BOB DYLAN: Outtakes, Alternates & Live Recordings, 1965-1966

So he is playing the main guitar on that song. Wow, I had always assumed it was Bob (and impressed by his playing.)

 

I hear no bass, but Dylan expert Roger Ford does, and he thinks it was Al Kooper playing guitar on the outtake (No Direction Home CD), not Mike Bloomfield:

Desolation Row
The final song of the album, this is the only track which isn't faded out; yet still the ending of the mono and stereo mixes are different. If you listen closely to the very end of the mono version you can hear Dylan give a laugh, presumably in relief at having got through the take. This is much harder to hear in the stereo mix, even with the volume turned all the way up.
On the new hybrid SACD the clarity of this track is astonishing, and Charlie McCoy's steel-string guitar sounds remarkably solid, particularly on the SACD layer; but you have to put up with very obvious tape hiss at the start.

This released version of the song, according to Michael Krogsgaard's research, is a spliced composite of two separate takes, but despite much close listening I can’t hear the join.
The rough mix tape contains an earlier take of the song, recorded with different musicians. The released version has the aforementioned acoustic second guitar played by Charlie McCoy and a stand-up bass probably played by Russ Savakus. The out-take, recorded a day or two earlier, has Harvey Goldstein/Brooks on electric bass guitar and Al Kooper playing electric lead guitar (don't forget that when Kooper turned up at the "Like A Rolling Stone" session he came as a guitar player, even though he left as an organist).

Given this different instrumentation you would expect the out-take to have a different feel to it, but in addition it is played a tone lower, and a lot slower - so much so that despite having no harmonica verses it is nearly 40 seconds longer than the released version. The result is a very, very dark version of the song, made even more stark by its celebrated lyric variation: "They are spoon-feeding Casanova / The boiled guts of birds". This version appears to be a composite too: at the beginning of the seventh verse (“Across the street they’ve nailed the curtains”) the sound changes noticeably, with Dylan’s acoustic guitar much more prominent and the electric guitar correspondingly less so. Perhaps this flaw was one factor in Dylan’s decision to re-record the song.
http://www.rdf.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/H61.htm

 

Thanks very much. I'll update that entry:
JUN 16 1965: LIKE A ROLLING STONE...T-4 (LP VER.) INSTRUMENTAL ONLY [BLOOMFIELD BOX]

 

This is the elusive "extended version" of Positively 4th Street, with the longer fade-out at the end:

 

Are we talking about the album version? I pretty clearly hear a bass in the recording. In order of appearance, we hear Bob's acoustic strumming, then Charlie's licks, and just afterwards - and just before the 4 second mark - the bass enters.

 

Uhhhh...I just listened again on better speakers... (tinny PC speakers have to go!)

Of course there's an acoustic stand-up bass on the track. All I can say is that I haven't listened to the album cut in awhile. Shame on me.

To quickly change the subject and divert attention away from my unconscionable blunder, here's Why Should You Have To Be So Frantic:

 

Really digging this thread.

I want of do a shout out to my best Dylan buddy Doug Crichton 1948-2012, would would be eating this up with a spoon.

 

Apologies for the off-topic nature.

The Ray Charles/Ballad of Thin Man link up-thread inspired me to listen to a bit of Ray over the last day or two, and I had forgotten about this...remarkably similar to another, earlier, Dylan song (the chorus at least, hugely!).

 

As RayS reminded me, by 1965, Dylan's live "performances" included many absurdist interviews and press conferences, and I think his TV appearance on the Les Crane Show in 1965 was probably one of the earliest examples of that genre. (Was it also his last "live" television interview ever? I'm not remembering any later ones.) The audio of the interview segment is easily found on YouTube, but the two songs he performed on the show, It's All Over Now, Baby Blue and It's Alright Ma, from his forthcoming Bringing It All Back Home, have been excised from the tape. Bruce Langhorne accompanied him, and though I haven't listened to the songs in awhile, I recall that the electric guitar sounded slightly out of tune. No video or film of the show survives, as far as I know.

