End of the Dylan bootleg series looming?

No, but I've always been curious about late-tour shows from that era, after he and the band had gotten more comfortable, expanded the repertoire, etc, but before the jesus stuff started. I've heard those gigs were a lot better than what was captured on Budokan.

 

I've got a boot of a different show (can't remember which) that I like a lot better than the Budokan album.

 

Granted, you don't need physical product or everything to be some kind of massive box set to do an excellent, fan-friendly bootleg series. Bruce Springsteen Live Concert CDs & Downloads

 

They do if they want any of my money.

 

So you're saying if they put out 50+ professionally recorded/mixed Dylan concerts via Nugs, you wouldn't be interested at all?

 

Single and/or double CD sets in the Bootleg Series has been the norm. No need for the "hope".

Vol. 4 to 7 (2 discs each)
Vol. 8 (available in 1 or 2 disc editions)
Vol. 9 to 13 (2 discs each)
Vol. 14 (1 disc)

The exception to the above being the first release (3 discs) and last years Vol. 15 (3 discs).

Why is that?

You are already getting your "hope" (2 discs) with each release. Why prevent others that want the "deluxe" editions from the option of being able to buy them.
I want deluxe editions of every release (the more discs/the bigger, the better).
Those, like yourself, can choose to ignore them and just buy the Reader's Digest Condensed Versions (2 CDs). Everyone wins.

 

I use to be really into Bob Dylan and bought the first three releases from The Bootleg on CD. Sold one set about 3 years ago along with some Dylan albums on CD. 4 years ago bought the Classic Records vinyl pressing of The Bootleg Series Volume 4. Ive kept it since i paid a little bit above retail price. The more recent BootlegSeries sets I've downloaded and ir streamed on Amazon. Im really starting to consider to hault buying music on physical media since im running out of space. Also im not much of a fan of later Bob material, his folk rock days are where its at for me.

 

This issue with the large box sets is that generally they aren't for pulling in new fans and audiences, the expensive sets are bought mostly by same set of buyers purchasing each one of them, so to a degree, buyer's fatigue eventually can set in for many when they look at their shelves and their wallets and think "Well, I've already bought four or five of these deluxe Dylan sets, he's got enough of my money I'll stream the rest." So naturally sales will decline a bit from release to release. But there still should be a core audience for a few more outtakes from Dylan's 60s and 70s material, one would presume. Not sure he will dig deeper into the 80s or 90s again.

 

Grateful Dylan live set must be done!

 

I listened to all six of those shows. They're not as bad as their reputation, and definitely more enjoyable than the live record. I bet there's some great recorded rehearsal stuff from that tour we haven't even dreamed about.

 

Rather than a fixed (but slowly declining) number of super-fans who will buy the deluxe sets, I think it's more like there's a fixed number of super-fans who are willing to buy the deluxe sets, and then maybe 60-80% of them buy every set -- but the fans that make up the buyers varies every time. In other words, not every one of these "super-fans" buys EVERY set, but enough of them get each one to keep the numbers up.

As for the '80s and '90s, an Infidels box is already strongly rumored for this year, and The Source has told Rolling Stone that Infidels, Oh Mercy and Time Out Of Mind are all options for deep dives, as well as post-Christian early-80s, and even the much-maligned mid-80s. With other periods / projects of interest still out there (the David Bromberg sessions, the Supper Club shows), I'd say it's likely the Bootleg Series will continue as long as it remains commercially viable. And since Bob Inc. is wary of going to the 1960s too often, it is likely they will continue to go back and forth between "Classic Bob" and "Modern Bob."

 

Nice! Good info there. I don't know much about the Infidel's album. That was his firsts post-Christian album? Like...mid 80s? Isn't there a decent amount of 80s stuff on Vol 1-3?

 

I just really wanted them to put together a dvd/bluray of the concert footage from rolling thunder. I know they have footage of the Hard Rain/Fort Collins stuff.... I know they have footage in the Renaldo and Clara thing.
C'mon Bob, get a concert collated from all this footage for us please

 

Infidels from 1983 was perhaps, in a way, a return to secular matters, but it also contains Christian oriented lyrics/imagery. Man of Peace is one example, Jokerman another.

Blind Willie McTell was a chef d‘oeuvre from these sessions that wasn’t included. Luckily, there is one version on The Bootleg Series I-III

 

Infidels was released in 1983 -- as @Fred1970 said -- and is considered a "post-Christian" album, but really there's a religious/apocalyptic streak that continues on Infidels and nearly all his other albums. There's a "decent" amount of stuff from the 1980s on Bootleg Series 1-3, but for a set subtitled "1961-1991" there's only one track on it from after 1984 ("Series Of Dreams"). Bootleg Series 8: Tell Tale Signs addresses that with many Oh Mercy outtakes, but other than the very early '80s (the 2nd and 3rd "Christian" albums), Disc 3 of BS1-3, and half of TTS, the 1980s are fairly unexplored by the Bootleg Series.

 

Hard sell for me. Not a fan of the Dead, and their work with Dylan isn't special. Still, it might pull in some Dead fans who don't follow Dylan, so I guess it might benefit commercially.

 

I still wonder how the Bootleg Series will deal with the Never Ending Tour. That could be the next 20 years of releases right there.

 

I can live w/o physical product; just don’t stop! Just give us high res downloads; that’s how I listen to the huge cutting edge set either through flash or WiFi. I won’t miss the “goodies” that accompany a lot of these oversized boxes. Just put track info and other tidbits on a site where we can access it anytime.

 

I'm glad you can get the music you want, in the format you want. Personally speaking, it's GOT to be physical. I'm not interested in streaming or downloading the music. I'd much prefer the all formats, but if one must go, let's not go the cheap route and just stream.

 

While I'm not a Dylan mega-fan, I would like to see a box set based around 'Infidels'.

 

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

 

Birmingham 1989.

 

I think I was thinking about the Supper Club boot back then.

 

Yes please Olivia!

 

It'd probably be each period of shows that was done around a new album: 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2006-07 and so on and so forth.