Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series

Cool. Is it The Green Light or this Dylan collection?

Come to think of it, song's origins might also have to do w Dylan's second marriage, unpublicized and then some 'til Howard Sounes followed Mr. D.'s paper trail Down The Highway (also found hospital records re motorcycle accident, which some said was other).

Listening online to the 8-disc set of TROUBLE NO MORE, I marvel at the amount Dylan talks in 'introducing the band' at the end of a concert. Very near the end of the last disc he says "I hope you heard something you came out to hear ... if not, we'll be here tomorrow night, and the night after, and the night after ... sure you'll hear something you didn't want to". (Think that's what he says.)

These Gospel tours seem to be famed for only including the Gospel era songs, but then again, the last disc (is this the latest, 1981?) includes lots of old 1960s songs - he had thawed and reintegrated them. I must say, though, I *like* the way he just plays his new material, concert after concert, so many versions of 'slow train' alone.

I note also that despite not sharing the religious beliefs expressed by the songs, I enjoy the tracks. The lack of shared beliefs doesn't seem to impede enjoyment at all. It's partly just about enjoying the music, maybe partly about enjoying how incredibly dedicated Dylan is to this project that he writes 40-odd songs about the same thing; and maybe partly about feeling freer to enjoy something when I have no intellectual investment in the words.

Meanwhile, I ask:

1: Does anyone know if Dylan has had any involvement with THE BOOTLEG SERIES? My assumption has always been: No. But that's the kind of thing he always wants us to believe?

2: Aren't they running out of things to release now? I can only think of:
- ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN - oddly this has hardly been covered
- Never Ending Tour?
- GOOD AS I BEEN TO YOU era - this would be pretty raw, slim pickings?
- maybe outtakes from whatever comes *after* TELL TALE SIGNS, eg ... um, TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE, TEMPEST, ROUGH & ROWDY WAYS? Not sure I see that happening.

yknow pinefox, I'm glad you popped up talking about this collection! I would like to hear some of his rants from these tours, which have been described as conveyed with bug-eyed rage… are there any as such on the set? yesterday I listened to Bob @ Budokan, which doesn't seem that bad…

Does anyone know if Dylan has had any involvement with THE BOOTLEG SERIES?

Why wouldn’t he? I’m sure Jeff Rosen etc. aren’t working in a vacuum

Meanwhile, I ask:

1: Does anyone know if Dylan has had any involvement with THE BOOTLEG SERIES? My assumption has always been: No. But that's the kind of thing he always wants us to believe?

I've read he's barely involved. Also, he has no control over his catalog moving forward since he sold everything.

Producer Steve Berkowitz on Bob Dylan's involvement in the Bootleg Series: "I don't know how the final decisions are made. The final decisions come back from Jeff Rosen and the Dylan office. Bob Dylan's contract says that he can decide whatever he wants. ... Bob Dylan runs this."

that being said, I imagine Bob keeps the bootleg series at an arm's length to some extent. maybe he vetoes things from time to time.

but now he's given up control right? or at least that's what i assume, or could you write veto power into that contract?

oh i think he still has some say in what actually comes out? i don't know how all that stuff works.

2028 = Christmas album box set

hell yeah

as Tyler has noted previously, the Isle Of Wight set is still unreleased

Street Legal Complete 5 CD box

I've got the Isle of Wight set in my "Another Self Portrait" superdel.

Since Universal now controls his work, Dylan will no longer have veto power over how his songs will be used.

. . .

Dylan’s deal includes 100 percent of his rights for all the songs of his catalog, including both the income he receives as a songwriter and his control of each song’s copyright. In exchange for its payment to Dylan, Universal, a division of the French media conglomerate Vivendi, will collect all future income from the songs.

. . .

But the agreement does not include any of Dylan’s unreleased songs. It also doesn’t cover any work Dylan writes in the future, leaving open the possibility that he could choose to work with another publisher for that material.

ahh interesting

I would like to hear some of his rants from these tours, which have been described as conveyed with bug-eyed rage… are there any as such on the set?

Nope, they took them all out. FWIW, Clinton Heylin actually has a book that transcribes all of them.

xp

Not totally clear who owns unreleased versions of released songs (i.e. the majority of bootleg series contents these days). I would assume UMG, but who knows, maybe they both have to signoff in that case.

Street Legal Complete 5 CD box

don't tease me, bro

I would also love an expanded Planet Waves set, but not sure who would even control those tapes (as it wasn't on Columbia)

Since Universal now controls his work, Dylan will no longer have veto power over how his songs will be used.

This means used in commercials and stuff, it doesn't mean how his contract works with Sony

as Tyler has noted previously, the Isle Of Wight set is still unreleased
this set was included on the prohibitively expensive another self portrait deluxe edition ... but I'm surprised they haven't put it out as a Record Store Day release standalone or something. It's fantastic, a totally unique show.

