The recent Bob Dylan ‘The Cutting Edge’ music bomb of his 1965-66 sessions has left me on Desolation Row.
For one of my favourite CDs, a real “game-changer”, inspirational and fascinating is now surplus to requirement. I’m talking about the Spank Records bootleg ‘The Thin Wild Mercury Music’ named after a quote from Dylan about the Blonde ON Blonde material sounding metallic – ““that thin, that wild mercury sound”.
Bringing It All Back Home sessions Studio A, NYC January 13-15, 1965
If You Gotta Go, Go Now
She Belongs To Me
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
I’ll Keep It With Mine (instr)
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
CBS Music Row, Nashville, TN January 21, 1965
Visions Of Johanna (Seems Like A Freezeout)
Highway 61 Revisited sessions, NYC July 30, 1965
From A Buick 6
Highway 61 Revisited sessions, NYC June 16, 1965
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window
Hawks sessions (The Band) CBS studios, NYC Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 1965
Medicine Sunday (Temporary Like Achilles)
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Number One (instr)
Jet Pilot
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window
Visions Of Johanna (Seems Like A Freezeout)
Hawks sessions (The Band) New York, NYC January 21, 1966
She’s Your Lover Now (Glass Of Water)
Levy’s Recording Studio, London May 12, 1965
Miami Sales Message
If You Gotta Go, Go Now
This was revelatory stuff – the “Seems Like A Freezeout” take of Johanna the world is currently creaming it’s jeans over took your breath away. All these alternate visions of classic songs seemingly not fit for public consumption but now selling at £15/£75/£100/£500 a pop. The illicit is now legal but no less exciting to hear. And the CD is still a beautiful thing.
I’m guessing that all I have left is the Miami Sales Conference Message
Somewhere through CD3 (Mrs S has left the building). Absolutely fascinating stuff – but, and it’s a big but, am I ever going to play the whole thing again?
Just finished listening to the full set (6 CD not the 18 CD set) and am now planning to again and hopefully not for the last time. The darlin` wife has also got me (for chrimbo) the vinyl/CD combo so when I`m fatigued I can just play those.
Now looking forward to Volume 13, but can any future volume rival this set ever? Over to you.
Yep – Blood on the Tracks outtakes whenever we get them. Also Desire would be a good listen too.
Next set is hopefully the Christian years ago with a live show as part of it. However is this set is indeed a copyright busting effort then I would expect John Wesley Harding/Nashville Skyline to follow in a couple of years.
Ago? Damn this phone;
Ploughing my way through the 18 cds by falling asleep listening to them on my ipod, pretending l’m lurking around eavesdropping in the studio somewhere (and l’m back in 1965).
Is this your attempt to do a ‘Somewhere In Time’ stunt ala Christopher Reeve?
I am feeling a bit weak about the prospect of me and his Bobness skipping merrily into the sunset, but l felt like that before starting on the cds.
Forgot to say (in reply to the OP) that ‘The Thin Wild Mercury Music’ is indeed a work of beauty.
Shock and horror. Somewhere around CD7 I thought “enough, enough”. It is indeed like sitting in on the recording sessions but the three people I know who actually have been present when a record is made have all said the same thing – “for every moment of magic there are hours and hours and hours of tedium”. The withering looks from Mrs S – “how long exactly is this record?” – have in no way effected my decision to file the 18cd set away in a dark corner.
It was such a relief to get back to my carefully and lovingly constructed Taylor & Ryan 1989 Playlist……
Next time I play Dylan it will most certainly be Thin Wild Mercury.