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View Full Version : Bob Dylan Bootleg Series Vol. 7 out now!

Rob Imes
08-31-2005, 08:39 PM
I happened to be at the store today and what do I see on the New Releases shelf but the face of Bob Dylan on a CD cover staring back at me. I'd seen an ad on TV for the upcoming (Sept 25-26?) PBS documentary by Martin Scorcese about Dylan's early years (early to mid-1960s, my favorite Dylan period). But I hadn't heard that there would be a CD release to coincide with it.

I take a closer look. This is not another Dylan greatest-hits package, after all! I look at the track listing and see lots of songs marked "demo" or "live" version. The first track is listed as being from 1959, a year or two older than any Dylan recording I've ever heard before, or even knew existed. Another early track is of "This Land is Your Land," Woody Guthrie's most famous song -- although I never heard of a Dylan version before. At the end of the track listing, the CD reads something to the effect of, "All material on this album is previously unreleased." Wow! Okay, now I know I gotta get it. I take another look back at the cover -- this time I notice that the subtitle to this release (called "No Direction Home") is "Bootleg Series Vol. 7." OK, now I know even more that I gotta get it -- considering that I have Bootleg Series volumes 1-6 in my collection. And I thought that the previous release in the series, Live, 1964 was one of the best Dylan CDs ever.

So, anyway, I just wanted to give a heads-up to all the Dylan fans who may not keep up with the new releases charts, that the new 2-CD Dylan Bootleg Series Vol. 7 came out on Tuesday. I think Wal-mart has it for like $22.88. It will probably eventually come down in price to around $16.99 like the previous two Bootlegs did eventually, after some months, but who wants to wait?
Rob Imes
09-01-2005, 12:03 PM
Update: I just went to K-Mart today and noticed that they had the Dylan CD on sale for $16.99, and that the regular price there was only $19.99. The sale runs until Sept. 3rd, it looks like. Now my only problem is that I don't get paid till the 7th.... arghhh!
Adam Crocker
09-01-2005, 12:17 PM
Saw this on his website. It's interesting that for a documentary about him the soundtrack largely consists of previously unreleased live cuts and demos instead of the studio cuts most people would be more familiar with. (Which is usually what seems to happen with these sorts of things.)

And is anyone else surprised that it isn't Cronin who brought this up? ;)
leonaozaki
09-01-2005, 02:38 PM
Saw this on his website. It's interesting that for a documentary about him the soundtrack largely consists of previously unreleased live cuts and demos instead of the studio cuts most people would be more familiar with. (Which is usually what seems to happen with these sorts of things.)

And is anyone else surprised that it isn't Cronin who brought this up? ;)

It is interesting. I don't know who made that decision but it was the right one from my perspective, because if it had been a greatest hits thing I wouldn't have bought it. I suppose the thinking is that if it is part of the Bootleg Series than it needs to be unreleased stuff. And there are two songs that have been previously released-- "Song to Woody" from BOB DYLAN and the performance of "Rolling Stone" from LIVE 1966.

rob
Adam Crocker
09-01-2005, 03:06 PM
It is interesting. I don't know who made that decision but it was the right one from my perspective, because if it had been a greatest hits thing I wouldn't have bought it. I suppose the thinking is that if it is part of the Bootleg Series than it needs to be unreleased stuff.

I think it's more likely that they decided that it would be a part of the bootleg series after they decided it would consist of unreleased material.
Deathstroke
09-01-2005, 06:25 PM
Gee, where's BrianCronin in this thread?
Brian Cronin
09-01-2005, 06:28 PM
I'll end up buying it, just because I like to support new Dylan releases, but I've already got most of these. :)

-Brian
Rob Imes
09-02-2005, 05:43 AM
And there are two songs that have been previously released-- "Song to Woody" from BOB DYLAN and the performance of "Rolling Stone" from LIVE 1966.

Yep, I didn't notice that in the fine print till yesterday. Still, that's cool.

And they probably figured there wasn't need for a new "best of" Dylan CD, since the Millennium 20th Century Masters 2-CD set -- or whatever it's called -- just came out a year or two ago covering Dylan's whole career. And if they just wanted a greatest hits CD for the 1962-66 period, there's always his first greatest hits album that people could buy, which came out circa 1966-67.

I'll end up buying it, just because I like to support new Dylan releases, but I've already got most of these.

Do you know a list of surviving Dylan recordings from, say, before the release of his first album? I was surprised by that inclusion of a recording from 1959 and wonder if there's other really early stuff out there, other than what's on the Bootleg Series Volume 1 disc, Biograph, and now this new disc.
Brian Cronin
09-02-2005, 12:17 PM
There's a lot of 1960/1961 material lying around, but I think that they did put the best stuff on the album.

-Brian (who is currently listening at this moment to a cover of "Buckets of Rain" on the radio...sattellite radio DOES have its pluses! :))