BOB DYLAN
14 HIDDEN GEMS FROM THE BOOTLEG SERIES 1963-1997
IN MARCH 1991, A NEW PHASE BEGAN IN THE MOST STORIED of musical careers. Bob Dylan released a box set entitled
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3;
58 songs extracted from his archives, that provided an intimate glimpse into the working practices and secret moments of genius guarded for so long.
Thirty-two years on, Dylan has released 12 more new albums, plus 14 further entries in
The Bootleg Series.
Sometimes, it feels like he has become a man with two careers: on a relentless quest to keep driving his muse forward, while simultaneously examining myriad alternative routes through his past.
Really, though, it’s all a single mission, of a piece with his alchemical live work. Dylan’s songs are in continuous flux, never fixed in space or time, always evolving and revealing hidden meanings and possibilities – perhaps even to their creator. There’s no such thing as a definitive version, but there are multitudes of extraordinary ones. To mark the arrival of Volume 17,
Fragments,
we’re honoured to present this selection of 14 treasures from
The Bootleg Series.
Keep walking, as we’re instructed to do on Dirt Road Blues, “’til there’s nothing left to see.” It’ll be an epic journey…
1 DIRTROAD BLUES (from Bootleg Voi. 17)
Not the sizzling first take of the song referred to by Duke Robillard on page 73 in our
Time Out Of Mind
feature, but this second version is just as hot (both can be found on the new Volume 17:
Fragments).
The fantastically syncopated band could keep that groove going for ever.