Bob Dylan "The Bootleg Series" – overview and possible future projects

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by My Echo My Shadow And Me, Jun 24, 2017.

  1. Sean Murdock

    Sean Murdock Forum Intruder

    Location:
    Bergenfield, NJ
    Definitely wasn't in Rolling Stone, but it would be an interesting project -- especially if accompanied by the Bromberg sessions and the other one-off early-90s covers sessions.
     
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  2. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident

    Since I started discussing the half-speed mastered Blood On the Tracks a few days ago, all copies have disappeared from ebay. Some of you have been clicking Buy It Now.
     
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  3. Waymore Lonesome

    Waymore Lonesome Forum Resident

    I always thought Tangled Up In Blue sounded real fresh but I'm surprised there's a pitch issue with Blood On The Tracks, that's kind of amazing. I guess I can adjust my turntable and see how it sounds.

    I don't really understand much of the decisions about Bootleg Series, there are unfairly maligned works out there, was Self Portrait really one of them? I can't say I got too much of that one, and then there's the curious Gospel set, even once you sort out the files into live and studio and chronological order, you're still stuck with needless repeats of songs and outtakes that were barely different from previous versions. Lots of good stuff on there at least.

    If I get a vote I want a new Real Live, that band smokes and deserves to be heard in all it's glory, proper setlist required.
     
  4. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident

    Each entry in The Bootleg Series has been outstanding and a few achieve greatness. There's more greatness coming in future releases. So there.
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2018
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  5. inaptitude

    inaptitude Forum Resident

    The beauty of the Series is when it leads to a re-evaluation of a stage of his career. The best example of this in my mind was Tell Tale Times. When that was announced I immediately dismissed it but boy that set is now one of my top three. Same goes for Another Self Portrait.

    I did do a couple run throughs of the Gospel set and, while I did get some pleasure out of the passion he put into those live performances, it didn't really grab me much.

    BOOT should be interesting, but won't lead to any re-evaluation for me as I already place that album at the top of his output. I'm just really looking forward to hearing what they dig up.
     
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  6. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident

    Maybe the Dylan organization should get Blood On the Tracks out of the way this year so they can go back to the 1960s for the next several sets.

    I hope that future entries in the Bootleg Series will continue with the limited vinyl editions. I'm not really a vinyl collector, but Dylan's Bootleg series are an absolute cultural and social Must. It's also nice having these hefty LP box-sets with the larger book and pictorial covers in addition to the CD box-sets. I might even listen to them if I find the right speakers to match my tube receiver amp The Fisher.
    I've managed to get almost all of them in mint and sealed condition so far. The only one that I may not be able to get is Vol. 5 Rolling Thunder Revue because its scarcity and punitive pricing.

    A question for you vinyl collectors:
    Snap crackle and pop
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2018
  7. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident

    Why do you say Carnegie Hall 1965 is in the hands of a person? you mean Sony / Dylan organization doesn't have it?
     
  8. Percy Song

    Percy Song A Hoity-Toity, High-End Client

    As I understand it, the professionally recorded tapes were part of the Albert Grossman estate (as it was he who paid for the recording of the show) and ended up in the hands of a private collector when Albert died. Although nothing in Bob's world is certain, of course, if Sony/Dylan Inc had (or had access to) Carnegie Hall 1965 I'd say one must assume that it would have been included in the 1965 Live download in order protect the copyright.

    I have no concrete evidence to back-up the previous paragraph....:help:
     
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  9. savemenow

    savemenow Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE Pa
    I know it's been said many many times, but Dylan Inc need to start releasing these bootleg series at a MUCH faster pace. Most of the market for this stuff is geared to us old farts, and we are dying off at a pace where there will be no one left interested in this stuff. The few young folk who are even remotely interested in Dylan are happy with the "best-ofs" and compilations of his popular material.
     
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  10. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident

    Very true.
    Good advice, savemenow. I hope they read your post.


    Ask Bill P. who the private collector is. He knows. Then come back and tell us what he said.
     
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  11. I'm pretty sure that is why Dylan has been fairly aggressive releasing big box sets over the past few years - his camp has put out more official archival and vault material than all the other classic rock acts put together.
     
  12. savemenow

    savemenow Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE Pa
    13 in the series since 1991...hardly "aggressive", not even "fairly" aggressive as you say. My math says one every 2 years on average. But oh well, they will release what they will release. At this pace I'll be long gone before I see nearly the end of the releases, and that makes me a little sad.
     
  13. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident

    I'm ready to purchase two (2) Bootleg Series releases per year and 2 (two) Legacy box-sets per year.

