For the '74s maybe they could just release needledrops of the "White Bear" bootlegs ... as soon as Paul Cable finds them.
You know there's a new Bootleg Series coming soon ... when the speculation thread for the NEXT Bootleg Series appears! Here are the possible future BS releases, as discussed with Rolling Stone by a source in Dylan's camp (taken from another BS thread): BLOOD ON THE TRACKS: "Sets for Blood on the Tracks and Blonde on Blonde will eventually come out." (July 2013) "We don't know exactly what the next Bootleg Series is going to be," says a source close to the Dylan camp. "There's a couple of things on our minds, but the natural next one is Blood on the Tracks." (January 2014) "We're thinking we'll revisit the 1975 era and Blood on the Tracks," says the source. "The unheard stuff from there is crazy. You can hear the first day of recordings before they put all that echo on. It's amazing." (August 2014) BLONDE ON BLONDE: A giant box set of the complete Blonde on Blonde sessions is also being considered. "When Bob recorded he did it like a jazz guy, where all the versions of the songs are very different from each other," says the source. "I’d love to release a set where you hear the whole takes and everything else. That would just for the super-fans." (August 2010) "When fans hear the Blonde on Blonde set, they'll realize that the real hero of the sessions was pianist Paul Griffin." (July 2013) SUPPER CLUB: A CD/DVD set of Dylan's famous 1993 stand at New York's Supper Club was nearly released (in 2010) instead of the Witmark Demos. "I decided I liked the story of the Witmark Demos better than the Supper Club," says the source. "That will definitely come out on CD and DVD sometime soon, though." (August 2010) ROLLING THUNDER: We asked our source about the documentary of Dylan's 1975/76 Rolling Thunder Revue, which has been in development for years. "We’re still working on it," says the source. "I hope it comes out in the next couple of years." (August 2010) Another project that's been in the works for years is a documentary about The Rolling Thunder Revue … "We're going to keep mum on that for the time being," says the source. "We have no clue when it's going to come out. Maybe this year, but we're just hoping it happens sometime in our lifetimes." (January 2014) BOOTLEG SERIES DVDs: After [a Rolling Thunder documentary] does finally come out, the Dylan camp plans on releasing a series of Bootleg Series DVDs. "We'll put out the [1976] Hard Rain TV special," the source says. "We have other TV special we'll put out after that." [NOTE: I assume they meant "specials" (plural) rather than "special."] (August 2010) BORN-AGAIN YEARS: "The only issue is that we fear nobody will be interested. It's not a period people are clamoring for, so it's kind of a square peg for a round hole. That said, exploring the born again period would be very interesting. He played a lot of songs live that weren't recorded and a deluxe box would be fun to do. It's a period that been much-maligned, but with the benefit of hindsight it's clear that Bob was doing some great things." (January 2014) As for what I'd like to see in the future, there's plenty still left before the bottom of the barrel is reached. In no particular order: -- Tell Tale Signs Part 2: The 1970s (encompassing 1974-1976; NYC acetate of BOTT as box-only bonus CD) -- Tell Tale Signs Part 3: The Gospel Years (including at least one live show, like San Francisco 1979 or Toronto 1980) -- Tell Tale Signs Part 4: The 1980s (covering 1983-1988 and 1990-1992 -- plumbing the depths of the Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded, and Down In The Groove sessions; Infidels serving as anchor for the terrified) -- Tell Tale Signs Part 5: The 1990s (covering the stuff mostly skipped over so far -- Under The Red Sky sessions; the 2 acoustic covers albums; and the Bromberg Sessions) -- Complete Supper Club (DVD and CDs) -- Cohesive "Live 1963" set using Town Hall and Carnegie shows -- COMPLETE! -- Rolling Thunder 1976 (DVD and CDs) -- Blonde On Blonde Sessions
I'll take a stab that they meant "We have the other TV special", meaning the scrapped first version of the '76 TV show taped in Clearwater.
I disagree. Toronto '80 is incandescent. If someone can find me a better version of "Solid Rock", I'll be your friend forever.
Archives like this are a victim of the collapse of physical media. There's just not as much opportunity to monetize material like this to make it worth the while to work them into shape. It sucks.
If this was done right it would be a revelation for lots of fans. I think a live show would have to be included (Toronto? another sbd?) because that's the way to get into that material. I was never that keen on that era until one of those performances, maybe Warfield 79, just an amazing performance with a killer solo "When He Returns." That whole era needs to recognized as one of his creative peaks. As someone else said ASP taught us that there's still a lot left in the vaults and for me that 78-83 era is the most intriguing. Are there other versions of "Let's Keep It Between Us," "Ain't Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody," etc? Home piano recordings with Clydie King? Rundown studio stuff that hasn't been booted? Those Shot Of Love demos are great - "High Away," "Almost," "Hallelujah" - lots of songs around that time that were completely abandoned. What else haven't we heard? Quite a bit, I'd suspect with how prolific he was during this period.
