B.S. Vol. 18 was delivered this morning and in my opinion* it is bloody marvellous and I’m only on CD3
We, that’s myself and my mates who are fans of H.B. used to pay a tenner over 40 years ago for a C90 cassette of crackly, booming, almost silent songs from the Duluth warbler, we couldn’t get enough and were always on the hunt for more
Here on this magnificent set are many of those songs In crystal clear acoustic thingyness
I’ve yet to listen to CDs 7&8 which contain the N.Y.C. Carnegie Hall concert from 1963 which many fans will have in not too bad bootleg quality on tape, LP, CD, we can now hear it in top notch audio sonic quality
*Other opinions may differ that’s OK
Much as I love Bob I’ve ignored Vol 18 because there really is only so much I can take of a bloke with an acoustic guitar – even when that bloke is Bob. And I already have really a lot of Bob and his acoustic guitar.
But given the enthusiasm above I think I’ll find the time to stream the highlights on Spotify. Probably just the once, mind.
I wonder where the sweet spot is between too much and too little?
This sounds too much (and I listen to Rock ‘n’ Roll, most don’t, so I’m not remotely put off by ‘1956-63’).
The flipside is that waiting a quarter-of-a-century for unreleased Beatles product until BBC and Anthology in the 1990s seemed too little.
The 3-cd ‘Brixton Cat’ release on Doctor Bird, original album, copious (all?) As and Bs from 69 and 70 seems just right, and I’ll play the 2-cd Anthology 4 to death.
Toying with buying the Jimi ‘Axis’ box… 5 CDs – £50… but do I really need it? Will I really ever play it? I’m erring on ‘no’ and ‘no’.
When the cricket’s not on, questions such as these take up 90% of my time.
I have recently acquired a few of the ‘big’ bootleg collections – I sprung for the Cutting Edge one immediately it came out, but the others all seemed a bit too much both in cost and content, so I have habitually gone for all the highlights versions.
However, a relative passed me ‘Fragments’ for not very much, and the Complete Basement Tapes came down in price recently so I treated myself. They are such beautifully produced sets. Consequently I am probably going to get this (if Santa doesn’t oblige) and the More Blood More Tracks set is now calling to me.
It feels as if some of the recent Bootleg series have been Bob-overload, but as usual I’ve succumbed and bought the 2-CD version of TTOW. It might only get played once but at least the full set looks good on the shelf.
The SDE of B.S.V.18 has been played 4 times that’s all 8 CDs and will be played much more
Skipping this one I think, have most of the others in one format or another. Bob just did a 3 night stint in Swansea!