Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series

yeah! i mean, i'm sure there will be boring parts, but i think it'll be cool/illuminating to see how dylan got from extremely loose ideas to the iconic, finished versions everyone knows. and also, these records just have such a wonderful sound, it'll be nice to swim in it.

then again, yeah, i listened to that whole "good vibrations" disc on the smile sessions for pleasure just a little while ago, so i am probably in the minority.

road trip seems like a really good context to actively listen to these things

Speaking of alternate versions (and unreleased originals, covered by other artists), The Witmark Demos been on my mind--anybody heard 'em?

sure, they're good! maybe the least "exciting" of all the bootleg series' but still cool, if you like bob dylan.

Just listened to live version of "Isis" on Biograph. Is he saying "This is for Leonard, if he's still here"? For Leonard Cohen?

yeah, think they tried to convince him to play that night but he didn't want to...

Upgraded and expanded?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP--PD1BcGE

This is the first Bootleg Series release that I'm not interested in. I'll buy it (the 2 disc version) because I'm a completist fan, but it seems superfluous. Will probably supplant Vol.6 as my least favourite of the series.

Only 2 of the entire series don't contain songs from the 60s. Am I right? Understandable, but....

Vol 6? I'd put that as my 2nd fav.

I think they all contain songs from the sixties

letterman thing is definitely an upgrade! think I've heard all of the rehearsal, but maybe never seen it all? classic.

Live 75 contains songs from the sixties, true, but I count it as a 70s release. And Tell Tale Signs is 60s-free.

Yes, Live 64 is one of my least favourites. It's too tinny, too slight soundwise for my taste. I prefer the studio recordings from that era.

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I never got proper into vol 5 since the very aggressive/shouting dylan voice is not my fav but a friend told me he'll get it on vinyl and can't wait to hear what he finds and actually really looking forward to revisiting it

vol 7 has amazing stuff but doesn't make much sense does it?

whitmark demos was also a bit boring as a release but all good stuff obv

haven't listened to 6 much - vol 4 is my go to live Dylan album, so good

otm on vol 5 but the 1965 songs on vol 5 are great though, that slowwwww "gates of eden" and "hard rain", prob my fav versions of both

love vol 5... vol. 6 is probably the one I've listened to the least.

oh ish I meant vol 6

yeah there's good stuff on there, i just think bob and his audience are a little too in-sync at that point, which is not always a recipe for his best work. still, it's amazing to imagine hearing something like "it's alright ma" for the first time there.

yeah that's another one of the great ones there

This weekend read a Dylan bio by a guy named Dennis McDougal. It leans towards the dishy, pathography end of the spectrum and has some annoying if minor mistakes, at least the ones I noticed—misspelling of Lownds as *Lowndes* , wrong reason given for Bruce Langhorne's losing fingers, James Dean's red jacket being described as made of leather—but it does have some kind of narrative drive that propels it forward and keeps one turning pages.

vol 6 is my idea of a perfect pre-electric best of, and yeah the debuts are incredible. "this is called 'it's alright, ma, it's life and life only'." [hipster audience laughter] "haha, yes. it's a very funny song."

fun: compare the chilly, reverent silence after "even the president of the united states sometimes must have to stand naked" in 1964 with what happens after the same line in before the flood

"this is called 'it's alright, ma, it's life and life only'." [hipster audience laughter] "haha, yes. it's a very funny song."

haha great stuff, I'll have to revisit

tell tale signs is my fave but i think that's just my favorite dylan period in general.

When he says "Do it again, one time for Bozo"in "Dress It Up, Better Have It All" is it supposed to be reminiscent of The Beatles' cover of "Honey Don't" and "Ah, rock on George for Ringo one time."?

there's something almost... disappointing about the apparent new strategy for these bootleg series volumes. after years of saying, "i wish they would just release everything from *insert era here*"... well, that's exactly what they're doing. only you are going to pay an incredible premium for it. and the whole things smells of exploitation of a rabid fanbase. which is how it was always going to be, i guess. but it's one of those "i got what i wanted, now what..." sorts of things.

also, diminishing returns are presumably going to set in when we get bootleg series vol. 46: complete 'under the red sky' sessions

a whole disc of 'wiggle wiggle'

"i wish they would just release everything from *insert era here*"... well, that's exactly what they're doing.

That's why I wonder if one reason for the $600 outtake dump is European copyright extension -- iirc, after 50 years, anything unreleased essentially reverts to public domain in Europe.

that's a very good point

I am listening to various things through streaming, a variant of the "ambient" strategy mentioned above, but yeah see your point(s). I mean actually buying the big boxes might be depressing/oppressive.

That's why I wonder if one reason for the $600 outtake dump is European copyright extension -- iirc, after 50 years, anything unreleased essentially reverts to public domain in Europe.

oh, absolutely! they've actually been releasing the earlier stuff in big box sets in extremely limited editions for the explicit purpose of copyright extension. with this one, they just figure they can make bank off of it at the same time.

there's something almost... disappointing about the apparent new strategy for these bootleg series volumes. after years of saying, "i wish they would just release everything from *insert era here*"... well, that's exactly what they're doing.
well, yeah, but at least there are various options. if the 18-disc thing was all they were doing, it'd be kind of crazy, but there are still the 6 and 2 disc versions...

Yeah, I don't really get why they went the super-limited route with those earlier copyright extension releases.

But in all honesty, while I know it's aesthetically the least-appealing option, if the 18-disc set's contents were available as a download-only, I could see myself ponying up $100 for it (like what the Beatles did with their 1963 Bootleg set) (except that was way cheaper than $100) (and hey, why wasn't there a 1964 set?)

xp

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but how can those ever feel like anything but a horrible compromise? :)

don't you at least want to know if they really cherry-picked the best stuff?

i guess i could put it more prosaically: i really want all this music, but cheaper, and above all i can't stand these super-deluxe box sets with the pointless coffee-table books, the vial of dylan's dead skin cells, the bottle of Absolutely Sweet Marie energy juice so you can stay up through all 18 discs....

yeah, i see what you're saying. with something like this, it almost seems like they should roll out a whole other means of presenting it ... like a subscription service or something? i don't know. i mean, i want to hear it all, but yeah, i couldn't care less about 7-inch repros etc.

Guess that means that you are not a real Dylanologist then, right, amateurist?

i guess not!

man i didn't even realise there was an official basement tapes

7 inch repros are plain silly, but I like the booklets

Booklets are only of relevance to the music as presented here are they? I mean there would be no point wnhatsoever to release what's in them outside of the box? Basically I wouldn't mind a proper peruse and might buy something like that if amended for standalone purpose though maybe that greil Marcus book of a few years ago covers the same ground? Or was that just focused on Like A Rolling Stone?

Is there anything out bookwise specifically on this high mercury sound era?

Are these mega-boxes priced at this level to effectively pay for all those that will be sharing the d/l versions with their pals?

Booklets are cool! They have great photos, essays on the period, proper song credits etc. Wouldn't buy the as books, but they're good w/ cd/lp boxes.

Except for the "Bob Dylan e.p.'s" one that came with "Tell Tale Signs", pointless and price-enhancing.

Please someone stop me from getting the 18 disc one...I'm helpless to resist

Don't do it!

Or rather, do it and live blog for the rest of us.

Dont Do It!

LOL, live blogging this -- "That was another false start of 'Like A Rolling Stone'..."