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

I agree that Fragments is a much better use of the mediums. The 10 LP box is evidence that a full 5CD set can be released on vinyl without being cumbersome - it's possibly my favourite Bootleg Series volume on vinyl. That was maybe dictated by the length of the original album and with BS16, there were three much shorter albums represented. There is some wonderful stuff on BS16 but choosing to cover a 5 year period with EASILY enough material to fill 5 discs and filling one to 44 minutes makes the set feel a bit directionless. The quality of the recordings adds to that feeling - I'm not sure the various album sessions even compliment each other very well. Some of the Infidels tracks sound brilliant but some mixes don't and arguably the best version of Blind Willie McTell isn't on it. A few contributors here have created their own versions and I've found that making a 3 disc volume of the Infidels and EB tracks (plus tracks from BS1-3 and the Third Man 7" single) and a 2 disc volume for the SOL tracks (plus tracks from BS1-3 and Trouble No More) is far more satisfying. I wonder what BS16 would have been if TNM had been sequenced differently; one studio set and one live set for example, with room for all the extant SOL outtakes in one place.

 

Super glad your are back and healthy!

Also, sick additions to the "set"

 

Exactly, yes. Good to know you're well btw.

 

You could try explaining the importance of filling discs on deluxe Bootleg Series releases and see if the chaos decreases?

 

They weren't being subservient to vinyl runtimes, as their is no vinyl of the 5CD set.

They set each CD tracklist by recording session or album. They just chose not to fill the discs. Presumably they think they chose "the cream" of each session. Just think of it as a 3 CD set spaced out to give a better listening experience. I think we still got more than a comparable Beatles deluxe.

 

I think the Dylan Bootleg Series (and possibly Biograph) set the standard for this type of release - and they’re still the best (although I’m biased). There’s room for complaints when they fall short because the standards are generally so high.

 

I maintain Trouble No More should have covered everything through Europe '81/Shot of Love, then make everything after its own set.

Its like they tried to cram 2 sets of material into 1 and failed

 

I have no beef with the material included, just that they left so much empty space on the discs, pretty much.

It still blows my mind that they thought separating the religious/non religious material was a good idea. It just makes everything increibly unorganized!

 

Agreed, it's unnecessary. As I said above, it would have made more sense to separate studio and live. Alternatively, 1979 could have had it's own box. The bottom line is it's great to have the material, it would be really nice to have the relevant stuff in one place.

 

I don't understand why they didn't just do a 1979-1981 set.
Most everyone in the Dylan fan base refers to (or used to, before we got all sophisticated) "The Gospel Trilogy" ... it would not have been a difficult sell to us.

 

They did

 

Except that they really didn't.

No Musical Retrospective Tour concert.
SOL outtakes that needed mopping up on Springtime.

Two key parts of the story.

 

Yes, Musical Retrospective is my favourite tour from that period. One 6 or 8 disc live box and another 3 or 4 disc studio box would have been good.

 

Exactly! How do you F that up?! They basically had a box "concept" handed to them on a silver platter with thet period

 

To be fair, Trouble No More is one of my most listened to volumes of TBS - and it's certainly one of the most lavishly put together.
I do have my bootlegs of the late 80's shows and it's not difficult to assemble a great SOL sessions playlist, but ....

(I also listen to Bird's Nest in My Hair a whole lot more than the Earl's Court show they actually chose to include ... but I may be getting a touch picky now )

 

”They”/”The Source” basically said they didn’t want any of the new ”secular” songs on ”Trouble No More”.

 

The solution to that would have been to only cover STC and Saved and leave Musical Retrospective and SOL for another box.

 

Yes - it was the inclusion of the Earl's Court '81 show (secular songs and all) that threw things off.
Would have made more sense to have a STC/Saved box with a '79 and '80 gospel show, followed by a SOL/Infidels/EB box with a Musical Retrospective / '81 show / '84 show if they'd really wanted to go religious/secular split.

I suspect they didn't think these would have sold so well (and they may be right) .. .and hence they fudged things a little. Still, TNM is a great release, so I'm not complaining

 

Perhaps, yes. Saved isn't exactly a chart topper Although it's also one of his most unfairly maligned records. The two outtakes on TNM are beautiful - I could have done with alternates for the rest of the album too.
It's a shame that Shot of Love, as the 'crossover' album, ended up getting short changed when it's the one with the most (and IMO best) material. 3 discs of album outtakes and rehearsals plus a Musical Retrospective show and a 1981 show would be good. They could still do that - I'd buy it.

 

I can see why they skipped over The Musical Retrospective tour in favour of the Earl's Court show to be fair.

I was listening to "Bird's Nest" again today and compared it to "Wear The Fox Hat" or "Rise Again" ...
No real contest, but I'd still like a late 80's show in professionally released quality.
There was a freshness and a palpable sense of relief amongst all concerned. Bob was back.

 

It's pretty interesting when you think that the live shows/tours of the period pretty much overshadow the studio recordings/sessions for the most part, which is pretty unusual, imo.

This may be the only period where I'm actually more hyped to hear the live stuff than the studio outtakes!!!