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

I will be surprised if it doesn't get its own Bootleg Series or at least a very deep dive. Not only is it his most popular album post 1966, but they've made numerous statements (albeit false timing wise) that it's next in line in the series and pretty much ready to go whenever the time is right. I just can't see them skimping on those sessions. Maybe not everything gets released, but it has to be a lot. I know maybe this doesn't seem possible if combined with the Scorsese doc and Rolling Thunder shows, but let's see how they handle it.

They could still do a Big Red that includes all of BOTT sessions, the Desire sessions, Bette Midler session, and a few live shows that would fit on 18 CDs (or more!). According to quick math on the session logs, there are 88 BOTT takes and 115 Desire takes and you have to figure a lot of those are incomplete.

 

I’m still struggling with the idea that this set will be mixed up studio/live 1973-1976 etc. I have no current information but a while ago that wasn’t the plan: a ‘Blood On The Tracks’ set - 2cd and 4 (or 6?) cd and a separate ‘Live 1975’ box not dissimilar to the 1966 one and a sampler 2cd.
I think it would be a misstep to rethink that in favour of trying to cram everything into a smaller set covering a wider time frame.
Does anyone actually have any firm information at this point that is fairly current that says it’s going to be a mix of stuff from 73-76 or is it just speculation?

 

Sorry, but you sound like you're shouting. Are you one of those folks that spontaneously combust at the idea of some reasoned criticism regarding Bob Dylan?
I'm well aware that Dylan was a storyteller and not a documentary maker - so pieces like 'Joey', 'Hurricane' and earlier stuff like 'The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll' are based on real life events. However if a writer like Lester Bangs comes along and exposes the real truths behind these narratives, so be it. It's not just Bangs who has done this, Clinton Heylin wrote about 'Hurricane' Carter and William Zanzinger. It doesn't make the songs any worse, it doesn't devalue Dylan's art, but it does give you a different perspective and helps you understand how Dylan sometimes manipulated the facts to develop his narratives. No more, no less. Life is three dimensional, not monochrome.

 

If there is enough material for a Big Red Box..sure. But "Big Blue" (that signifier kind of makes me cringe, but ok) wasnt just one album. I mean in all honesty Blonde On Blonde could be argued by many (including me) as Dylans greatest achievement. Yet, it didnt get its own "Big Blonde Box". BS 12 consisted of 3 albums.

Still, I agreee that a box set in the manner of The Basement Tapes or Trouble No More would be befitting of Blood On The Tracks. Next to Blonde On Blonde (or even standing toe to toe with), Blood On The Tracks is one of the giants.

Consider, however, there may not be 18 or even 6 cds worth of material to devote to BOTT's.

Ive always wondered how Dylan looks upon BOTT. About the only thing Ive ever read is the famous quote in which he states he never understood why anyone would be entertained by that kind of raw pain.

"A lot of people tell me they enjoyed that album. It’s hard for me to relate to that—I mean, people enjoying that type of pain.”- Bob Dylan (in an interview with Mary Travers @ 1975)

 

Speculation based on the September RS article stating it will cover Rolling Thunder which mentioned a debate on whether to also cover BOTT. That combined with recent rumblings the BOTT sessions were being mixed suggests that they decided to cover both. Who knows, maybe they dropped RT from the equation. Admittedly, there has been no mention of Desire sessions specifically. Just makes sense if they’re covering that period in a big box format.

 

I agree that the Desire aspect is the most speculative part of the discussion so far. But depending how you interpret it, the Rolling Stone article *might* have suggested Desire material could be included:

There has been talk for years about a Blood on the Tracks box set that would include unheard solo acoustic demos from the first day of sessions with producer Phil Ramone, but that might get folded into the Rolling Thunder collection. "It's just a two-year period of Blood on the Tracks and Desire," says the source. "It's precipitous [at the moment] because we usually like to see how it all goes together."

Whether the source is talking vaguely about the era itself or the scope of the potential box isn't entirely clear to me. On the other hand, while stand-alone Blood on the Tracks and Rolling Thunder Revue sets are concepts that could work on their own, it's hard to explain the logic in a set that combines BOOT and RTR and nonetheless skips Desire.

 

We never saw the exact wording of what the "Dylan insider" said at the Tulsa event. Is it possible he phrased it something like "we'll be releasing material from Blood on the Tracks and Rolling Thunder Revue this fall" and the attendee (naturally) assumed he meant a single set?

Here is the original post by majortominor on ExpectingRain:

According to a Dylan insider who attended an event I was at in Tulsa this weekend, November will bring the Scorcese doc on Rolling Thunder and a new BS installment with BOT and RT material. He said it in a basically public setting so I'm sharing it here.

 

This!

My head's been reconciling itself to the possibilities of a combined box (and there are *some* virtues to that approach-- I certainly don't want the Desire material to be orphaned, like the poor John Wesley Harding sessions), but separate sets are what my heart really wants. I suspect it's the only way to do full justice to any of the material. It's nice to know that, at least at one point, there was a plan in place to make that a reality.

Based on the public evidence to date, I still think (fear) the combined set is the most likely possibility. But the drips and drabs of information we've heard can't be considered conclusive at this point.

