4-12-11
Bob Dylan
The other week, we went to San Diego for a vacation – we saw and heard a lot of Bob Dylan – his painted portrait up in a coffee house downtown, more than one version of “Like A Rolling Stone” etc. It seemed like Bob was everywhere in San Diego.
To be clear, I have been a fan ever since first hearing “Like A Rolling Stone” in approx. 1965. As a youngster, I managed to get most of his 1965 – 1970 stuff in real time as new releases, and age has only brought about wisdom that encouraged me to try other titles recorded around this time, though not released at that time.
So, if you want to have some Dylan in your collection, I recommend the following titles to you – most are available as SA-CD’s, so try and find those versions on CD. The recent “mono box” has a lot of the right records in it, but…I do not recommend all of ‘em. What I do recommend:
CDx2 BASEMENT TAPES 8229.2
1975 24 TRKS (’67 recording) (’09 issue)
CDx3 BIOGRAPH (3CD boxed set) C3K 65298
1985 53 TRK Collection, boxed set
CDx2 BLONDE ON BLONDE C2H 90325
1966 14 TRKS (’03 issue) multi-channel SA-CD
CDx3 BOOTLEG SERIES, Vols. 1 – 3 (3CD boxed set) C3K 65302
1991 58 TRK Collection ’61 – ’91 recordings
CD BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME CH 90326
1965 11 TRKS (’03 issue) multi-channel SA-CD
CD HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED CH 90324
1965 9 TRKS (’03 issue) SA-CD
CD JOHN WESLEY HARDING CH 90320
1967 12 TRKS (’03 issue) SA-CD
CDx2 LIVE 1966 (Bootleg Series No. 4) C2K 65759
1998 15 TRKS Live, Manchester 5/66
CD NASHVILLE SKYLINE CH 90319
1969 10 TRKS (’03 issue) SA-CD
CDx2 NO DIRECTION HOME (Bootleg Series No. 7) C2K 93937
2005 28 TRKS collection (mostly 60’s recordings)
CD SELF PORTRAIT CGK 30050
1970? 24 TRKS
Alas, there doesn’t seem to be a good re-mastered version of “Self Portrait”. I really enjoyed the alternate versions of songs found on the “No Direction Home” collection, really excellent stuff. “The Bootleg Series Vols. 1 – 3” also has some very entertaining material not found on other CD’s, but it’s been re-packaged, but not re-mastered )that I am aware of). The SA-CD’s were all re-mastered in ’03 or so, and uniformly sound great.
The great revelation for me of the last 10 years is getting into the “Basement Tapes” – I hadn’t cared for what I heard on bootlegs, and the ’75 legit issue on Columbia sums it all up pretty well – there are more “Basement Tapes” to be found on “The Bootleg Series Vols. 1 – 3”, I might add.
All titles are on Columbia Records in the USA.
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