Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series

which one of you fools is gonna give me a copy of this cuz no way am I paying for it

Three LPs for $90?

Huh...so Bob at least borrowed one idea from Neil Young.

Haha.

So there is a Ponos version?

I'm 10 minutes in to the first disc. You must go buy this. Jaw dropping.

which one of you fools is gonna give me a copy of this cuz no way am I paying for it
--Οὖτις

Bernie stans only, dude, sorry

lol Tarfumes

Is there a picture of Al Gorgoni somewhere in that thing?

Speaking of Rolling Thunder, how's the Bootleg Series collection? I like the Hard Rain LP.

Hadn't seen this before: good bio of Tom Wilson, with lots of cool quotes from his clients and others:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/remembering-bob-dylan-velvet-undergrounds-pioneering-producer-20151104?page=6

Oh man dow, you need to get that Rolling Thunder Revue thingy right away. Hard Rain is a like a watered down version of what they did with the highlights discs on the bootleg series (and I like Hard Rain more than most, it seems). It's probably my second favorite of the entire series, after the '66 concert.

seconded, the rolling thunder bootleg series is a blast

Thirded. Totally dig that Rolling Thunder thingumybob, which I started listening partly because of reviews on this thread, thanks guys. Also saw in some bios, and on this and other threads that Hard Rain is from the second leg or incarnation of the tour, I think, which just couldn't recapture the magical mix of the first one. There is a funny quote in the Clinton Heylin bio from Kinky Friedman, who replaced Ramblin' Jack Elliot, I believe to the effect that what he learned on that tour was "there is only one step from the limo to the gutter."

Elliott

Yes, Hard Rain is not actually from the proper Rolling Thunder Revue. But, pretty darn close, in any case.

Did some laundry while listening to the Sampler on Spotify. Folding clothes went along well with the peppier "Leopardskin Pillbox Hat."

that 'leopardskin pillbox hat' on the sampler is kinda hilarious, damn near a spike jones tune or something

anyone know if he's done 'visions of johanna' live w/ a similar approach to that on the sampler? the other cuts were interesting or entertaining, they gave me fresh ears, but that's the one that really made me sit up and go 'holy shit'. i think if i came across him unaware doing that live circa say before the flood it would've blown my mind.

to my knowledge he's never really strayed too far from the blonde on blonde arrangement of "visions" -- he's done it solo obviously, but never really radically re-imagined it.

Anyone else who bought the 18CD one having trouble with the digital download? Unbelievable, for 600 bucks!

Anyone else who bought the 18CD one having trouble with the digital download?

but sry to hear that

not much buzz around this record is there? have not been able to hear it all myself yet...

anyway, I guess it was suggested upthread that this is less a revelation (1-3, Tell Tale Signs, Another SP) more a documentation (whitmark, basement tapes) type bootleg

Ha, Niels, yes--I don't imagine there are any others. The thing I like best about the box is hearing each session complete, how he works. As TylerW said, I think, he's going along and then--boom--Maggie's Farm, one take. The whole thing is thrilling in that way

that does sound really cool

I'm sure it will circulate, if you know what i mean

less a revelation...more a documentation...the basement tapes: The Complete Basement Tapes were revelatory to me, even after hearing A Tree With Roots: more songs, incl. ones prev. heard only in fragments, and others complete unknowns (better sound doesn't hurt). Think I can wait for this one, though.

The 6-disc version, that is; doubt I could ever afford the 18 (which might be required for revelation).

i've made it through 9 discs so far, and it is a very fun listen. i'll probably go back through it one more time and cherrypick the stuff I actually want to listen to over and over. but it is just cool to be a fly on the wall, hearing the whole thing unfold.

I found the 6-disc edition to be endlessly fascinating, and the LARS session confirmed what I've long thought to be true: there is no more difficult or challenging situation for a musician than playing with Bob Dylan. You have to consider the implications of every word in every line; then, you have to make it swing. Now do all of that without coming off as self-conscious and/or getting in the way.

