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

+complete Dylan/Dead rehearsals

 

Truly amazing indeed.

 

Don't forget the Buffalo show from the same leg, that was also filmed and may be even better than Toronto. Sadly, Dylan did not perform "When He Returns" in Buffalo.
Also, Howard Alk filmed a lot of stuff in 1981 for some project that was abandoned when Alk died.

 

You could make a fabulous Never Ending Tour box with complete concerts from 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000 and more.

Tim

 

Here's my list of recommended "Never-Ending Tour" shows:

- Berkeley 1988
- Chapel Hill 1988
- Jones Beach, Wantagh/Long Island 1988 (both shows)
- Brussels 1989
- Las Cruces 1989
- New York City 1989 (all shows esp. October 10)
- Poughkeepsie 1989
- Toad's Place 12.01.1990
- Paris 1990 (all shows esp. January 30)
- Zürich 1991
- Glasgow 1991 (both shows)
- South American tour 1991
- Sevilla 1991 (Guitar Festival)
- Evanston 1991
- Dunkerque 1992
- Milan 1993
- Holmdel 1993
- Dresden 1994
- Prague 1995 (all shows)
- Brussels 1996
- London/England 1997
- fall 1997 US shows
- Leipzig 1998
- Dayton 1999
- Zürich 1999
- Cologne 2000
- Melbourne 2001
- Schwäbisch Gmünd 2001
- New York City 2001
- Brussels 2002
- Seattle 2002
- Berlin 2003 and the entire European Tour 2003 (Freddy Koella on guitar!)
- St. Louis 2004
- Chicago 2004
- London/England 2005 (all shows)
- Gelsenkirchen 2006
- New York City 2006
- Hamburg 2007
- Minneapolis 2008
- Kalamazoo 2008
- New York City 21.11.2008
- Rothbury 2009
- Orange Beach 2009
- Berkeley 10.10.2009
- Seoul 2010
- Tampa 2010
- Lyon 2010
- Beijing 2011
- Oberhausen 2011
- London/England 19.11.2011
- Calgary 2012
- New York City 2012
- Brussels 2013
- Mainz 2015
- Berlin 2015 (Oct. 14)
- Los Angeles 2016
- Frankfurt 2017

 

So many great shows. I'd add Brixton 1995, at least the 2nd two shows, as well as Philly 21 June 1995 with a rare (for the time) performance of Visions of Johanna, and something from the Feb 97 performances in Japan, and well, hard to know when to stop!

Tim

 

Stuttgart 1991 obviously. That gig is OUT THERE. Out of this world. Best version of Errgh Bederrrgh Lerrrgh Bob ever did and that IS saying something (as to what it is saying, i do not know, much like Bob).

 

A decent enough enough list, but it's missing some of my favorite shows, like the last night at the Hammersmith in Lindon 1990, Madison 1991 and so on. I would probably put the Zürich and Glasgow shows in 1991 in the more interesting than good category, but I can understand why they're included.
They had their moments, but I don't think there were many consistently good show shows in the 2004-2012 period. I'm glad Dylan got his **** together in 2013, with the introduktion of "The Set".

 

And Toad's Place is way overrated. A lot of unusual covers, but the performances mostly suck and the sound quality isn't particularly good.

 

Oddly, there hasn't been a proper Bootleg Series release for Live 1965, only that reprehensible Copyright download given to buyers of Big Blue. (Better than nothing, but you know...) The1965 Carnegie Hall show was missing from that and so far as I know, which isn't much frankly, there is a decent recording of it. I know there will be many who have had their fill of 1965 and 1966 over the last couple of years and would like to move on but, given the apparent success of the 1966 Live Recordings (Copyright) Box, I'd say there is still some opportunity to give 1965 the packaging it deserves. Especially now we know "Berkeley" isn't Berkeley...

 

Like "BobFest 92", Woodstock 94 was apparently shot in early HD video.

 

I hope that one-off TV broadcasts can find a home in the BS one day.

I'm talking outstanding performances such as "A Change A-Gonna Come," "Blind Willie McTell" (Scorcese Tribute), "Pancho and Lefty" (Willie Nelson Tribute), "Train of Love," (Johnny Cash), and of course "Restless Farewell" (Sinatra), amongst many others.