Here's a sample of the interview from the full transcript posted at the link below:

THE LES CRANE SHOW FEBRUARY 17, 1965
(Crane asks Dylan about a movie he's planning)
Crane: It's gonna be one of those underground pictures, right?
Dylan: No. It's gonna be all straight. On the up and up.
Crane: Yeah? Are you gonna star in it?
Dylan: Yeah, yeah, I'm a hero.
Crane: You're the hero? You play the horrible cowboy?
Dylan: I play my mother (audience laughter).
Crane: You play your mother? In the movie?
Dylan: In the movie. You gotta see the movie (audience laughter).
Crane: He's quite the put on artist, isn't he?
http://www.interferenza.com/bcs/interw/65-feb17.htm

 

I know we're skipping around a lot, but I wanted to backtrack a little and clarify some of the track information from the Bringing It All Back Home sessions. Hopefully someone can troubleshoot this list for errors or omissions. (Thanks.)

One of the items I'm a little confused about is the alternate take of She Belongs To Me (on the No Direction Home soundtrack). The CD booklet calls it "Remake Take 2" but it sounds like a warm-up for the take that appeared on the album, so shouldn't it be Take 1?.

Also: I must have overlooked the fact that Dylan supposedly recorded a different version of I'll Keep It With Mine during the mysterious "Session Two" on the evening of January 14th. I believe that John Hammond Jr. has denied that he was at this session, and John Sebastian has never fully explained his involvement, either. None of these tracks have ever surfaced, IIRC.

(from bjorner.com)
JANUARY 14, 1965, 7-10 p.m.
19. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
20. I'll Keep It With Mine
21. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
22. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
23. She Belongs To Me
24. Subterranean Homesick Blues

19-24 Bob Dylan (guitar, harmonica, vocal), John Hammond Jr. (guitar), Bruce Langhorne (guitar), John Sebastian (bass), John Boone (bass).

BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME sessions (tracks released or now in circulation)
"NDH" = No Direction Home: Bootleg Series Vol. 7 (2-CD Set 2005) / No Direction Home, Martin Scorcese film
"O.D." = overdub
"T" = Take number
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(1/13/65 Dylan solo performances only: vocal, harmonica, guitar, piano)
JAN 13 1965: I'LL KEEP IT WITH MINE.........T-01 Biograph/Side Tracks
JAN 13 1965: IT'S ALL OVER NOW BABY BLUE....T-01 NDH (85272) "1/16/65"(sic) per booklet
JAN 13 1965: SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES....T-01 Bootleg Series Vol.1-3
JAN 13 1965: OUTLAW BLUES...................T-01 iTunes download/NDH mp3 only
JAN 13 1965: FAREWELL ANGELINA..............T-01 Bootleg Series Vol.1-3
JAN 13 1965: YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT......T-01 unrel'd (85210)
JAN 13 1965: CALIFORNIA.....................T-02 N.C.I.S TV Soundtrack Vol. 2

JAN 14 1965: LOVE MINUS ZERO/NO LIMIT.......T-01 unrel'd
JAN 14 1965: LOVE MINUS ZERO/NO LIMIT.......T-02 LP VER. (w/insert)
JAN 14 1965: SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES....T-03 LP VER.
JAN 14 1965: OUTLAW BLUES...................T-03 LP VER. (w/O.D.)
JAN 14 1965: SHE BELONGS TO ME..............T-0_ NDH (85274) "remake take 2"(sic) per booklet
JAN 14 1965: SHE BELONGS TO ME..............T-02 LP VER. (85283)
JAN 14 1965: BOB DYLAN'S 115TH DREAM........T-01 + T-02 = LP VER.

JAN 15 1965: MAGGIE'S FARM..................T-01 LP VER.
JAN 15 1965: ON THE ROAD AGAIN..............T-12 LP VER. per Heylin: "Take 13"
JAN 15 1965: IT'S ALRIGHT, MA...............T-02 LP VER.
JAN 15 1965: GATES OF EDEN..................T-01 LP VER.
JAN 15 1965: MR. TAMBOURINE MAN.............T-06 LP VER.
JAN 15 1965: IT'S ALL OVER NOW BABY BLUE....T-01 LP VER. (85290)
JAN 15 1965: IF YOU GOTTA GO, GO NOW........T-01/02/03/04 (+ O.D.s 5/21/65)
JAN 15 1965: IF YOU GOTTA GO, GO NOW........T-01/02/03/04 (+ O.D.s 5/21/65)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MAY 12 1965: IF YOU GOTTA GO, GO NOW........"MIAMI SALES MESSAGE" (London) unrel'd
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MAY 21 1965: IF YOU GOTTA GO, GO NOW (1/15/65) + O.D. = Bootleg Series Vol.1-3
MAY 21 1965: IF YOU GOTTA GO, GO NOW (1/15/65) + O.D. = SINGLE (1967)
-----------------------------------------------------------------

YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT

 

It just occurred to me that the master tape of the solo She's Your Lover Now almost certainly DOES exist, since Sean Wilentz described it in detail in Mystic Nights:
"...A strong, nearly complete version ensues, but Dylan flubs the last verse. “I can’t hear the song anymore,” he finally confesses. He wants the song back, so he plays it alone, slowly, on his tack piano, and nails every verse. He reacts to his own performance with a little “huh” that could have been registering puzzlement or rediscovery..."

If there is, in fact, a 50th anniversary edition of Blonde in 2016 (B.O.B.B. = Blonde on Blonde Box?) and it doesn't contain that pristine quality solo version, I won't buy it.

Yes, I will.

 

One of Dylan's favorite poets: W. C. Fields

 

I don't think this has been posted yet.


From: Marc Roberty – Eric Clapton - The Complete Recording Sessions 1963-1992

Bob Dylan 1965-05-12 Levy's Recording Studio, London
Informal jam session, Bob Dylan with John Mayall’s Blues Breakers

Tom Wilson – Producer

Bob Dylan – Piano/vocals
John Mayall – Hammond B3 organ
Eric Clapton – Guitar
John McVie – Bass guitar
Hughie Flint – Drums

By all accounts the session was a shambles, with Dylan and producer Tom Wilson getting drunk and leaving early. It is possible that various instrumental jams were recorded.

Eric Clapton: It was just a jam session. He was interested in John Mayall. John had recorded a song called “Life Is Like A Slow Train Going Up A Hill” (the song is actually called “Crawling Up A Hill” Note: 1964: "Crawling Up The Hill / Mr. James" (Decca F11900)) and that interested Bob. Bob came in, looked for John Mayall. I was just the guitar player on the session. He had a friend called Bobby Neuwirth who was a fantastic player. Bobby Neuwirth was his kind of court jester at the time. Bobby Neuwirth kept coming up to me and saying, “your playing too much blues, man. He needs more country!” I didn’t actually speak to Bob at this time. He never came and actually spoke. I just watched him. We played for two hours. Tom Wilson was behind the desk. The next thing I knew, he was gone. We did a lot of songs which he… was making up. He was sitting at the piano and we just joined in.


What has come out so far:
Bob Dylan 1965-05-12 Levy's Recording Studio, London
Miami Sales Convention Speech #1, #2
If You Gotta Go, Go Now (drums Hugh Flint)

 

Thanks so much. I posted the circulating recording in #46, but neglected to add all that wonderful context. Dylan certainly was interested in Mayall during that period.

 

Yea and that Slow Train.

 

Folks, please take note that John Sebastion on bass on these sessions is the same JB who led The Lovin Spoonful.

Back on the Blonde On Blonde thread, I listed a song that Dylan may have been influenced by , written and recorded by the Spoonful - at the least - it's safe to assume they were both influenced by similar artists in their formative years which helped forge their sixties output.


Here's an inserting part of an article written on John , on those days:

"The band was taking a break, and John Sebastian was in a phone booth outside the rehearsal hall. Phone booth: That signals long ago, 1965 for our purposes. Sebastian had played bass on Bob Dylan's first electric album, Bringing It All Back Home, and now Dylan was on the other end of the line, putting together a band for the tour.

"I told him, 'Bob I really am not going to be able to do this thing,' " Sebastian recalls. "I'm committed to these guys, and we've accidentally written a few good tunes."

Whether an accident, or a fortuitous merging of influences, those guys did indeed write a few good tunes. "Do You Believe in Magic," "Summer in the City," "Daydream," "Nashville Cats," "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" With all that — The Lovin' Spoonful was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.

 

Cool story. John did play on some of the Dylan sessions in January 1965, but I don't believe any of those tracks wound up on the LP.

Either way, the Lovin' Spoonful probably sold a lot more records than Bob Dylan did back then, with all of those great radio classics.

 

Here's what John said about those sessions and the start of Bob's touring days:
But first - a question - I've seen it stated that Sebastion got a harmonica credit for the old Dylan track I'm Not There -any info on that???

