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

As of now Dylan's people see it as part of the Bootleg Series (based on "the source's" interviews with rollingstone.com in 2018 and 2019).

 

I think realistically, this will actually be released, the first two with almost certainty:

1. An Infidels box
2. A Time Out Of Mind Box
3. A Supper Club 4cd set
4. A Bromberg Sessions set (might be part of 5, below)
5. A Rundown focussed 1977-1982 box set with maybe some live 1978 thrown in.
6. Possibly a 1980s to 1990s set rounding up stuff, studio & live (might include 4, above)

I think that’s probably it for the Bootleg Series.

I can imagine more ‘Bob Dylan Archives’ related issues that are more fan-directed like the 1966 and 1975 boxes, especially for live stuff. Note that there hasn’t been a fully ‘live’ Bootleg Series release since 2004 and only two releases that feature a full concert recording.
I can’t see that changing apart from possibly with the supper club, but even then that might be an unbranded release.

 

at this point, a supper club set will make travelling thru look like the cutting edge

 

If they were to release a set covering Oh Mercy through to World Gone Wrong then maybe they could include Supper Club as part of that, rather than as an individual set.

 

Funny.

If the Supper Club tapes were officially released Dylan ticket sales and
album sales would come to halt. His bankability would stop.

The best thing they could do with the Supper Club tapes is burn them.
Put them in the microwave on high until they catch fire.
Then put the ashes in a hole in the ground and fill it with salt and lye.

 

I'd welcome all of those with varying degrees of interest. I'd hope that Shot Of Love could get another pass. Maybe add that into the Rundown set.

But you don't think the Village set is likely? Or do you just not think that it will be under the Bootleg Series header...?

 

I just think they’ve saturated the ‘60s sets. Might it be the final one, to round the series out full circle?

As I’ve said before, I think the ‘Bootleg Series’ has a limited time to run now, probably 5 years or so.

I think we’ll see more “Bob Dylan Archives” releases though as a successor. Minimal packaging, multi-disc sets, especially as public access to the actual recorded archives in Tulsa becomes more available or as knowledge of what’s there becomes more widespread.

 

Personally, I’m in for any pre-66 Dylan. I imagine many others feel the same. It’s the motherlode.

 

This is a great roundup. Thank you. I didn't know there was a better version of "Under the Red Sky," etc. -- not that the Dylan camp is likely to ever get to that, but I'd sure like to hear it.

 

Crikey, is there anything that you wouldn't want released? It would appear that it might be easier to list those items instead as it must be a very short list?

 

No, they have not saturated the ‘60s sets. Dylan was a 1960s artist, the most
important, innovative and influential artist of that decade, so no "saturation"
is possible. It is right and natural to release every aspect of his 1960s music
in comprehensive box-sets. It's necessary to do so with all due speed.

They need to stop wasting time on vanity and whimsical projects and get down
to what's really important. To release the 1960s sessions, hometapes, radio and
TV appearance, and concerts is the best service they can do for Bob Dylan and
popular culture.

The audience and fan base is waiting even if they are not busy on social media.

 

I have perfect quality boots of NY Town Hall, complete Gaslight, and Carnegie Hall, Finjan Club and I have the 50th A. Set of 1964, not to mention Freewheelin' outtakes etc. With the plethora of official releases already, I don't feel as though I'm missing much from the 60s.

 

There is a solid fanbase for his post 63 material as well. Dylan kept on reinventing himself until the early 21st century.
If they do a 60s box it has te be complete. There are lots of grey market cds available, even 10 cd boxes with concerts. An incomplete bootleg series box will not win the competition with the grey market stuff.

 

The general public and much of fanbase do not have unofficial bootlegs. The
largest portion of the public buys official releases. Official releases is all they
know. The value of and demand for a piece music is not to be determined by
a small minority of unauthorized bootleg collectors. Those of us who cherish
Dylan's early 1960s music may not make the loudest noise on social media
but we are numerous enough to make comprehensive box-sets profitable.

Like it or not, the basic and essential foundation of Dylan's legend and
success is in the 1960s, starting with the folk period. The folk period is
respected and honored everywhere, but it has not been adequately covered
in official releases. There needs to be a Minnesota box apart from a NYC
box, in addition to comprehensive box-sets devoted to sessions from the
first four albums that changed the world. It is preposterous to say that no
body is interested in this period or that it's been covered. It's been cherry
picked, certainly, but not covered.

I know, but the early 1960s period has not been adequately covered by official
releases. A lot of tapes in Dylan team's possession will upgrade and surpass
the unofficial copies, and in the process, rest assured, raise the impression
people have of these performances. Nothing causes a revelation quite like good
sound quality. I agree the official bootlegs need to be comprehensive and
properly essayed and annotated.

 

That’s the stuff which needs to be properly reissued

 

Agreed. It all needs to be put out. I don't care how they do it, but everything from 61 to 65 needs to be released. If it takes a combination of archival projects and bootleg releases then so be it.

 

The amount of Dylan superfans that wouldn't buy a Bootleg Series covering this material because they already "have it" in the form of bootlegs is minuscule and immaterial to Sony's profit margins. For the rest of us that have some or even most of the material, the aesthetic presentation of the box set and sonic upgrades to the sound will have us buying this material legitimately in solid numbers. And then there's the vast majority that hasn't even heard a whit of this material.

 

Have to disagree here Richard!

There are some nice moments, such as Weepin’ Willow. “Aw shucks!”

Tho’ I admit some of the Supper Club takes are more shambolic than usual.

—David

 

The voice. Tell us about the voice in those four shows, David.

 

I do not agree with you on this one. These grey releases appear high if you search Dylan on amazon and don't look that different than the bootleg series. An ignorant buyer will confuse them with an official release.

 

Also there is a kind of "to live outside the law you must be honest" angle to this. I'm not expecting, for example, a massive upgrade to the sound quality of the boots when, say, the complete 1963 Town Hall or Carnegie Hall concerts are officially released, but I'll be first in line to hand my money over to TeamBob; it's the least I owe them. My philosophy is if I bought the boot I should buy the official release.

 

I feel the same way, though at a certain point I ceased handing my money over to the bootleggers altogether.

 

I'm from the generation that had all the bootlegs available free and easy. I've only ever bought one... and a year later the material was officially released anyway!

 

Oops wrong thread.

 

Weeping Willow Is OK, the rest of the Supper Club recordings should stay in the vaults.