Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series, Vol. 10

Sequencing a '69/'70 studio collection (IF the compilers chose to include any '69 Nashville skyline voice stuff) is going to be tricky and would prove key to the entire thing coming off - Self Portrait is sequenced incredibly badly and that, in its small way, contributes to the reaction and reputation of that record.

There's some interesting stuff from Feb '69 with Johnny Cash that is worthy of public hearing - fiery covers of Big River and Ring Of Fire (Ring Of Fire in particular has a lively country-soul arrangement) - although, as far as I'm aware, the vast bluk of outtakes and alternates during this two year period hail from March, May and June 1970 and, for the sake of a unified approach, it would make more sense to put together similar-sounding sessions.

 

Or "Naked Self Portrait"

 

When is this rumored to be released? I want it.

 

Yes. My vote would be for live material from '79 and '80.

The tours of 1981 (esp. the summer) are also wonderful and unlike much else in the archive. They deserve a release of some kind.

L.

 

I can't unsee what you wrote there

 

I remember when "Dylan" was on iTunes. It was part of a complete Dylan collection that was available for a limited time. There was also a section which collected some of the non album rarities, I can't remember them all but one was "Night After Night" from the Hearts of Fire soundtrack, so it must have been pretty comprehensive!

 

It may have been part of that massive collection, but I was able to buy it separately and that's how I have it.

 

I love Self Portrait but will admit that Dylan's duet with himself on The Boxer is pretty weird.

This morning I was playing S & G Parsley Sage and, when I heard the nasty Dylan parody S & G did with A Simple Desultory Philippic, it occurred to me that perhaps The Boxer was a kind of parody of S & G. Payback maybe?

 

I suggested this over on the Expecting Rain thread on this topic, so I'll suggest it here too -- Bob and Sony should build on the success of Bootleg Series 8 and make "Tell Tale Signs" a brand name, a sub-genre of the Bootleg Series. Each set would be held together by a theme or a distinct "period" in Bob's work; for example, BS8 was loosely organized around Bob's work with Daniel Lanois and the re-discovery of his blues and folk ancestors. (Notice that there were no Under The Red Sky outtakes on BS8 -- didn't fit the theme.) If it were up to me, I'd release four more "Tell Tale Signs" sets: one covering the "Country Bob"/Recluse period (JWH through Pat Garrett, 1967-1973); another covering the "Comeback Bob"/Divorce period (Planet Waves through Street Legal, 1973-1978); one for the "Gospel Bob" period (1979-1982); and a final (brave) attempt to rehabilitate the mid-1980s (Infidels through Down In The Groove).

Not only are these artistic periods fairly self-evident (to me, anyway), but they all contain at least one widely-recognized "classic" to lift the interest in the sets that might also include some less-well-loved (ahem) material. The first set would have JWH (a holy grail for outtake-seekers) and Nashville Skyline (and the promise of some Cash and George Harrison tracks); the second would obviously include Blood On The Tracks material (indeed, we already know that BS11 is scheduled to include at least one BOTT song); the third would cover the whole Gospel period with the consideration it deserves, with unreleased live originals providing a taster for a "Live 1980" or "Live 1981" set; and the final TTS set would offer the electric "Blind Willie McTell" and other Infidels outtakes not covered by BS3. It would also (hopefully) dig deep into the Knocked Out Loaded sessions, which were raved about in Rolling Stone in the summer of 1986, before the confused mess of an album was actually released.

Although this is a "fantasy" idea of mine, I think it's grounded in what could possibly be released, and could sell well. I'd want them all to be 3-CD sets, with no extortion involved for the third disc. And each one of them could be accompanied by a live Bootleg Series release as a companion -- Isle of Wight, a new 1974 set or a show from the 1976 leg of the Rolling Thunder tour, and obviously there's a lot to choose from between 1979 and 1981. And there are still the "obvious" Bootleg Series sets like the complete Blonde on Blonde sessions (already rumored), the Supper Club shows (already rumored), and the unvarnished Basement Tapes. I could probably line up Bootleg Series releases all the way up to volume 20 before I started to worry about the bottom of the barrel.

 

The problem with your plan (which I think is a good one) is that Bob might argue with you on what might be self-evident. I'm not sure he sees his career in quite the same segmented way we do.

 

True, of course, but he can't reject it if no one suggests it...

 

How would you quantify a set that covered 67-73? It seems to me there's almost too much stuff to cover there, despite it being a relatively quiet period in Bob's career.

I'd love to see some John Wesley Harding outtakes, if there are any, and a throughline to the Pat Garrett soundtrack. Makes cohesive sense. But how do you do that without topping three cds? I'd want to see the complete Isle of Wight show and that's one CD right there.

 

Why is the level of perception, if not appreciation, exemplified by record companies themselves? To keep it on track.... Bob and Jeff Rosen might might not agree with you, but since some of his best material has been collected in 'out of context' anthologies, even they'd have to agree you at least have a cogent vision. Bob sometimes seems at odds with his own career.

 

Hey Dylan fans I just posted a few of my old photos from Dylan and the Band from 74 for here in case you are interested : http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/your-concert-photos.254450/page-13 . Not from the Self Portrait Period

 

I love how the releases jump around in time. Very much like his Book: Chronicles Volume 1. Its all over the place but wonderful!

 

Well, it shouldn't be too hard -- especially when you consider that BS8 covered about 20 years and two "major" albums (Oh Mercy and TOOM), and skimmed over the acoustic covers albums, ignored Under The Red Sky and L&T, and only chose bits from live tracks and Modern Times. For my 1967-1973 "Tell Tale Signs" the bulk of the material would probably be Nashville Skyline/Self Portrait/New Morning stuff (which includes the Dylan tracks); if you assume 45-55 tracks over 3 discs you could have 10 tracks from each album's sessions and only be half to two-thirds done. John Wesley Harding has no unreleased songs, so we'd be hoping for (at best) a handful of interesting alternate takes. The other sessions that would be covered ("Watching The River Flow" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece" singles; the GH II Happy Traum sessions; the Pat Garrett soundtrack) are more limited in scope, so you could represent each one adequately with a few tracks each. I'd leave Isle of Wight as a separate "Live 1969" release.

 

This is a nice plan, and more or less the choices I would make as far as period and number of disks. I think it would be particularly important to separate such collections from a series of live releases. That would both make the studio surveys more managable and allow for live releases that could survey particular tours.

L.

 

I agree -- I like to keep the live stuff separate, although in small doses (and with a purpose in mind) it can work, as it did on BS8. For example, in the set covering the Gospel years, I'd certainly want "Ain't Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody" to be on there, because it's an important track and there's no studio version of it (that we know of). But in general, yeah -- let the live material be released separately.

 

Since we're talking about what there might be to hear on a release like this, I thought some of you might like to hear this:



L.

 

Louis, that's exactly the kind of track that deserves better than to be a stray iTunes download. Put this in a collection that studies and respects the entire late-60s period, and, well ... the sum is greater than the parts, imo.

 

I am really lovng what is being discussed on this page. Sean, you've got some fantastic ideas, man.

 

I'm available any time Jeff Rosen wants to talk...

 

Yup. I've heard just a handful of the unreleased tracks from these sessions. Not all I've heard is worth hearing more than once, but what has surfaced indicates that there's probably more than enough very good material to fill 3 CDs. And presented the right way it could give people a much clearer sense of what Dylan was up to and not up to at the time.

L.

 

I can dig some self portrait outtkes!