 

High on my wish list is studio stuff 73-78, Planet Waves through Street Legal. Problem with this is that we know BOTT is basically finished and ready to go as a separate set, so a full set for 73-78 is unlikely. I am not sure how they could make this work. A Pat Garrett/Planet Waves set (demos and outtakes 72-73) and one for Desire/SL (demos and outtakes 75-78), with BOTT getting its own release?

 

I have wondered if a 2 disc BOTT release might have Pat Garrett and Planet Waves outtakes on disc 1 with the alternative BOTT on disc 2.

Some of the other things on my wish list :

Infidels set (perhaps including some outtakes / remixes from some of the following albums).

NET compilation of covers from 1988 - 2000.

A companion box set to the 1966 tour that covers recorded performances from the start to 1965.

And I know this would repeat previously released stuff but a complete set of all outtakes between 1961 and 1964, perhaps incorporating songs that were unique to radio broadcasts and the Broadside sessions.

 

Yes, yes, and yes. I would welcome a nice big remastered box of all the early studio outtakes/alternates (still waiting for "Ramblin' Round" from 1961) and the complete Town Hall and Carnegie Hall shows, etc.

The Copyright Extension limited releases and gazillions of pirated collections covering the early '60s just don't cut it. Elvis just got another nice *early years* box -- instead of A Boy From Tupelo, maybe Dylan's could be A Boy From Hibbing?? (OK, it's young Bob the myth-maker, so "A Boy From Gallup, New Mexico.")

 

UPDATE:

"The Bootleg Series" and additional retrospective releases - overview and possible future projects

I. already released

Bootleg Series:
1991 - The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991
1998 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert (Manchester 1966)
2002 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue
2004 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall
2005 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home - The Soundtrack
2008 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006
2010 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos - 1962–1964
2013 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait 1969–1971 (including Isle Of Wight 1969)
2014 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes
2015 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966
2017 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979-1981

additional retrospective releases:
2005 - Live At The Gaslight 1962
2005 - Live At Carnegie Hall 1963
2010 - In Concert: Brandeis University 1963
2012 - The 50th Anniversary Collection 1962 (CD-R set)
2013 - The 50th Anniversary Collection 1963 (LPs)
2014 - The 50th Anniversary Collection 1964 (LPs)
2015 - The Basement Tape (original mono mix of 1968 publishing demo) (LP)
2015 - The 50th Anniversary Collection 1965 (download)
2016 - The 1966 Live Recordings (+ separate releases of London May 26 and Sydney)

films:
2005 - No Direction Home (covering 1941-1966)
2007 - The Other Side Of The Mirror - Live At The Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965
2007 - Don’t Look Back (covering UK Tour 1965)
2017 - Trouble No More (Live 1980 + bonus material)


II. possible future projects

planned for 2018 (according to "a source" speaking to "Rolling Stone" magazine):
- Rolling Thunder Review documentary
- Blood On The Tracks sessions (hopefully including the unknown and uncirculating solo version of the album as mentioned by "the source")
- Desire sessions

mentioned by "a source" (Jeff Rosen?) in several interviews with "Rolling Stone" magazine:
- pre-Columbia coffeehouse tapes
- Hard Rain and other TV specials
- 1978 tour
- Infidels sessions
- Sydney 1986 ("Hard To Handle" concerts)
- Oh Mercy sessions [note: This could include the very early "Emlah Court" demo sessions, e.g. the piano demo of God Knows.]
- Supper Club CD/DVD [note: I think the preceding electric shows in the US in Sep./Oct. 1993 were much, much better concerts: Jones Beach first night, Holmdel, Hollywood Bowl – some of Dylan’s best shows.]
- "some sort of examination of the Never Ending Tour [1988-present]"*

---

*Here are some shows that I consider the best of the best from that era:

- Berkeley 1988
- Brussels 1989
- New York City October 10, 1989
- Paris January 30, 1990
- Dunkerque 1992
- Holmdel 1993
- Dresden 1994
- Dayton 1999
- Cologne 2000
- Berlin 2003
- Kalamazoo 2008
- Tampa 2010
- Beijing 2011
- Brussels 2013
- Mainz 2015
- Frankfurt 2017

