Bob Dylan: More Blood More Tracks - The Bootleg Series Vol. 14

These Bob Dylan Bootleg Series are always fascinating, and within their labyrinthine vaults some real gems can be unearthed. They are, however, far more to the taste of obsessive Dylanologists than just plain common-or-garden aficionados such as myself. This one particularly fits that bill in that it doesn't cover a period in Dylan's career, as the others in the series had, but one ten-track album only. Admittedly that album is 1975's mighty Blood On The Tracks so it makes my ears prick up. Eighty-six tracks, though? Am I able to plough through nine consecutive versions of You're Gonna Make Lonesome When You Go? Hell, no.  Similarly with ten versions of Buckets Of Rain or nine of Tangled Up In Blue etc etc. Sure, it is interesting to hear the genesis of a certain track, but, man, I'm really not that bothered. That doesn't mean I don't love the versions present on here when I hear them, because I do - a lot. 

The thing is, and this surely must apply to many people. I have lived with the original Blood On The Tracks since 1976 now, when I first bought it. I know it like the back of my hand so it is always a bit of an odd experience when you hear alternate versions of songs you know so well - Idiot Wind and Lily, Rosemary & The Jack Of Hearts with new verses, for example. 

The best thing to do with collections like this, for me, is to play the whole lot on random, initially, then cherry-pick what I feel are the best versions after that. What I have eventually ended up with is an alternative Blood On The Tracks comprising my favourite alternative takes of the album's ten songs. One consistent thing that flows through all my choices is the wam bass delivered by Tony Brown and a similar warmth in Dylan's vocal. All the choices have a great sound to them and my "alternative Blood On The Tracks" is certainly an album I enjoy listening to, despite my love of the original. There is something relaxing, deep and almost soulful about these versions. Something pure and essential, giving the album an intriguing, unexpected renaissance. Incidentally, none of the material in this collection has anything approaching a typical lo-fi demo sound - the sound is excellent throughout. This makes a random listen to the whole lot quite satisfying, although often I end up with, say, three If You See Her Say Hello's in a row!

Critics love sets like this, don't they? Their reviews take almost as long to read as listening to the set itself. I simply can't be bothered to produce similar pieces of work, so I will just give you my ten choices -

Tangled Up In Blue (Take 3 Remake 2)
Simple Twist Of Fate (Take 3, Remake)
You're A Big Girl Now (Take 2, Remake)
Idiot Wind (Take 4, Remake with organ overdub)
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (Take 2, Remake 2)
Meet Me In The Morning (Take 1)
Lily, Rosemary & The Jack Of Hearts (Take 2)
If You See Her, Say Hello (Take 1, Remake)
Shelter From The Storm (Take 4)
Buckets Of Rain (Take 2, Remake)

I would say that some of these versions I actually prefer to their originals - Idiot Wind and Meet Me In The Morning (good Lord above this is a great version) in particular. It is something unsurprising, isn't it, that Dylan's original selections are being questioned. Only one artist could inspire such debate over song/version choices. Strangely, or maybe not, I tend to have chosen acoustic versions of the songs that were originally played by a full band and punchier band versions of the originally acoustic ones. I guess it makes sense to choose slightly different versions of the songs that I was so familiar with, doesn't it?

 

The two notable excluded tracks from the album's sessions were the bassy, typical Dylan blues of Call Letter Blues, which was probably too close to Meet Me In The Morning to be included and Up To Me, a song very similar to both Tangled Up In Blue and Shelter From The Storm, just with different lyrics. It is actually a lyrical goldmine in its six minutes plus and is a strong contender in the "great forgotten, not included on albums gems" stakes. Both of these are fine songs, but their similarity to others on the album means that their omission was probably the correct call. The entrancing, mysterious Up To Me will always spark discussion and debate, however. There are around five or six versions of it, I think, all of which have a slightly different feel to them, which adds to its considerable intrigue.

Check out my original Blood On The Tracks review here.