 

I understand why you would want separate sets. And I think in my ideal world, it would be done that way. However, I will add this: before the Cutting Edge set, there was nothing I wanted more than the complete Blonde On Blonde sessions. When the big Blue Box was announced, I was thrilled, but I expected the BIABH and H61 stuff to dilute the proceedings. Instead, they are possibly the best part of the set (among the numerous highlights from the Blonde On Blonde sessions, of course!) If you told me that the complete BOTT and Desire sessions combined would fit on ~18 discs, I'd say put it all together in one box. As much as BOTT stands on its own, I don't think Desire would be out of place packaged alongside it. Planet Waves, on the other hand, would be out of place, in my view.

It's not so much about BOTT itself, but the fact that BOTT was still so relevant and integral in Dylan when he started the Rolling Thunder Revue, which Desire is a key component of. So in that way, the two albums are threaded together.

 

At very least it would make the time on the side shorter for better fidelity.
Joey is not a favorite of mine either.

 

I know what you're saying and I could easily agree, but there was a copyright protection imperative with BS12 of course; it all needed to be released lickityspit. And the so-called Electric Trilogy kind of fit together for me; I don't see the same kinship in "Planet Waves", "Blood on the Tracks" and "Desire". Links, certainly, but not kinship.

We do know from Krogsgaard that there were approximately 85 separate takes (complete, false starts, fragments etc) recorded during the 24 hours of "Blood on the Tracks" sessions in NYC. The recording sheets were not available to him for the 11 hours of Minneapolis sessions.

However, the number of CDs doesn't necessarily determine the size of the box. If I get my wish (which obviously I won't) much of the bulk will be books containing facsimiles of the notebooks, studio paperwork and such like. Not forgetting the test pressing vinyl replica. So, a 13"x 13" x 4" blood-red box with 10 CDs or so should just about do it for BOTT...!!



"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" rehearsal. Drawing by drummer Bill Berg

#

 

Guess it all depends what's there regarding how they'll go about putting it out. An official, remastered New York version of BOTT sounds like a must.
Out of interest, and I accept this may already have been covered, but other than the three officially released songs we already have (correct me if it's more) are there any further outtakes from the Desire sessions yet to come to light?

 

Yes.

 

Do we know what they are? Any rumours, tit-bits etc.

 

when do y'all think we're getting this?

 

09 November

 

Am I allowed to like this post 10,000 times?

How Sony can NOT release everything from the few BOTT sessions is beyond me, especially after Big Blue. BOTT is at least as important to Dylan's career/reputation/canon as the mid-60s albums and it's an album I play far more often than the older trio. Anything less than "every note of every take in every studio; every click and clatter of the jacket buttons, all the banter and every cough" will be a huge mistake. I presume I will like whatever comes out but if it is not the complete sessions, I'll also be horribly sad at the missed opportunity.

 

i can't see any other way of dealing with the BOTT era without unleashing everything, button clatter and all. the mixed-up trouble no more was a bit of a misstep after a period of doing everything exactly right content-wise (BT, big blue, '66); studio and live should IMO be kept separate (unless it's a one-off like isle of wight, which was a most welcome addition!)

what worries me more is how rolling thunder will turn out. i'm still enjoying and cherishing the 1966 box, and approaching the revue in any other way would be slightly disappointing. however, if we are to trust les kokay's word that "dylan's crew taped all shows" of both RTR legs we're looking at a release that would rival the dead's 30 trips set, should all tapes have survived... perhaps a "standard" box of a few handpicked gigs and a limited edition USB of the entire tour would be a good compromise?

one more thing: i wonder how the dylan camp feels about (potentially) releasing all this blood and thunder. i'm hoping it won't be dejection and confusion over blowing the last "major" load of popular imagination material, but rather a sense of freedom that with the oft-requested blood on the tracks finally out of the way they're free to do whatever they want

 

Hoping for at least a couple complete RTR shows with the other acts included. As a Joni fan, the RTR gigs are significant--she often played brand new tunes saying "I just wrote this one yesterday"! Also open to any video footage we can get!

 

I’m hoping for a 6 disc (or more) of blood outakes and a separate box similar to the 1966 live box for Rolling Thunder. Big and cheap!

 

I'm all in for studio BOTT. There is no way I would spend more than about $200 for a Rolling Thunder set. I can't imagine a complete set would come in anywhere near or below that price. The 66 box is great to have, but a bit of overkill for me. Rolling Thunder could be well represented by 2-3 good sounding shows from each leg plus a few discs of rarities from the tour. A complete show with all acts would be great, but I don't see that happening. So would Renaldo and Clara and the two filmed performances.

 

I agree with you completely.

L.

 

And there is indeed still so much to explore. I have to think that at this point, they've been putting off releasing a BOTT edition for so long (from rumors of a BOTT deluxe edition quite a few years back, to the backpedaled announcement of Vol 11 being BOTT), that they probably want to release it and be done with it, so they can move on.

 

I'd like big and cheap for both!
But I want everything from the BOTT sessions.

 

Here's what they definitely should do. First make bobdylan.com into the Bob Dylan archives, then every day starting with the anniversary of the first Rolling Thunder show, stream a live HD feed of the show starting at the same time it would have started back in the day. Then do this every day of the tour. Every show is $40 to stream and Bob Dylan can give me a measly 5% cut for giving him the idea.