BOB DYLAN 50th Anniversary Collection 1969

True.

"Running" is good fun and great to have after all the years of speculation, and some of the Cash stuff is entertaining in its own way, but that opening sequence of "To Be Alone With You" takes is quite remarkable. The brief rehearsal is extraordinary - for a moment I thought I was listening to an "Outlaw Blues" outtake from Big Blue. Someone with better recollection said to me: "Jet Pilot" and who am I to disagree?

If anyone who has it but is not really bothered about owning the set, I'm here waiting for your call and will pay a fair price....

 

I am interested to hear from folks who have this new set, as I am curious how many songs/versions from it really should have been included* in the BS set.

_________
*Now I know that really all of it should have been included, but how many tracks do you feel absolutely should have been included?

 

Guess Things Happen That Way - A comparison

As I have written somewhere above, I tried to compare these tracks from 3 different sources (and I did it again today):

A: Travelin' Thru - Disc 2, Track 16
B: 50th AC - Disc 2, Track 11 [No need to take tracks 9 and 10 in account]
C: The Dylan/Cash Sessions (Boot) Track 12

I listened as carful as I can to sense similarities and differences.

I think - and I'm very sure - that

a) all tracks are the same from the start to ca. sec. 44
b) B and C are the same tracks from start to end
c) A is different to B and C from ca. sec. 44 to end

This are the differences ( A vs. B and C) I base my opinion on:
- Johnny sings "You ask me if I miss her kisses" on AC (and the boot), but "Well, you ask me if I miss her kisses" an TT
- Bob kind of swallows the "me" in "Heaven help me be a man" on AC (and the boot), but does not on TT.
- Different drum pattern at the end (AC/boot vs. TT)

I hear a splice on the TT version around the sec. 44, so I think there are two takes combined.
Problem: I hear also a splice (not that clear) on the other versions. Can it be that there are 2 takes combined, too?

Meaning:
TT = Take X combined with take Y
AC/boot = Take X combined with take Z (or Take X throughout)

 

Unbelievable! Actually I guess it is believable... so they grabbed mp3 versions instead of lossless versions that circulate?

 

I don't know about the boot version, but I've just lined up the BS15 and Copyright versions side by side in an editor, and they're not the same (even the first 44 seconds).

 

Oh, good to know. Then the differences must be so marginal that I couldn't sense them by only listening. Thank you very much.

 

I suppose we should be thankful that the whole lot was not lossy like the '65 Live collection. Could've been.

 

Looking forward to reading your full analysis. This is beginning to sound like Bloodonthetracksgate from last year. I'm still not sure my notes are correct on that one - more splices than a second year trainee ballerina...

 

I never bought the idea of a “revenge album” with Dylan 73. The album was Columbia legitimately trying to cash in on the upcoming “comeback” tour. A lot of fans didn’t like the album because it doesn’t sound like Highway 61, but it does have a very commercial Nashville sound for the early 70s. I think they wanted something that would be mainstream. Also don’t forget, Nashville Skyline was Dylan’s biggest album when it came out, so they probably figured something closer to that would sell better than Freewheelin out takes.

 

Not the same, but VERY similar. This is what was throwing me off when doing comparisons initially between BS15 and the bootleg. Without the benefit of having the bootleg in better quality (and proper speed) it was difficult to detect the subtle differences and it was only thanks to a few tell tale signs (most obvious being the ending) that I identified them as being two separate versions. Comparing the take on this new Copyright set to the bootleg shows they are one in the same, and comparing it to BS 15 shows that the beginnings are very similar but of course don't perfectly (and some differences in the timing and phrasing of the vocals do become easier to spot when everything is at the right speed.)

 

I haven't been able to dig into this deeply yet, but if the available documentation is correct (2 full takes and 3 false starts), then there can't be an X, Y and Z. Of course that same documentation called "Wanted Man" a "false start", so maybe it shouldn't be relied on.

 

Well even that is hard to trust. We have:

Rehearsal
Take 1
Take 2
Take 3
Take 6.

One would assume that there are also takes 4 and 5 that we haven't heard. Take 1 is a false start or breakdown. Take 2 sounds like a complete take (a rough one, and Cash right away wants to go into another, but they did make it through the whole song). Takes 3 and 6 are good and full complete takes.

It's still the most confusing recording out of all the Cash/Dylan sessions, but I'm very confident that Take 6 is the same as the bootleg from start to finish and that take 3 is an entirely different take.

 

I assume the rehearsal is not drawn from the multi-track, but the (live mix) reference tape, so it wasn't documented on the studio log. I can't imagine they would spend time on punch-ins or inserts or anything of that nature ... especially for a track that never seemed close to being considered for release, as far as we know. Even a splice seems a bit crazy.

 

Although "Country Pie" isn't on the 50th set, I'm just coming around to realizing there are 3 versions out there but only 2 takes listed in the sessions. So yeah, documentation can be out in the weeds.

I enjoy the Cash session on a leisurely level, don't believe I'd venture into the documentation details without a stiff drink.

 

Was 65 only offered as an MP3 download to Big Blue purchasers?

 

Having checked Rain Unravelled Tales, Heylin indeed mentions “Running” and cites a track listing included in a November 3rd, 1973 “Melody Maker” article (which also included “Alligator Man,” so perhaps the author of that article consulted this same paperwork— or maybe more likely a secondhand listing drawn from it?).

So the existence of “Running” was known before even the late November release of the ‘73 LP (and as I was born in March of that year, almost my entire life!).

I’ll add there is no apostrophe in Heylin’s note about the track. So in the fullness of time he got that one right.

 

Yes.

 

This is so weird! I was definitely not following the saga too closely, but now it's crystal-clear why it was assumed "Runnin" was a cover song. (Props to the HR/Runnin' theory!)

 

Thanks for doing the research @DeeThomaz .

Well, I'll be blowed! I was buying Melody Maker religiously every week long before you were born and I have no recollection of that article. And here is that Melody Maker in question:-




The following week Bob got front page headlines:-

 

I'm loving Running, It's like a basement tape on tour

 

I guess I don't mind doing my own assembling and curating, so in the end it doesn't matter the media it is released on...but damn their method for cutting-out chatter. Why, oh why: "For sweetie.." on "One More Night (Take 1)"....I will have to either use an inferior source or do my own splice for my purposes.

Random notes + question:

-The mix on "I Threw It All Away (Take 1)" is very different between the two BS volumes (10 vs 15).
-I haven't determined how different (or dry) the mix is between BSV15 and the 50th set.
-There is a snippet of "Peggy Day" at the end of "Lay Lady (Take 3)" on the 50th.
-I'm trying to figure where to place "Western Road." Was it recorded between "Threw It All Away" and "One More Night," or was it at the end of the session after "Lay Lady?" (or unknown)

 

You can always find at least one or two people that hold any opinion in the world. So, you can say "some folks" without a problem. But then you can also say, "Some folks thought what Dylan was doing was fantastic."

 

I assume it is "Blues" from the session sheet - between the last "I Threw It All Away" and the first "One More Night".

 

Dylan fan all my life. Been working non-stop the past week. Didn’t even know about this.

I was beyond pissed off when I read this thread that this has been and gone without been given the opportunity.

I buy everything. All the big box bootleg series volumes plus the 2-disc versions for completion, the live archive boxes, even the Sinatra albums!

But now this! I’ve been so flat out at work that I’ve not even gotten to Traveling Thru’ yet.

I feel like selling my Dylan collection and calling it a day. I just wish I was given the opportunity to buy this.

What. Is. The. Point?!

 

The opportunity lasted all of 20 seconds and was apparently doled out completely randomly.