be also recorded on multitrack. Other say that all the 1981 European tour was documented on multitracks. Rolling Stone wrote that only the Toronto show was recorded on 24 tracks.

 

The way they have joined albums together for Cutting Edge,ASP and TTS suggests to me Blood On The Tracks,Desire and Street Legal might be combined.That would give them a large amount of material for a Deluxe version.

 

I've had the Avignon SBD before but never knew it was a multi track. Cool.

Also, on a hard drive buried somewhere, I've got a soundboard from, I think Nashville or Memphis 1980 or something like that. It's one I don't hear about often. Any idea?

 

It never ceases to impress how damn ahead of his time Bob is, I mean lines like "equality I spoke the words as if a wedding vow" or "some say don't hate nothing at all except hatred" or the above sermon, mocking the liberalism of US college audiences and their intellectual hero's. If he tried that stuff today kids would be setting fire to stuff quicker than you can say Milo Yianoppolous three times.

 

That would probably be Denver January 22th - which is a soundboard. Or from a portable tape recorder connected with the soundboard. Rumoured to have been made by Allen Ginsberg, who attended one of the Denver concerts and visited Dylan backstage.

It is a nice listening experience, documenting the often ignored January 80 gospel concerts.

 

I like it! So true, despite what many want to believe so passionately.

Thanks for the video. Having heard that again, I for one am quite glad now that they've cut the raps out completely. The fact that Bob requested it only legitimises that decision in my view. I think hearing the odd one here and there might be acceptable but hearing the same long-winded diatribe over and over could get quie wearing, especially on frequent revisits. I think the "raps" are but a footnote in Bob's long storied career - they are better read on paper for those who want to academically ingest every syllable spouted from Dylan's mouth.

 

I've never seen/ heard this before.

One observation is that Dylan is not known as a performer who tries to engage his audience. A few classic one-liners aside, he basically sticks to the business of singing his songs.

But not in this case. The "sermon" created an opportunity for a dialog with the crowd. He seems to be feeding off the responses, paying attention to individuals at moments, appreciating them rather than reacting as if they are hecklers.

Perhaps a part of all this for Dylan was to find a way to break through that fourth wall, but he needed to wear a mask to do it.

 

And he nailed that whole "End Times" thing almost to the precise day the War of Armageddon started!

 

Thanks man.

I do remember it's DEFINITELY not Denver though. It's Knoxville or Chattanooga or St. Louis. Something like that.

 

The Wikipedia entry for the box includes the following track-listing for the bonus set. Of course, it matches the setlist we expected (and there are no timings to indicate if the raps are intact), but did the person who created the entry just make an educated guess how the two discs broke down, or did this get officially announced somewhere? (Even if it is just a guess, it seems pretty likely to be accurate.)

The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981 - Wikipedia

Disc 10: Live in San Diego 1979
No. Title Length
1. "Gotta Serve Somebody"
2. "I Believe in You"
3. "When You Gonna Wake Up?"
4. "When He Returns"
5. "Man Gave Names to All the Animals"
6. "Precious Angel"
7. "Slow Train"
8. "Covenant Woman"
Disc 11: Live in San Diego 1979
No. Title Length
1. "Gonna Change My Way of Thinking"
2. "Do Right to Me Baby (Do Unto Others)"
3. "Solid Rock"
4. "Saving Grace"
5. "Saved"
6. "What Can I Do for You?"
7. "In the Garden"
8. "Blessed Be the Name"
9. "Pressing On"

 

Not announced anywhere, so educated guess it is.