On the old site (or more likely the Word blog) there was a debate on Blood On The Tracks – arising from the idea that every great album had to have a clunker on it (an idea I did not concur with).
Following on from the suggestion that the superb Lily, Rosemary & the Jack Of Hearts was a clunker, someone posted a Definitive listing for BOTT, drawing from the official version, New York sessions and Biograph.
If the person who posted that list is still around in these here parts could you please repost it, or if anyone else remembers the list could they put it down?
Thank you, in anticipation.
Meanwhile here is the New York version of Lily…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tN_AeU684T8
Many thanks.
I don’t know how that happened. I have Lily playing right now and thought I’d copied that URL.
It might have been me.
Tangled Up In Blue from Bootleg Series 1-3
Simple Twist Of Fate from Blood On The Tracks
You’re A Big Girl Now from Biograph
Idiot Wind from Bootleg Series 1-3
You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go from Blood On The Tracks
Meet Me In The Morning from Blood On The Tracks
Up To Me from Biograph
If You See Her Say Hello from Bootleg Series 1-3
Shelter From The Storm from Blood On The Tracks
Buckets Of Rain from Blood On The Tracks
The idea wasn’t to come with anything definitive but to demonstrate that the tenderness in the New York recordings change the tone of the whole record. For the better, in my opinion. For example, Idiot Wind sounds sad and forgiving rather than bitter and nasty. All the above were recorded in the September in New York.
Lily, Rosemary is a great track but it feels incongruous on Blood On The Tracks. Up To Me fits more comfortably.
A Bootleg Series release of BOTT is rumoured to be in the works. Which excites me greatly, if true.
To be honest though, I’m not entirely sure which Chekov short story he based Lily on…
Surely, it must be next. However, I don’t think Dylan is entirely trustworthy.
Idiot Wind from Bootleg Series 1-3
My favourite version of You’re A Big Girl Now is the one on Hard Rain, which absolutely slays me. Sadly it’s not currently available on youtube (at least in the UK), so I’ll attempt to embed it from Spotify.
Well that worked well.
Spot on.Hard Rain is such a great sloppy ramshackle mess of a band backing Dylan who is in supreme vocal form!
I had my copy of Hard Rain thrown back at me from someone I had lent it to with the words ” That’s not music” Ramshackle, as Bob called it at the time ‘ Rag Rock’
The Hard Rain version of Shelter from the Storm may be my favourite Dylan vocal, particularly how he finds a differently way of stressing the words of the title each time round.
Yes! I liked it ‘cos it’s all bouncy n twangy n that. Or summat: http://bobsbigbox.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/19-hard-rain-1976.html
I don’t believe him. He’s a LIAR…
Er…that was meant to be a reply to Tigger above…
It would have been a good joke. In its right place.
BOTT bootleg series has been rumoured every release since Manchester 66. It’s an easy one like a Gospel show, the Supper Club, 1976 or 78 tour rehearsals etc
But Dylan never does obvious
Does anyone know how much, if any, input does Zimmie have with The Bootleg Series?
Not much input from Mr D I believe. He just lets them do whatever they want
This just in: L,R & tJoH is not only the best track on BOTT but one of his best evah, so there!!
Thanks @tiggerlion, but the version I’m thinking of matched the official version track for track, and suggested certain tracks were the better performances.
In that case, you’ll have to get Lily, Rosemary from a real bootleg. ?
Every version of these songs from New York , Hard Rain or the Official are fantastic because the songs are sublime.
Shelter and Idiot from hard rain are great ,esp as Bob was pissed off for Sara turning up unexpectedly.Idiot from NY is probably a better version
The Bootleg issue I’m interested in is the Christian period. His singing in that period was fantastic.