---

III. my personal suggestions

studio/demo tapes:
1977 "I'm Cold" demos (if extant – 10–12 songs were written in 1977, one song supposedly called "I'm Cold")
1978 Street Legal piano demos (if extant)
1982–1986 Infidels/Empire Burlesque/Knocked Out Loaded/Hearts Of Fire sessions
1987 Down In The Groove/"Self Portrait II" sessions
1990 Under The Red Sky (rough mix version: no "superstar" overdubs, diff. vocals/lyrics)
1992 unreleased album (recorded in Chicago, produced by David Bromberg)
2008 My Own Love Song soundtrack (18 instrumentals)

juvenilia [hopefully held by the Tulsa Archive]:
1940s "Dictaphone" recordings of young Bobby Zimmerman singing songs like "Accentuate The Positive" (recorded by Dylan’s father) [probably lost]
1956 The Jokers acetate (early Dylan band) [Bought by the Dylan organization from the estate of Larry Kegan, now probably in the Tulsa archive.]
1950s rehearsal tapes of Dylan’s early bands recorded at the garage of the Zimmerman home at 2425 Seventh Avenue East, Hibbing, MN
1958 John Bucklen tape
1959 Dick Kangas tape
1960 Karen Wallace tape (The original tape has very good sound and over twenty songs, incl. early Dylan original „One-Eyed Jacks“.) [Still owned by Karen Wallace?]

reconstruction of "lost" albums:
1963 The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (original version)
1964 In Concert (cancelled album)
1974 Blood On The Tracks (original version)
1987 Down In The Groove (original 1987 version)
[These are finished albums that at one point were due for release, but either got cancelled or were replaced by reworked versions. They could be released on vinyl, recreating the original artwork.]

in concert:
1974 A re-examination of the board tapes from New York/Seattle/Oakland/Los Angeles, mixed to better match the sound as heard in the arenas.
1976-05-16 Fort Worth
1976-05-23 Fort Collins
1978-07-15 Blackbushe (or one of the Paris shows or one of the late 1978 US shows)
1984-07-07 London [or Brussels 06/07 (incl. Tangled Up In Blue – "forbidden zone"-version), Rome 06/21, Barcelona 06/28]
1987 entire tour with the Grateful Dead (12 CDs) [Mixed to match the sound as heard in the stadiums. The circulating, unmixed soundboard tapes (most of which also run too fast) are a gross misrepresentation of the shows.]
1987 entire "Temples In Flames" tour (33 CDs)

video:
1956 The Jokers (early Dylan band) live on a talent show on KEYD-TV – Channel 9 – Minneapolis-St. Paul (broadcast live, probably not recorded) [Info comes from Howard Rutman.]
1958 The Golden Chords (early Dylan band) live on WDSM-TV – Channel 6 – Superior/Duluth (broadcast live, probably not recorded) [Info comes from Monte Edwardson.]
1958 The Satin Tones (early Dylan band) live on WDSM-TV – Channel 6 – Superior/Duluth (broadcast live, probably not recorded) [Info about this comes from Shelton. It is unclear if this might actually be The Golden Chords TV appearance.]
1959 Elston Gunn & The Rock Boppers (another of Dylan’s Hibbing era bands) live on WTCN-TV – Channel 11 – Minneapolis-St. Paul (broadcast live, probably not recorded) [Info comes from John Bucklen.]
1965–present – official promo films
1962–present – TV/Internet broadcasts
1966 Eat The Document (+ alternative D.A. Pennebaker cut)
1974 (It seems no shows were filmed professionally.)
1976 Hard Rain (Clearwater and Fort Collins versions)
1978 Renaldo And Clara (filmed in 1975) [Note: They should include a documentary that outlines how this movie was based on 1945 French movie "The Children Of Paradise“.]
1994-08-14 Saugerties, NY ("Woodstock '94")
2002-07-18 concert for the film Masked & Anonymous, Stage 6, Ray-Art Studios, Canoga Park, CA
2009 Vigilante Man (The People Speak outtake)

 

I never noticed the similarity before. Nice catch. It's not quite that exact, though. The lyric in the "Mississippi" alternate is "minutes turn to hours, hours turn to days."