You can find a fair number of the rants on youtube videos. Look up Dylan Live in Toronto 1980.

ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN - oddly this has hardly been covered
the session outtakes emerged as part of a copyright dump several years ago — nothing too revelatory, really (most of it had been bootlegged before I think). Dylan did that album in one session, didn't do a lot of takes.

seems like the consensus is there will be a time out of mind set next year for its 25th (!) anniversary.
also talk of a set called The Villager which would include early coffeehouse recordings.
I'm sure they'll get to a Street Legal-era set at some point. Maybe a big box of 1974 tour recordings?

or rather, a time out of mind set this year ... what year is it? time out mind.

seems like the consensus is there will be a time out of mind set next year for its 25th (!) anniversary.

jesus 25 years yikes

I dunno who is in charge of the Dylan Bootleg series but they are doing a better job than whoever is in charge of the Neil Young Archive (i.e. Neil)

TIME OUT OF MIND sessions -- fantastic. I didn't mention it above because wasn't it technically already covered by TELL TALE SIGNS period?

So we're getting into more detailed versions of eras that the series has already covered?

I don't actually remember the ANOTHER SELF PORTRAIT deluxe version - how much bigger was it? (And does it overlap with '1970'?)

Coffeehouse material, yes that genuinely hasn't been done.

ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN -- where was this copyright release? Surely not on CD?

Dylan & the Dead / Dylan touring with the Heartbreakers, around 1987 (also the DOWN IN THE GROOVE era?) -- has not been done by Bootleg Series.

copyright 1964 was just a download. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_50th_Anniversary_Collection_1964

another self portrait deluxe just had isle of wight (and maybe a fancy book?)

from what I understand, tell tale signs only scratched the surface of the TOOM sessions.

xp Those last few LPs you mentioned are probably left alone for a reason...

(FWIW / as noted above, the 5-disc Springtime in New York has a longer/different mix of "Death Is not the End," which ended up on Down in the Groove.)

Seems like any unreleased items from Oh Mercy and Time Out of Mind could come out together, just everything Dylan + Lanois. But, yeah, a lot of that is out there on Tell Tale Signs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_50th_Anniversary_Collection_1964

so this was a vinyl set only. Where else can one obtain it?

Looks like a CD set of it here.

that's definitely a bootleg.
it's too bad — that Royal Festival Hall 1964 show is probably one of Dylan's best solo shows, but on the 50th anniversary thing they've cut out all the in-between dialogue.

I found a very affordable Another Self-Portrait deluxe on Amazon,
second-hand, deeply discounted for packaging damage I didn't care about: has some great outtakes, like "Little Saro," some v. listenable alts that you can see why he didn't use ("Sign on The Window" is about being all alooone, don't need Al Kooper's excellent chamber players at your elbow, and yep the Isle of Wight set and xp a fancy book, which I haven't read, also the original S-P, remastered I guess.
Some xp rants were on the very lengthy TNM sampler posted on NPR.org for a while: purple paranoia going off the rails, like the Devil is so real He's embodied in maybe a business or (and?) sex rival---"cocaine dreams," as another ilxor noted, maybe on the Bob Dylan's Christian Period thread. Pretty much upstaged the excellent music (including his singing), far as I was concerned. Maybe all that was excised from the box, but I'm not in a hurry to find out.

I would like to hear the early 60s albums with bonus outtakes, like "Percy's Song" and "Talking John Birch Society Blues."

Re: Another Self Portrait, I was skeptical but it made that album’s sessions enjoyable to me, even though the original album remains a horrible listen to me (except for a few cuts that are improved substantially on Another Self Portrait). There are 16 studio cuts on Another Self Portrait that are credited as actual Self Portrait outtakes and alternates rather than something from New Morning et al. When I play just those (moving the undubbed “All the Tired Horses” to the top and the undubbed “Wigwam” to the end), it feels like a modest but highly enjoyable album to me, what Self Portrait should have been.

And I agree with dow re: the ‘60s albums, especially “The Times They Are A-Changin’” which has at least five or six outtakes better than half of the released album.

Early ‘60s that is

Also all the Dinkytown stuff, the Minnesota Hotel Tapes and so on (got a lot of what I've mentioned on boots, but a lot of people don't and I would like better sound where feasible). And yes, the coffee house tapes. Don't suppose he would be into actually re-recording some early unreleased songs, "Percy's" etc, with his excellent band and personal skill level---? ("I can do a lot of things I couldn't do then, but I can't do that," meaning write like he did at peak.)
a modest but highly enjoyable album to me, what Self Portrait should have been. Yeah, but that's not what he wanted--says in Chronicles he was telling superfans to fuck off---also it always seemed like escapism, escape from being That Guy, which amounts to what he says in Chronicle, only wimpier maybe, though understandable---but really what he gets is a publicity coup: STOP THE PRESSES BARD SUX--unless you liked the album, which some do, of course--but that was the angle. But a nice modest album would also have disappointed many, and (at the time) he complained something about having written (like John Wesley Harding in particular) to please the literary critics and shit, wanted a break from all that.

