Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol.16: Springtime In New York (1980–1985) (Content & Sound Quality)

Is there a website that has a track by track of the musicians
I want to copy them into iTunes

 

It's also possible that there is an implicit "he". Jokerman [he] dance to the nightingale tune. The tense matches the next phrase too "bird fly high by the light of the moon." The bird might be the nightingale!

Or there could be an implicit "I". Jokerman, [ I ] dance ... bird, [ I ] fly ...

Another possibility is that the tense is varied because it sounds better than "dances" or "dancing".

Dylan has said (though he may be joking) that the song is related to Caribbean jumbees. I wonder if "Jokerman dance" and "bird fly" is a touch of Caribbean English?

It doesn't feel to me like an instruction such as "cast your bread on the waters".

Tim

 

Was Heylin's not lavish enough for you?

 

The page on Dylan's official site:-

Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (1980-1985) | The Official Bob Dylan Site

 

This harks back to Dylan's previous use of Tarot imagery, particularly on Street Legal. The Fool (which became the Joker in the modern card deck) is often pictured with a small dog at his feet:

 

That's it. It's about price. No reason the box couldn't have been 40% less expensive based on the quantity of content. Also less lavish packaging. I'd be fine with that. These these are a big pain in the butt to store, and personally I haven't even had time to so much as open the book and glance at it. I could be perfectly happy paying a lot less for a much less lavish box and binding.

 

That's interesting. Maybe it does -- though in the master the Jokerman is half asleep beneath the stars with the small dog licking his face. But the Jokerman does seem to be a fool, especially in that verse -- drunkenly standing in traffic trying direct it. Dylan seemed to have dropped the kind of heretical tarot stuff like a rock when he got religion and Jokerman is such a heavily biblical song, but the Jokerman is a jokerman.

 

They wouldn’t be happy getting 40% less money.I agree with everything you are saying but a lot of artists and labels are really pushing prices of archival releases up to see what the market will bear.I fear there is further to go.

 

Well, right, which is why a lot of people feel a chagrined by that element of the release.

 

DISC 3
Blind Willie McTell, Infidels outtake – April 11, 1983
Bob Dylan – vocals, piano, and harmonica
Mark Knopfler – guitar
Alan Clark – keyboards
Robbie Shakespeare – bass
Sly Dunbar – drums

- No Mick Taylor ??

 

It's traditional that Bootleg Series liner notes are incorrect. It keeps us on our toes.

 

Second time through the 5 discs . . . .

I am struck with how poignant and dare I say topical the words to "Clean Cut Kid" are.

And honestly Bob should record and release a similarly arranged "Lord Protect My Child"--I think it would be a surprising success. And don't laugh--I think Blake Shelton should record and release a sincere version as a single--I think it would be a shocker.

 

Is it a mistake, though? Or does Mick Taylor not play on take 5?

Here is the back cover of the “Blind Willie McTell” 7” single, which lists Taylor as present on take 1, but lists Knopfler as the sole guitarist on take 5:

 

Which one? I gave up reading Heylin after he declared Modern Times superior to L&T.

 

I think it’s a mistake - I can’t hear Knopfler.

 

What struck me about 'Clean Cut Kid' was that any box set that finds room for two versions of that song, is in real trouble.

 

I'm sure it's Taylor on both Take 1 and Take 5 - his slide guitar style is unmistakeable. I can't hear Knopfler on either take.

True enough, though in this particular case the BS16 liner notes get it right by crediting Taylor for guitar on Take 5, not Knopfler. It's just the single that has it wrong.

 

Mick is definitely on Take 5.

 

I haven’t seen it. Thanks for the tip.

 

Thanks for that, Roger. I was kind of playing devil’s advocate there. I’m sitting here with the 5CD, the 2LP, and the 4LP sets all within spitting distance, but it’s been a hell of a day and I just couldn’t be bothered going through the booklets, or listening to the tracks again, to double-check. Not when Richard Osman’s House of Games is on.

 

The book is called "Judas" and only has a few errors.

Was it Modern Times or Time Out Of Mind he was talking about?

 

This is from memory but it was MT. I don’t know if he was particularly keen on TOOM either. I just read a review of Judas that notes a mention of what Bob had to eat on a specific date in Australia and wonder if it’s a similar case of facts over substance that I’m familiar with.

 

And the website.

 

I don't recall that passage in the book. Although, when asked in Australia what his songs were about, he did say "Clocks and watermelons."

 

Yes, and parrots - we know this already.