Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series, Vol. 10

Wasn't it the sound of Dylan "breathing" that one reviewer said he would prefer to the album as released? (Memory fails me, but that was the gist of it.)

 

"What is this **** ...?"

 

I'll probably pass on this, unless it gets good reviews.

 

I just listened to SP vinyl last week. I always loved this album since I first bought this copy on its release date. It really pissed off lots of people when it came out especially the critics . I'd love a set from this period.

 

Agree, Mazzy. Just bought the Sundazed LP and I love it. Self Portrait to me is quirky and lovable like the (real) Basement Tapes.

 

I suspect this will be another treat. After all, whoodathunk Tell Tale Signs would be so great?

 

I hope these rumours are false. Of all the great things they could pick this would be somewhere near the bottom of my wishlist. At least they're not issuing outtakes from Knocked Out Loaded and Down In The Groove.

 

If this is indeed a Self Portrait-centric project, it seems reasonable to hope that Isle of Wight (which I also enjoy quite a bit, especially the John Wesley Harding material and "Wild Mountain Thyme") would be included in it's entirety. As it fits quite nicely on a single disc, it is easy to imagine a 2CD set with outtakes/undubbed versions on disc one and disc two devoted to the live show. Naked Self-Portrait. There are a couple circulating outtakes, but also many unheard recordings that have been documented. Unlike the last volume of the BS, this could offer many surprises to the longtime collector.

On the other hand, it is hard to separate the Self Portrait sessions from New Morning, not to mention Dylan (which the Isis report suggests that Dylan's people hope to "rehabilitate"). If you cast a wider net for the set, you open up the door for even more unheard or rare studio material (I'm very curious to hear "My Previous Life" and "Shirley's Room" from the New Morning sessions) but such an approach might crowd out Isle of Wight, if Bootleg Series Volume 10 is indeed envisioned as another 2CD set.

 

The problem with this line of thinking is that with Dylan's worst albums, his outtakes often far outshine the released material. He has a strange, somewhat self-defeating tendency in this respect. But it can make archival dives into these eras unexpectedly promising.

 

Totally agree with you. This could be exciting. Btw New Morning is one of my favorite Dylan albums

 

I'm intrigued. Wouldn't mind it if this came to fruition.

 

The closet thing I can offhand think of to this is that Dylan himself, on the sleeve notes to H61, claimed "... The songs on this specific record are not so much songs but rather exercises in tonal breath control."​

​

Which is quite a tribute to tonal breath control, as the album contains non-stop stone cold classics, beginning with "Like A Rolling Stone" and ending with "Desolation Row" (either of which can plausibly be nominated for Best Song Ever).

 

Too bad there aren't many outtakes from the John Wesley Harding sessions. I had JWH for years but never paid much attention to it until recently. What a great album! I have been listening to it non-stop.

 

As far as is currently known, there are *no* known outtakes from JWH. The recalled Biograph reissue of
'97 does have an unfaded "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" but I think that's the only known variation from the period.

In a way, that's unfortunate, as he was at a creative peak and I'd love to hear "more of the same." On the other hand, it's a rare example of a Dylan album where he knew EXACTLY what he wanted to record and laid down amazing versions of each and every track. He had a wealth of Basement Tape material he could have fallen back on, but he went into the sessions with a specific vision and achieved it spectacularly. I go back-and-forth, but more often than not I'd name JWH his finest album.

 

BTW, if you don't have it already, seek out The Original Mono Recording box set. The mono John Wesley Harding alone is worth the price of admission. Easily the definitive version of the album.

 

I believe there is an alternate 'Watchtower' that was shortlisted for the JWH album, but lost out to the released version. I wouldn't mind hearing that.

 

As time goes on, I'm more and more inclined to agree.

I believe an alternate take of the title track exists, but that's pretty much it. Watchtower is an edit from two takes. No other songs cut.

 

How great! I have always been interested in more material from that period, I will definitely be picking this release up when it comes out.

 

Me neither. Any idea where you heard that? Now that you mention it, it sounds familiar to me, but I can't think of where I heard it.

 

BTW, Dylan's original vision for the album apparently had Robbie Robertson and perhaps Garth Hudson add overdubs but Robbie believed the tracks were fine as they were-- which makes one wonder if the Isle of Wight versions give us a glimpse of "what might have been."

 

I can't get enough of JWH. It is the complete opposite of his triology of albums from 1965-66.

It could very well be that there are better recordings from the Self Portrait sessions than what was commercially released. Do you think Dylan purposely sabotaged himself by releasing Self Portarit?

As someone previously posted, Dylan tends to leave some of his best recordings in the can. I always point to Lay Down Your Weary Tune. That would have been a perfect track for Times. I find Times too serious for my liking. Another ballad would have softened the feel of the album.

 

I own the mono box. Just repurchased it for the third time! I also have original US and UK mono copies of JWH. From what I have read, the UK is a folddown.

 

Great point.

Add "Lay Down Your Weary Tune," "Seven Curses","Percy's Song" and perhaps "Moonshiner" to Times and you have his best pre-electric album, easily (though I don't want to say what songs to cut!). This is really the album that firstshows his perverse (and yet, somehow charming and myth-enhancing) album to casually cast aside his best material, though as early as his self titled debut he dropped "House Carpenter."

I'm with you, on Times. In a way, I think song-for-song, it's better that Freewheelin', but it lacks material that connects on the same emotional level. It's so strident that it needs a song like "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" ("Boots of Spanish Leather" and "One Too Many Mornings," good as they are, can't carry the entire load) to fully make the sale.

 

Yep, the UK is a fold-down. And it was so much better distributed that the US mono that for years collectors seemed to think that ALL JWHs were fold-downs! This could also be a reflection how how much more influential UK critics were in documenting Dylan's career.

 

and it included a little gem of a sing... All Along the Wachtower