I like when bird and dow mix it up

(I liked some of the original S-P: "Days of '49," "Livin' The Blues," "All The Tired Horses," maybe more--put those with the best outtakes, don't send it off to undertaker Billy Sherill for added strings--and yeah you could have something nice ("Very nice placeholder, Bob" [critics pat his head]).Good for playlists, like Travellin' Through and maybe some of 1970, though I haven't heard that yet.

Trouble No More goes so hard, love that set

Thanks for the kind words morrisp!

Yeah, but that's not what he wanted--says in Chronicles he was telling superfans to fuck off---also it always seemed like escapism, escape from being That Guy, which amounts to what he says in Chronicle, only wimpier maybe, though understandable---but really what he gets is a publicity coup: STOP THE PRESSES BARD SUX--unless you liked the album, which some do, of course--but that was the angle. But a nice modest album would also have disappointed many, and (at the time) he complained something about having written (like John Wesley Harding in particular) to please the literary critics and shit, wanted a break from all that.

I'm actually skeptical of that. I'm not sure when Dylan began saying that - maybe the Cameron Crowe interview that was done for Biograph's liner notes - but that theory was floated out even earlier and I think he liked it and decided to go with it. (It reminds me of a common joke some auteur filmmakers like Orson Welles have - when someone says something about their work that they like but wasn't the intention, they retroactively make it their intention.) The reason why I'm skeptical has to do with Al Kooper and a few others who were working with him on New Morning. When they've been interviewed about that period, they all mention the same thing - everything was moving along all right until the negative press came out over Self Portrait. Dylan was bothered by it, and then all of a sudden, the work on New Morning became a lot more frustrating because Dylan kept changing his mind over and over again, re-recording songs that were presumed finished and just plain re-working and re-sequencing the album over and over again. (It probably says something that he also ditched his original plan of including a pair of covers to bookend the album.)

Or as Kooper said: "When I finished that album I never wanted to speak to him again. I was cheesed off at how difficult [the whole thing was]...He just changed his mind every three seconds so I just ended up doing the work of three albums...We'd get a side order and we'd go in and master it and he'd say, 'No, no, no. I want to do this.' And then, 'No, let's go in and cut this.'"

Dylan was struggling to write new songs, and he may have had a contractual obligation to release a new album of some kind. I think this is a case of Occam's razor - he just wanted to cut some songs his already knew without writing new ones, and he just let Bob Johnston do whatever he wanted with them rather than argue (the overdubs were Johnston's terrible idea). It's not unlike what he would do with so much of Down in the Groove, Good As I Been To You, World Gone Wrong, the Christmas album, the Sinatra-era standards albums, etc...if the songs aren't coming to him, he's comfortable doing non-original material and he probably enjoys doing it.

*Dylan was struggling to write new songs when he started on Self Portrait

(Obviously he started writing material for New Morning, but it still wasn't coming easy. It probably says something that he recycled two songs meant for an aborted play and used them to close New Morning.)

subbing out for the undubbed "All the Tired Horses" strikes me as madness!

the "Highyway 61 Revisited" performance from Isle of Wright is my definitive take. Some gnarly interplay going on there.

LOL, I hate the strings, it's like Hollywood schlock. (FWIW, I'd also move "Alberta #3" into the second slot after "All The Tired Horses")

That "Highway 61 Revisited" is AWESOME, the best thing from that show and thankfully properly mixed. (I have no idea how/why the original Self Portrait messed up the mix for those live cuts.) If I had to live cuts from that show, "H61R" would be one along with "It Ain't Me Babe." The latter would have been perfect if Dylan actually wanted to tell people to get off his back. (And more importantly it's very listenable, an excellent, new interpretation of the song.)

I like the strings on the 'if not for you' and 'sign on the window' on ANOTHER SELF PORTRAIT. (Hope I'm remembering those correctly.)

I love how disc after disc after disc of TROUBLE NO MORE begins with the same song: 'slow train'.

Coming back to 1970, which I've now played umpteen times:

I know that this is 2 or 3 sessions, and George Harrison played in one, and isn't on most of the tracks - though his involvement is a big part of the appeal.

What puzzles me is that GH is officially listed as playing on a few songs that are mostly spaced apart. Thus eg: it's not 'GH, guitar on tracks 1-5', but 'GH, guitar on tracks 2, 4, 6-7, 11'.

If the tracks are chronologically consecutive, and GH was in the studio the whole time, why isn't he playing on more of a run of songs?

Is it possible that he *is* playing on more songs than are listed, but they're not sure?

How can they tell anyway? Not much of the recording, TBH, comes across as very distinctively GH.

Is there a dedicated article about this session somewhere? Given the Bob obsessiveness out there, I might have expected it.