 

YouTube

They've obviously remastered some of the video things yet to be reissued. Others are still stuck in VHS or LD quality. Is Supper Club actually film?

 

I also see a similarity in Caribbean Wind and Every Grain of Sand (hearing voices that may or may not be there):

CW
Atlantic City, by the cold gray sea,
I hear a voice crying "daddy", I always think it's for me,
But it's only the silence in the buttermilk hills that call

EGoS
I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there's someone there, other times it's only me

-------------------

What are the "buttermilk hills"? Is buttermilk an adjective? ... Or is it a place - the Buttermilk Hills?

 

Hoagy Carmichael wrote a song called "Old Buttermilk Sky" -- does that help?

 

Much food for thought. Thanks.

Of course , what comes next in the Bootleg Series might be something completely different.

 

I'm a bit late to this thread but it's a great one and given me loads of 'food for thought'

 

Hi, I seem to have gaps in my Dylan knowledge. Where did you learn of the Alk filming of 81 stuff, Thanks

 

Your list and your wish list is pretty comprehensive, so this may be redundant, but since I post the most current version of this list in every Bootleg Series speculation thread ... Here are the quotes I've saved from our talkative Dylan "source" over the past few years. For those who like to read the actual quotes, these are all from Rolling Stone articles (stuff already released has been deleted):

COFFEEHOUSE BOB: "We've always wanted to do one of pre-album stuff where Bob is just singing songs in Greenwich Village coffeehouses," says the Dylan source. (September 2015)

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)

"We'd also love to revisit Blood on the Tracks, Infidels, Oh Mercy and the gospel albums." (September 2015)

The only other set under major consideration is one that chronicles the 1974 Blood on the Tracks sessions. "Personally I think the gospel set is more interesting," says a source close to the Dylan camp. "Blood on the Tracks is similar to The Cutting Edge in what you're hearing is different version of the same thing. You're hearing process." (October 2016)

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." (September 2017)

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)

A documentary about Dylan's 1975/76 Rolling Thunder Revue tour is also in the works. Much footage was shot for the 1978 film Renaldo and Clara, and over the years, many of the surviving members of the tour have been interviewed. "You'll see that sooner rather than later," says the source. "I'm hoping in two years." (October 2016)

Nothing is definite, but next year could finally see the release of a long-awaited documentary about the famed Rolling Thunder Revue tour of 1975–76 that will be paired with a box set of music from the era. "It's a great period and there's so much music that was so well-recorded," says a source close to the Dylan camp. "I think that'll be a great companion piece to the film. We have incredible, incredible stuff. Hopefully it'll all come out next year." (September 2017)

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)

1978 TOUR: Dylan's 1978 world tour has also been much-maligned, largely because the Live At Budokan album captured a very early show before the band really gelled. "There was so much going on with that big band that Bob didn't always need to give off that much energy," says the source. "But they kept doing the show and it got better and better. Unfortunately, somebody erased most of the tapes. It's very frustrating. We had soundboards of all of them. We do have a couple now, though." (January 2014)

1986 TOUR: Another professionally filmed concert in the vault is a 1986 Sydney, Australia stop on Dylan's tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was broadcast on HBO and released on VHS, but it's been out of print for decades. "That's a good shows," says the source. "Though it's really 1980s Bob, with the black leather vest and whatnot. He plays 'In the Garden,' which is a very unusual song and Bob puts a lot of passion into it. Maybe we'll release that someday too." (January 2014)

INFIDELS / OH MERCY: "We'd also love to revisit Blood on the Tracks, Infidels, Oh Mercy and the gospel albums." (September 2015)

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)

[F]uture chapters of the Bootleg Series might chronicle Dylan's 1993 acoustic shows at New York's Supper Club (which were professionally filmed) and some sort of examination of the Never Ending Tour. (September 2017)

NEVER-ENDING TOUR: [F]uture chapters of the Bootleg Series might chronicle [...] some sort of examination of the Never Ending Tour. The latter is a particularly challenging project since it involves over 2,800 concerts between 1988 and the present day. Dylan's road crew has been recording shows dating back to the beginning of the Never Ending Tour, but the quality of them up until the mid-2000's is less than stellar. "Some of them are recorded on DAT or other formats of the moment," says the source. "Who knew they wouldn't last? For a lot of years during the 1990s, there were these two fans and they would go and each would wear recording equipment in their hats and they'd sit in different sections so that the stuff would be stereo. Those tapes sound better than our board tapes." (September 2017)