    For example, the Live 1966 Recordings box was a Legacy release, not in the Bootleg Series

    They could use the Legacy series to release boxed concert tours while putting everything else in the Bootleg Series.
     
  14. Percy Song

    Percy Song A Hoity-Toity, High-End Client

    OK. Will do...:cool:
     
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  15. inaptitude

    inaptitude Forum Resident

    Just sell me a chip that I can implant in my frontal lobe that provides me unlimited access to everything he's ever put to tape or video and get it over with.
     
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  16. shadow blaster

    shadow blaster Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scandinavia
    Good idea for the Tulsa Archives to offer as their top tier subscription service :).
     
  17. Dark Horse 77

    Dark Horse 77 A Parliafunkadelicment Thang

    You have to take into consideration that there was the long gap from 1991-1998 before Vol. 4 came out. Then another four until the next Volume. The past five years they've gotten much more prolific in both the schedule and amount of material in each set.
     
  18. My Echo My Shadow And Me

    My Echo My Shadow And Me Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Germany
    Carnegie Hall 1965 and the preceding rehearsals have been in the hands of a collector since the late 1980s.
     
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  19. savemenow

    savemenow Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE Pa
    I guess there could be a "long gap" as you put it, coming up in the future as well. Unless you have a crystal ball, fact is, we just don't know. Just sayin'...most of Bobby's fans are aging, and retirement (for most) brings drastically reduced discretionary income to spend on these type of box sets. Plus , his old timer fans like me are dying off as well. My point is to Dylan, Inc: PLEASE SPEED THESE PROJECTS UP!
     
  20. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident

    You nailed it regarding aging and discretionary income. Better stock up on the music you've always wanted while you can afford it because later on you may not be able to.

    Setlist?
     
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  21. savemenow

    savemenow Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE Pa
    That's exactly what I'm doing, but as I've recently retired, I must be very prudent (as in, cheapo) in how I spend my fixed income.
     
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  22. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident

    I've been supporting Dylan since 1973.
    There have been years, especially when I followed the tours, when he received the lion's share of my income.
    The least he could do is hurry up the Bootleg Series to twice a year and put the 1965 concerts into a hard-media box-set.
     
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  23. Dark Horse 77

    Dark Horse 77 A Parliafunkadelicment Thang

    You're right on your side and I'm right on mine.
     
  24. Dayfold

    Dayfold Forum Resident

    Has there ever been confirmation that Dylan wanted it sped-up? There's a discussion about the issue in this old thread in which Bennyboy's post suggests it was unintentional:

    "You may already be aware of this, but according to Glenn Berger, who worked with Phil Ramone engineering the Blood On The Tracks sessions, the variably increased speed on most of the tracks of the finally released album was not the intention of Bob but rather down to faulty equipment.

    I emailed him earlier about this and his response was thus:

    There has been a lot of discussion of this question on forums like Expecting Rain. You might want to check that out if you haven't already. As far as all the facts go as I understand them, directly from Ramone, this was a mistake. Dylan was so detached from the production of this record that he certainly wouldn't have done such a thing deliberately, and Ramone, who was merely the engineer, and not producer, would not have made this kind of move on his own. The slower version, I believe, is the accurate one. Does that make sense? Keep in touch.

    This chimes with other comments Glenn has made in the past:
    Ramone tells me that he noticed the speed up. It wasn’t intentional. In those days, tape machines could easily run off-speed, if not checked. The mastering machine, he assumes, was off. As Ramone had something like perfect pitch, he was always noticing such things, and was usually correct.(http://shrinky.net/2011/music/bob-dylan ... told-story)

    So there you have it - the half-speed master is actually the 'right' version of Blood On The Tracks."
     
  25. Richard--W

    Richard--W Forum Resident

    It's been a long time -- over thirty years -- since I followed this matter, but the understanding I took away is that Dylan ordered the speed-up to for the songs to rock a little more and to convey a sense of urgency. It was researched and written up in some publication or another in the early 1980s when the Half-Speed Mastered was released. Dylan's brother may have been quoted as one of the sources. After all this time I cannot cite the sources, but that's my understanding, which I believe is correct. However, you've obviously looked into it and have contributed this new information, so who knows. The fact remains that the album, for whatever reason, is speeded up while the outtakes and Columbia's Half-Speed Mastered Limited Edition are not.

    The speed-up didn't hurt the critical reception or public enthusiasm for the album, that's for sure.

    As for tape machines routinely running too fast in the old days -- I don't buy it. Analog recording was not that unstable. On the professional level it may have happened, but rarely.

    If you had links to the discussions at Expecting Rain I'm sure everyone here would be interested.

    Appreciate the discourse, Dayfold.
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2018
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