Yeah it's too bad Bob Dylan didn't have any obsessive fans prior to the collapse of physical media, when the record company could have made some real money on these projects! They snoozed and we all loozed. Seriously I suspect they're going to ramp up the Bootleg Series to once a year to milk the cow while they can.
I have that, too. When I first heard it in 1991 (or was it 92? I was such a young Bob fan back then), I thought it was a stretched tape as well. To me, it fit the "bootleg" ethos perfectly, so it didn't bother me. In fact, a clean version, if one exists, will probably always sound odd to me.
I agree the Budokan album doesn't do 1978 justice. That was recorded at the beginning of the whole concept. The show was very different by the end of the year. Something like Blackbushe would be an amazing document of that year, that band.
Whereas I heard many years ago that Bob expressly does NOT record his shows, except on special occasions. Total hearsay, but that's what I heard someone say.
See, I don't think there is a "bottom of the barrel". I think there's an almost unlimited amount of material Sony could go to once the Bootleg Series as we know it reaches its natural end with themed sets built around Bob's recorded output. In fact, we've already seen the direction they could take with the scattershot release of shows like the Gaslight, Brandeis, and Carnegie Hall. Full shows that may be redundant with already released Bootleg Series editions will still be highly coveted by enough Bob fans to make it worth doing, I think. To go further, I think they could be doing this now. The releases don't have to be blockbuster marketing events. None of the three releases I already mentioned were. The last one we saw of those, Brandeis, initially came out in 2010 as an Amazon exclusive bonus for buying Bootleg Series: The Witmark Demos, then released separately a year later. I don't know why they haven't followed up on those. Time's a wasting. Money's waiting to be spent.
Yes, and I wouldn't mind if they included previously released outtakes from BS1-3 on their new sets, to have cohesive mixes and mastering available. It would be such a shame if a Bootleg Series covering the early 80s did not include Angelina, Blind Willie McTell, Foot of Pride and so on because they were already on BS1-3. I'd rather have the repetition and get mixes and mastering that mates all the material together into one listenable experience. Of course, they've already included a track from BS4 on BS7, tracks from BS1-3 & BS10 on BS11, so there's precedent.
So, it seems they're definitely going to release a BS for Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks, and the Supper Club - it's just a question of when they're going to release them. They also have plans to release the Rolling Thunder Revue documentary, but they're apparently still working on it. Although, once they do release it, it will open the floodgates for other DVD releases. After that, they seem unsure. They might do a Born-Again thing, but they're not confident about its appeal. Has this source ever mentioned a possible BS that's actually gone on to be released yet?
Yes, the Basement Tapes was mentioned before by the RS source, and now it's happening. Let's face it, if the source ISN'T Jeff Rosen ("I decided I liked the story of the Witmark Demos better than the Supper Club"), then it's someone very close to him and he's got full authorization to leak info to RS. (If he wasn't, there wouldn't have been a second article.)
I don't know if it's true, but I read that for a long time Dylan would record over shows to save tape --1974-1978 were all recorded but were taped over.
We need some Gospel Bob already. Seems a tough sell to many but his voice is in spectacular form throughout the 1979-1981 concerts and the overall performances are great for me. Who knows what studio material we haven't heard already since Bob was writing like a running fountain during that time. Obviously a cd/dvd of Toronto 1980 is one of the likely candidates, but I'd love for the more ferocious 1979 concert to come out as well as a 1981 concert (likely New Orleans) as I feel he'd finally balanced the new and old material.
I'd like one from each year: '79-81. And I don't want any of the shows compromised: I want the complete sets with all the introductions (read: sermons) and the lead vocals from backup singers during the set included. (In fact, I'd go so far as to include their set-openers as well, but that's just me and I think it's highly unlikely they'll do that.) Those shows had an aura about them that should be replicated from start to finish. I guess the fear is that, even 35 years later, they're still pretty hardcore. Maybe they should come with a warning label.
I agree 100%. There is no bottom of the barrel with Bob's unreleased work. After 11 volumes we have barely scratched the surface, and indications are that there could be dozens and dozens more volumes. Every single album of Bob's would yield 2, 3 or more CDs of really terrific material, to say nothing of all the live material. The mind (and wallet) boggles.
My wallet is so ready for the beating it will take in a few weeks for Vol. 11 (not to mention the massive Chuck Berry box set).
In an ideal world we definitely would get a concert from each year. The many unofficial ones I've heard are all minimally above average with most absolutely terrific. I too wish they'd keep the opening sets but do agree that that would be unlikely but it would be a great way to show even casual fans what they're missing out on by not showing any interest in this era. One doesn't have to agree with Dylan's beliefs to enjoy the greatness of these concerts. But hey, let's not forget the studio material as well. Who knows what stuff's just waiting for my greedy, Dylan-obsessed ears.