LIVE DOWNLOADS: In recent years, many artists have started offering their fans recordings of every single concert. Nugs.net – which facilitates this service for Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Phish, Metallica and many others – have approached Dylan's team without any luck. "We're not big believers in the live download the ways those guys are doing it," says the source. "People like it and we've thought about it for a lot of years, but we just don't know." [...] "In regards to front-of-house sound, we don't have the kind of organization that Bruce Springsteen has," says the source. "They have someone doing a separate mix and they're looking at it as a profit center. We focus our energy on what the live sound sounds like. If you get a board tape that someone hasn't done a remix of, you're always disappointed in what they sound like. They're not as electric as the shows themselves. [...]" But couldn't the Dylan organization simply hire a separate sound engineer to go on tour and create a mix for downloads? "That's not where we're at," says the source. "Again, our focus is to try and present a show in the moment to the people. And also, I don't know how many downloads we want to have out there. We're more excited about curating new stuff for people. If people really want to find that stuff, it's all over the Internet." (September 2017)

=============================

CLINTON HEYLIN'S WISHLIST:

RUNDOWN STUDIOS: "I would love to hear a really good set that covers the Rundown [studios] era from 1977 to the end of 1981 that completely bypasses religious material," he says." There's reams and reams of phenomenal covers that they were doing at rehearsals, songs you'd never expect him to do like [Michael Johnson's] 'This Night Won't Last Forever' or 'Sweet Caroline.' These are songs that you think, 'My God, is he really going to try and tackle something like that?' He even does 'Rainbow Connection.' I mean, Jesus ... And they're fantastic." (September 2017)

MID-80s DEEP DIVE: "Dylan was on a relative creative high in '84 and '85, but it's not reflected in the finished album of Empire Burlesque, which I can barely listen to," he says. "They'd have to go back to the original tapes so they could restore it to something that people can actually appreciate for an Empire Burlesque Bootleg Series. Personally speaking, I wish they'd include Knocked Out Loaded with that. I know they have a very low view of that album, but I suspect there's a bunch of very good stuff there that just simply never got counted. Then there's [1983's] Infidels. Just like in the Rundown period, he recorded something like 16 or 18 covers. He's singing great and has a great band. They could go to town with that one." (September 2017)

=============================

BOB'S INVOLVEMENT IN THE BOOTLEG SERIES: "Bob really doesn't take his time going through the vaults," says the source. "He leaves this up to his record company. His focus is on touring, making new music and writing his memoirs." (July 2005)

GENERAL PHILOSOPHY & DIRECTION OF THE BOOTLEG SERIES: "We're trying to put this stuff out in an intelligent way," says the source. (July 2013)

On whether to combine a BOTT box with the Rolling Thunder project: "It's precipitous [at the moment] because we usually like to see how it all goes together." (September 2017)

THE ROLE OF THE TULSA ARCHIVE: At some point in the future, visitors to the University of Tulsa, home to an "endless ocean" of Dylan recordings, should able to hear any recording he made throughout his entire life, both onstage and in the studio. The plan is allow visitors to access it via computer. "There will be some kind of database," says the Dylan source. "Right now, they are struggling with the enormity of what they have to deal with and how to present it." (October 2016)

CHRONICLES VOL. 2: Simon & Schuster also plans to publish Chronicles: Volume Two, but don't expect Dylan to deliver a manuscript anytime soon. "It'd be wonderful to have it in the next few years," says Rosenthal. "But we'll get it when we get it." (March 2005)

Less likely to see the light of day: a sequel to Dylan's acclaimed 2004 book Chronicles Vol. 1. "I hope there's another one," the source says. "That's all I can say. If it was planned I'd tell you." (August 2010)

A question about a possible follow-up to Bob Dylan's 2004 book, Chronicles: Volume One, elicits a laugh and two words: "No comment." (August 2014)

 

The rest of the sessions with Leon Russell that produced "Watchin' the River Flow," "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and the big-band "George Jackson." Supposedly there's a lot more.