Bob Dylan: Bootleg Series Vol 7 - No Direction Home

[BlueChair]

Edited By Jonathan Cohen. July 13, 2005, 3:15 PM ET

Dylan Offers Rarities Bonanza On 'No Direction'

By Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

More than two-dozen previously unreleased tracks will be found on "No Direction Home: The Soundtrack," the seventh volume in Columbia/Legacy's Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series." As previously reported, the double-disc set is the companion to Martin Scorsese's Dylan documentary of the same name. The album is due Aug. 30; the film premieres Sept. 26 on PBS.

Sequenced in chronological order, "No Direction Home" boasts 26 rarities, beginning with what is believed to be a recording of the first original song Dylan ever recorded ("When I Got Troubles," taped by a high school friend in Minnesota in 1959).

Also featured are two tracks recorded in Minneapolis in December 1961, a live version of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" from a 1961 show at New York's Carnegie Hall that was previously not known to exist and alternate takes of "Mr. Tambourine Man," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "She Belongs to Me" from the 1964-65 "Bringing It All Back Home" sessions.

The album's second disc sports five alternate takes from the 1965 sessions for "Highway 61 Revisited" and three from the following year's "Blonde on Blonde," plus live versions of "Ballad of a Thin Man" and "Like a Rolling Stone" from Dylan's 1966 U.K. tour.

Liner notes for "No Direction Home" were penned by producer Andrew Loog Oldham and Dylan collaborator Al Kooper, while journalist Eddie Gorodetsky offers track-by-track analysis.

Dylan himself narrates the film version of "No Direction Home," which boasts new interviews with such seminal figures as Joan Baez, Allen Ginsberg, Al Kooper, Pete Seeger and Dave Von Ronk.

On the same day "No Direction Home" hits stores, another Dylan album will begin an 18-month window of exclusivity at Starbucks locations. "Bob Dylan: Live at the Gaslight 1962" features restored recordings culled from the artist's early performances at the New York cafe.

Here is the track list for "No Direction Home":

Disc one:
"When I Got Troubles" (1959)
"Rambler, Gambler" (1960)
"This Land Is Your Land" (live at New York's Carnegie Chapter Hall, 1961)
"Song to Woody" (1961)
"Dink's Song" (1961)
"I Was Young When I Left Home" (1961)
"Sally Gal" ("The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" outtake, 1962)
"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" (demo, 1963)
"Man of Constant Sorrow" (1963)
"Blowin' in the Wind" (live at New York's Town Hall, 1963)
"Masters of War" (live at New York's Town Hall, 1963)
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" (live at New York's Carnegie Hall, 1963)
"When the Ship Comes In" (live at New York's Carnegie Hall, 1963)
"Mr. Tambourine Man" ("Bringing It All Back Home" alternate take, 1964)
"Chimes of Freedom" (live at Newport, R.I. Folk Festival, 1964)
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" ("Bringing It All Back Home" alternate take, 1965)

Disc two:
"She Belongs To Me" (“Bringing It All Back Home" alternate take, 1965)
"Maggie's Farm" (live at Newport, R.I. Folk Festival, 1965)
"It's Take a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry" ("Highway 61 Revisited" alternate take, 1965)
"Tombstone Blues" ("Highway 61 Revisited" alternate take, 1965)
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" ("Highway 61 Revisited" alternate take, 1965)
"Desolation Row" ("Highway 61 Revisited" alternate take, 1965)
"Highway 61 Revisited" ("Highway 61 Revisited" alternate take, 1965)
"Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat" ("Blonde on Blonde" alternate take, 1966)
"Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again" ("Blonde on Blonde" alternate take, 1966)
"Visions of Johanna" ("Blonde on Blonde" alternate take, 1965)
"Ballad of a Thin Man" (live at Edinburgh's ABC Theatre, 1966)
"Like a Rolling Stone" (live at Manchester, England's Free Trade Hall, 1966)

[Mike Boom]

WOHOOO - cant wait to see this and the CD seems to be awesome too - Blonde on Blonde alternate takes - hooray!

[BlueChair]

It'll be nice to have Maggie's Farm from Newport on CD finally, and I hope the alternate version of "Tombstone Blues" is the one with backing vocals on it - my bootleg version is pretty poor quality.

[TheComedian]

Here's a whole buncha info on the album from rec.music.dylan:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec ... 2498ce9186

...including a little debate about Tombstone Blues.

[verbal gymnastics]

Gimme gimme gimme!

[BlueChair]

Early reviews of Scorcese's film are also very flattering.. apparently some of the footage they dug up is astounding, and some are saying it's Marty's best film in a decade!

[bambooneedle]

I wish there were more original songs besides the Gaslight songs etc. And I wonder how well they can get those sounding.

[BlueChair]

You can watch a preview of the Scorsese doc here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/br ... 59-2715267