Now the quote:

While I had Sebastian on the line, I couldn’t help but ask a couple of question about playing with Bob Dylan in the early-to-mid 1960s. However, he told me, “ I don’t know all that much about Dylan, had very limited access over the years, and don’t want to the portrayed as someone who is going to tell you about Dylan.” As it happens, he doesn’t really remember the specifics of the January, 1965, “Bringing It All Back Home” session on, anyway. When I told him I’d emphasize that, he laughed and said, “That’s a better lead story: ‘Sebastian doesn’t remember!’”

This, however, is what he did share with me:

“You know, to this day, (Lovin’ Spoonful bassist) Steve Boone and I puzzle over who might have been on that album. Because Dylanology is a real thing, people actually do ponder this (stuff)! The fact is, at that point, before that extreme high visibility, Bob and I were friends, back in the Gerde’s Folk City days, and I think he kind of invited me to those sessions, to explore how I might do. And, in fact, he did later ask me if I wanted to come along on some adventure or another and play bass. It was before the excitement of The Band, and all of that. But it was a thing that became a kind of a subject of discussion and dispute among Dylanologists, and Steve Boone and I, who were both at that session, find ourselves totally puzzled as to whether which, or the other, or any of us were on the particular sides that are disputed or described.

“The way that it went down on that session was ... Bob said, 'Oh, here’s this, why don’t you play bass?' Fine, I play bass. Then we do a cut, then Boone walks in, and I immediately tell Bob, ‘Wait! Now we have a real bass player! So why don’t you let Steve play it?’ So, I believe Steve played one time through. And then we’re all standing around, then Harvey Brooks, a prominent session guy, shows up, and both Steve and I go, ‘Jeez, now you’ve got like a triple session guy! We’re not going to stand in your way!’ I believe Harvey, who I frequently played with in later days, did a few takes.

“So I really don’t know, and that’s from the bottom of my heart. It has been questioned a lot of different times.”

I also mentioned that I interviewed photographer-musician John Byrne Cooke, and he spoke about a New England road trip they all took in the spring of 1964.

“We did have a week or so where I had the opportunity to see him play in his really exciting, first burst onto the scene, mostly colleges, and he brought me to tears every night that I saw it. I saw it every night, and the same thing happened. So that was a perfect moment. I thank him for that.”

 

It's possible that the circulating alternate take of Love Minus Zero/No Limit (link below -- it won't embed properly here) could have come from the Jan. 13th "evening" session with Sebastian and Boone, since it sounds very tentative and rough. Apparently, electric guitarist Bruce Langhorne was still learning the chord changes for the song. The alternate is usually dated to the following day's sessions, but who really knows? (Now paging subtr and /or hollowhorn)

Love Minus Zero/No Limit (01-13-1965, BIABH Sessions ..
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xneaNKGqTm8

 

You're talking about the studio Desolation Row, correct? I clearly hear a bass line in the left speaker. Dylan strums in the center and the lead is in the right speaker. This is true of the both the version on H61 as well as the outtake.

Edit: I see you've hashed this out already. Sorry.

 

I have this listed as 13th, so I would say that is acceptable.

I have this in a file:

Bringing It All Back Home Sessions.

The sessions from the 14th and 15th only produced takes for the album, so no tracks are included from them.


From 13 January 1965

1. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
2. I'll Keep It With Mine
3. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
4. She Belongs To Me
5. Subterranean Homesick Blues
6. Farewell Angelina
7. You Don't Have To Do That
8. Outlaw Blues (California)
9. Outlaw Blues (mp3 download)

Unidentified 1965 date or possibly 15–16 February 1966 while Dylan was writing Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, the band played this as an instrumental without him present.

10. I'll Keep It With Mine (instrumental)


If You Gotta Go, Go Now versions are covered earlier in the Those Elusive Singles Compilation.


I will certainly see what our conclusions are over my track 10, so I can put it elsewhere if that's wrong. Hopefully you'll give a full overview of what's what by the end of this thread!?

 

Read on thru the thread...I already fessed up to my sins on that. My street cred took quite a beating, and I'd like to forget the whole thing. Thanks for rubbing more salt in my wounds....

 

Yeah, I edited my post. No worries, man; your cred remains high. I'd say for sure the outtake features a double bass; I'm not so sure about the version on H61.

 

I'm sure the released take does, too. The actual bass frequencies come through a little better from the DCC version. Not sure if there's an MFSL version of this (I think there is on vinyl, but SACD, not so sure). That could be more revealing?