And on an optimistic note, the website says "these will be the only copies of the collector's edition ever manufactured" -- that still leaves open the possibility for a stripped-down release of all the material (maybe just the discs without the vinyl or the books, maybe a download-only of the music).

"LARS session"?

Like A Rolling Stone

Lars Ulrich played drums on LARS, one of the many revelations of the box set

there is no more difficult or challenging situation for a musician than playing with Bob Dylan.
yeah i think this is otm -- he really is a *weird* musician. odd timing, odd phrasing, definitely following his own sense of the song, rather than really grooving w/ the band. so the backing musicians had to figure out how keep up. you can hear it happening, which is pretty neat.

And Bob isn't going to communicate to session pros in a language they'll necessarily understand easily. One one of the Blonde on Blonde songs (forget which one), the keyboardist is leading the band through the chords, many of which are suspended and/or augmented. At the end of the conversation Bob says something like, "Yeah. Um...suspended. Heh." He probably didn't know the full names of the chords he wrote the song with.

yeah! and in one of those hotel tapes w/ robertson he can't even really tell robertson what chords he's playing (assuming one of them is capo'd or something). "you'll figure it out."

And he's right, of course---listening to The Complete BT and sampler re Cutting Edge, I sometimes thought of Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band, but Dylan's process seems much faster/less of an ordeal (though judging by interviews with Robertson, rehearsals for '66 tour might have been the crucial initiation/torture for all concerned; everything that followed was relatively easier, sounds like)

I bought the complete Basement Tapes but decided to restrict myself to the 2 disc version of this. I don't have the need / energy / time for more.

Was really tempted though.

And Bob isn't going to communicate to session pros in a language they'll necessarily understand easily. One one of the Blonde on Blonde songs (forget which one), the keyboardist is leading the band through the chords, many of which are suspended and/or augmented. At the end of the conversation Bob says something like, "Yeah. Um...suspended. Heh." He probably didn't know the full names of the chords he wrote the song with.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, November 16, 2015 10:07 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

to be fair, i bet those nashville and new york session guys have to deal with this stuff all the time. lots of great singers and songwriters are musically untrained. in fact one of the most important job skills of session musicians is essentially "translating" musical ideas in precisely this way.

like for example elvis costello didn't teach himself to read or write music until the 1990s, if i'm not mistaken. before that, if he wanted a horn or string chart, he'd have to say something like, "there's a little howlin' wolf lick here, then the strings should go 'da da da dee da.'"

to be fair, i bet those nashville and new york session guys have to deal with this stuff all the time. lots of great singers and songwriters are musically untrained.

That's true, and many have an intermediary, a "musical director" to translate (Dylan's currently is his bassist, Tony Garnier). Prior to Blonde on Blonde, Dylan was mostly working with rockers who likely had little more technical knowledge than he did, so he could say, "Can you go eeehnnnhh?" and they'd be like, ok, sure.

i think al kooper had developed into that "musical director" role by the end of the blonde on blonde sessions ... but so much of it seems like happenstance.
Best quote I've come across so far about the Hwy 61 sessions -- from Michael Bloomfield:
"I was there man, I’m telling you it was a result of chuckle-fucking, of people stepping on each other’s dicks until it came out right."

hahaha

I love how, something like four takes after what would become the master, Dylan angrily stops a take of LARS saying, "Why can't we play it right, man?!"

yeah, pretty crazy. you can almost imagine some alternate universe where he stopped at three takes of LARS and was like, "screw this, I don't like this song anymore."

people stepping on each other’s dicks

ow

people stepping on each other’s dicks
crumble into one another

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0N4twV28Mw

hahaha oh man that Bloomfield quote

"screw this, I don't like this song anymore." Seems to happen a lot, judging by the number of regrettably-to-insanely unreleased tracks all along the winding watchtower. And/or maybe he just loses the original thread too quickly. (Also, saw at least one interview where he said he's sometimes looked at even some of his well-known lyrics and thought "wtf?")