Bob Dylan – More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 (Deluxe Edition)
Columbia Records – Out Now
There aren’t many albums that can sustain a near thirty-year listening relationship like Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks’. I came to it all those years ago as an enthusiastic young Dylan fan, pre-loaded by my extensive reading to hear an instant classic and I heard nothing to contradict that widely held assessment. This was a record that studied heartbreak, separation and breakups deeply. At times I suspected that maybe I hadn’t really had the requisite life experiences that inspired older Dylan devotees I knew to hold this album in such high regard. But no matter, whenever a girlfriend left the stage I would reach for ‘Blood On The Tracks’ and indulge myself in some contrived reflection, whether I was upset by the severance or not to be honest. I knew this piece of work contained insight that was heavily laden with value. And of course, some lines captured things that everyone must need articulating at some point. “We always did feel the same we just saw it from a different point of view”. “Yes Bob, we really did. So true you visionary” I’d surely have said back then. Over time though real life happens and a line like “you hurt the ones that I love best and cover up the truth with lies” is too painfully resonant to be taken lightly. The day you can truly relate to this album is not an arrival to celebrate, unfortunately. But then what is art for if not to stimulate your senses and get you really thinking about life? A true appreciation of Bob Dylan’s artistic genius simply cannot be rushed.
The original ‘Blood On The Tracks’ album is a cornerstone of any credible Bob Dylan collection. It’s up there among his top five celebrated, critically acclaimed records although many regard it as the best. Recorded in 1974, Dylan had moved on from the polemics of his breakthrough work, from the psychedelic poetry of the electric Folk-Rock years and through a low-key period where Country, Blues, Americana and Cinematic song forms were explored. ‘Blood On The Tracks’ was a great leap forward. This one was universal in its contemplations of relationship breakdowns, separation and residue from the hazards of love. It seemed more personal than Bob had ever previously been, yet simultaneously more abstract and impossible to pin down. These scenes were widescreen and deep. So beautifully painted with vivid detail and narration that seemed to jump from the first person to third, from past to present with revelations that at one moment appeared peripheral then in a heartbeat impossibly raw and revelatory. Rumours of Bob’s marital turbulence had begun to circulate. People speculated that these words were all real-life confessions. This only added to the record’s impact. For his part Bob never definitively stated as much, preferring to send his scholars in the direction of Anton Chekhov’s short stories as a source of inspiration. But as time passed in the seventies Dylan’s marriage really did end and the idea that the pain and heartbreak all over this album was coming from a very real place never went away.
The pre-release anticipation in 1974 focused on the whisper that Dylan had returned to his acoustic grain. The man who had shaken the folk community with his electronics and amplification nearly ten years ago was going back to his roots. Mouths were positively watering at the prospect, but things didn’t quite turn out that way when the record was eventually released at the start of 1975. ‘Blood On The Tracks’ does have some gorgeous acoustic moments but at least half the record is a full electric band and nowhere does it bare resemblance to his early works (beyond that voice and trademark harmonica punctuations). Recognition as a triumphant artistic statement was bestowed from the word go, but where had all that talk of an acoustic album come from? As more details filtered through, and a number of bootleg recordings crept onto the underground marketplace, word of another version of the album began to spread among the Dylan community. It turned out that Bob had recorded then discarded an earlier version of the record, one that featured even more anguished, stripped back readings of this material. Then at the last minute, he had re-made some numbers with a pick-up band and these were the versions that world came to know. But the mystique and legend around those original recordings didn’t disappear, if anything it grew as glimpses of what might have been started to crop up.
First there was the 1985 career-spanning box set ‘Biograph’. This alerted his audience to a ‘Blood’ sessions song called ‘Up To Me’ that didn’t make the final cut. A sublime dive into the complexities of staying in touch with one’s self in matters of the heart, taking responsibility amid the moments that just slip away from your grasp; this was the first time that an oft-repeated Dylan question would be asked, namely “how could he leave something that incredible in the can?” By the time early, slower, far more intimate versions of ‘Tangled Up In Blue’ and ‘Idiot Wind’ showed up on the original Bootleg Series release in 1991, the legend of ‘Blood On The Tracks’ firmly bedded in. Bob Dylan really had recorded a tougher, more exposed and indisputably powerful acoustic-based version of the album and then, for reasons that remain largely unexplained, re-recorded the meat and potatoes of the record with a full band. It has been suggested that a clanking of the buttons on Dylan’s jacket against the back of his guitar was an issue? Others have pointed to the open tuning used on the original recordings that imposed an overall similarity in tone to the entire album. Whilst true to a certain degree neither explanation is entirely convincing. Neither can it can be said that Dylan’s judgement was wrong. The released record was a masterpiece but that does not mean that the residue is not worth hearing, which is where this lavish 6-CD deluxe box set finally gives Dylan fans the insight they’ve been waiting for. It might not all be gold dust, but there’s plenty of it scattered around.
By and large, recording session offcuts from any album should not be let out of the recording studio. Bob Dylan heads up a strand of, mainly singer-songwriter artists, who create their audio output by capturing a real performance. Dylan is perhaps the most extreme example in that he does not over-rehearse the material; he works it up in situ and tries to nail it while the song is fresh, fluid and still open to changes. It’s a recording method that has had times left torrents of unique versions and unused songs overflowing into the unreleased archives. However, even with Bob, you rarely need to hear literally every take put down in a session as presented here. Something like his repeated attempts at ‘Buckets Of Rain’ becomes notable only due to the increasing amount of times he can mess up the line “you do what you must do, and you do it well”.
One of the widely circulated stories around these sessions is that a band known as Deliverance (so named because they had worked on the soundtrack to the film of the same name) were involved but hadn’t gelled with Bob. It has been claimed that the fall out is what lead to solo acoustic dominance, but the session chronology clearly proves this to be false. It’s true that multiple attempts at ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’ with the band eventually fall flat, then apart from the bassist they do largely vanish from the sessions. But before this Dylan was laying down several other key tracks in a solo acoustic arrangement. It’s clear his intentions for many of these songs had always inclined towards minimalism and quiet intensity. Again though, listening to a session where things aren’t quite working out does not make for entertaining multiple plays. So instead the real delight in this box set is in the vast potential to create an eye-opening, revelatory alternative and extended version of ‘Blood On The Tracks’. You can create your own sister record that has just as much relevance and at times, even more emotional punch than the original. That said, you can never surpass the original. I really do believe that Bob got this one right.
And so here is the track listing I have compiled for my alternative version of ‘Blood On The Tracks’, picked from multiple takes and bountiful selections available across this wonderful box set:
- Tangled Up In Blue (Take 3 Remake 17-9-74) This is close in tone to the lolling, acoustic version first heard on 1991’s Bootleg Series original release, but this is arguably the freshest version available in terms of Dylan audibly delighting in the wordplay of his newly composed masterpiece.
- Simple Twist Of Fate (Take 2 16-9-74) On the very first day of the sessions this mournful reflection was essentially nailed in this basic guitar and harmonica solo arrangement
- You’re A Big Girl Now (Take 1 Remake 17-9-74) As raw and ravaged as this basic acoustic version is, it is underpinned by a gentle bass and an organ arrangement that has a lush sweetening effect. Arguably the definitive version, if there could be such a thing with a recording artist like Dylan
- Idiot Wind (Take 4 Remake with organ 19-9-74) Slower and displaying emotions that are as exposed and painful as it’s possible to get, this rendition of one of the centrepiece songs simply has to be heard; although the anger that is heard seeping through on the familiar released re-made master version is an essential ingredient too. My feeling is that the change was a correct one but something as strong as this still stands as a classic recording in the Bob Dylan catalogue. The box set sleeve notes state that this 19th September version appeared on 1991’s first Bootleg Series release but that is incorrect. The version issued in 1991 is on this box set, but it is actually Take 6 with bass that was recorded on 16th September (but is inaccurately listed as being recorded on 19th September on the 1991 Bootleg box set, possibly leading to this slight mix up).
- You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (Take 5 with band 16-9-74) This one does work best in the faster arrangement re-recorded for the original ‘Blood On The Tracks’ but this slower paced version is on no way lacking. Inevitably the space between the lines lends a more heart-broken tone to the lyric which is somehow more soulful too.
- Call Letter Blues (Take 2 16-9-74) A track that sits perfectly amongst this unified collection of songs, both in tone and lyrical concerns. “I gaze at passing strangers in case I might see you”. “Way out in the distance, I know you’re with some other man”. Maybe all of this was a little too direct for Dylan at the time? He was clearly focused on creating an abstract work of art after all. Whatever the reason, this is one of the tunes that fell by the wayside at the time of release but remains an integral part of 1974’s creative burst. A similar version first showed up on that 1991 Bootleg series release but this one soars and is the best.
- Up To Me (Take 2 Remake with Bass 19-9-74) Dylan probably nailed this one here if not for that ubiquitous jacket button clanking on the back of his acoustic guitar. It’s another poetic master class that should have been a highlight of the original album but also, inexplicably, failed to make the final cut. Another ‘Blood’ session version was previously available on 1985’s ‘Biograph’ and there’s not a lot to choose between the two. Maybe, simply because it’s fresher to my ears, this one edges it.
- Meet Me In The Morning (Take 1 Remake 19-9-74) Easing its way in with some sublime rocking chair blues guitar picking, this version has more room to breathe and express itself than the familiar original album take. In the end, Dylan settled on a cut that had less obvious reference points, but this is a really juicy performance.
- Lily Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts (Take 2 solo 16-9-74) A song that has enough narrative developments to fuel a feature-length movie, it’s interesting to hear how it was initially played as a simple solo piece with the lyrics commanding the spotlight. The eventual re-make had the full band driving a pounding recording, but this one works just as well.
- If You See Her Say Hello (Take 1 Remake 19-9-74) A version that sounds like Dylan was role-playing in his performance. There’s a lot of drama in this vocal, he almost sounds a little punch drunk at times. This is further proof that a definitive version of many of his songs can’t really exist, there’s nothing here that would explain why the tape should be locked away for nearly 50 years. On his earlier 1974 album ‘Planet Waves’ he’d included two versions of the song ‘Forever Young’ but that’s rarely a viable option. And so it is that sensational renditions like this one remain in the vaults.
- Shelter From The Storm (Take 1 with Bass and Piano 17-9-74) A markedly different version this, it’s piano part could almost be described as jaunty. This sounds like the players have got up to play the song in a backwater pub session, there’s not an awful lot of introspection in evidence here. At least in terms of tone. For me, this is an atmosphere shift that works well in the overall song cycle and it’s a big surprise that this one was shelved.
- Buckets Of Rain (Take 5 Remake 2 with Bass 19-9-74) This is the one song from these sessions that doesn’t have a significant variation. It has pretty much arrived at its final destination from the word go and Dylan’s challenge was primarily getting it down without a glitch. Of the takes that didn’t make the final cut, this was my highlight.