Who is ready for one of Bob Dylan's best unreleased bootlegs?

[bathroommonkey76]

This is my favorite Dylan boot from the late 1970s-- The performances on these tapes are probably Dylan's best since his folk days. The runtime is pretty long-- Just throwing that warning out there. lol

From Bob's Boots:

The first CD opens with an arrangement of Like A Rolling Stone that's quite different from the one utilized on the tour itself, before introducing a first ever CD transfer of the complete December 30th 1977 tape. This particular rehearsal comes at a time when the touring band was still in a state of flux, with Denny Siewell on drums, Jesse Ed Davis on guitar and Katie Segal and Debbie Dye Gibson on backing vocals. It also features Dylan figuring out a piano arrangement of It's all over now baby blue, as well as versions of three songs that failed to appear on the tour; Most likely you go your way, Leopard skin pill box hat and If not for you. Though this is a first generation digital transfer of the cassette master, this is one recording not from the mixing console, but recorded by one of the musicians with a boom box. (hence the slightly recessed vocals). However, it remains a fascinating insight into the embryonic stage of rehearsals at this point.

Tracks 15-17 on the first CD gain come from a first-gen digital transfer of a tape that has generally only circulated in mediocre quality, from high generational recordings. This session featured a different drummer, (Bruce Gary), as well as a unique 1978 arrangement of the Blood On The Tracks classic You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go. Finally, the CD concludes with a teaser of the goodies to be found on CD2... a previously uncirculated take of the old blues standard My Babe.

The second CD continues in the same vein, and features a full disc worth of uncirculated gems (save for versions of Blowin In The Wind and Ballad Of A Thin Man previewed on the legendary Genuine Bootleg Series: Third One Now set. Every song is presented complete, with false starts kept to a minimum, and a number of outstanding arrangements from the early 1978 shows are first realized here (notably I Threw It All Away, The Man In Me and If You See Her Say Hello. The latter is a magnificent arrangement that, thankfully, is represented in three separate guises on this collection (given the paucity of actual live performances)... it never made it past the first four gigs!!). These recordings feature the backing vocalists Helena Springs and Jo Ann Harris, although the drummer(s) is unknown.

The third CD concludes these new recordings with fully realized versions of I Don't Believe You and Going Going Gone. These are followed by what many Dylan fans choose as their favorite Dylan rehearsal recording, bar none... the January 30th 1978 tape. Again, it has been transferred from the master cassette direct to DAT. It has never before sounded this good! Continuing with some important arrangements discarded early in the tour; Tomorrow Is A Long Time, and Knockin' On Heavens Door receive their definitive renditions. A lovely play-through experience which concludes, fittingly, with a new transfer from a first generation cassette of the equally renowned three song tape from two days later that Dylan personally gave to a reporter who was interviewing him for a cover story on Renaldo and Clara. The February 1st rendition of Repossession Blues is another holy grail recording for the bobcat fraternity, here transferred in all of its' pre-Dolby, original, expansive glory.

The fourth CD jumps ahead to the end of the first leg of the tour, and the recruitment of a new bass player/ bandleader, Jerry Scheff. (of Elvis Presley fame). Scheff replaces a disenchanted Rob Stoner. This so called Scheff Audition tape appears here in a new transfer from a first generation cassette, and features two new Dylan compositions in incomplete but fascinating versions. We'd Better Talk This Over will appear in a matter of days at the Street Legal sessions, but with some subtle lyric changes. Coming From The Heart will have no such luck, despite being the best of the songs co-written with backing singer Helena Springs. However, just to show the song in all of its
stages and splendor, at the end of the audition tape is a complete recording from the Rundown made immediately after the Street Legal sessions. Along side it are two distinctly different recordings of the Dylan-Springs unreleased original Stop Now.
The Bonus Tracks rounding out this overview of the Alimony Tour Rehearsals are three notable forms of Dylan originals debuted on the American leg of the tour.

Do Right To Me Baby and Coming From The Heart are one-off 1978 debuts. Do Right, would of course, would be the first public performance of a Slow Train song. Finally, there is a soundboard recording of Am I Your Stepchild? from the Oakland show. This particular performance, which is quite different from the version on Genuine Bootleg Series Vol.1, was apparently used for copyright. More Than Flesh And Blood (Written By Dylan/Springs) is the final track, but it's not listed on the package. It's a studio recording, unknown date (post 1978) and location. Performed By Springs.

So there you have it. Songs and arrangements are raw and reborn from one of Dylan's most overlooked years -- when he played to something close to 3 million people in a single year, and wowed just about every one of them. Oh..., and then found Christ....

http://www.bobsboots.com/CDs/cd-r32.html

Tracklisting:


Like A Rolling Stone (1) 0:00
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (1) 7:20
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (2) 8:28
Blowin In The Wind 10:31
Maggie's Farm 13:20
Like A Rolling Stone (2) 17:34
The Man In Me 22:40
To Ramona 26:31
Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) 32:11
Simple Twist Of Fate (1) 36:52
Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat 41:43
If Not For You 43:46
I Threw It All Away 47:11
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 48:08
Going Going Gone 51:49
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go 54:08
Simple Twist Of Fate (2) 58:01
My Babe 1:02:00
Like A Rolling Stone (3) 1:04:56

Just Like A Woman (1) 1:06:40
Just Like A Woman (2) 1:10:42
Blowin' In The Wind (1) 1:15:50
Blowin' In The Wind (2) 1:16:55
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 1:22:20
The Man In Me 1:27:17
You're A Big Girl Now 1:31:37
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright 1:38:05
I Threw It All Away 1:41:21
Love Minus Zero / No Limit 1:46:40
Maggie's Farm 1:50:50
Ballad Of A Thin Man 1:56:40
Simple Twist Of Fate 2:01:20
To Ramona 2:06:33
If You See Her Say Hello 2:11:10

I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) [1] 2:14:50
Going Going Gone 2:20:10
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 2:24:45
The Times They Are A-Changin' 2:29:10
If You See Her, Say Hello 2:34:10
The Man In Me 2:38:15
I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) [2] 2:42:40
Tomorrow Is A Long Time 2:47:10
You're A Big Girl Now 2:51:30
Knockin' On Heavens Door 2:57:50
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) 3:03:20
Forever Young 3:10:00
Repossession Blues 3:11:24
One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) 3:15:50
Girl From The North Country 3:21:18

We'd Better Talk This Over 3:26:34
Coming From The Heart (The Road Is Long) [1] 3:29:00
I Threw It All Away 3:30:03
Maggie's Farm 3:35:15
Ballad Of A Thin Man 3:41:00
Simple Twist Of Fate 3:45:45
To Ramona 3:50:50
If You See Her, Say Hello 3:55:22
I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) 3:59:00
Love Minus Zero / No Limit 4:01:12
Stop Now (1) 4:05:14
Stop Now (2) 4:10:50
Coming From The Heart (The Road Is Long) [2] 4:14:34

Bonus tracks from the bootleg:
Am I Your Stepchild? (Oakland, November 13, 1978) 4:19:39
Do Right To Me Baby (Miami, December 16, 1978) 4:22:35
Coming From The Heart (The Road Is Long) [3] {St.Paul, MN, October 31} 4:25:47
More Than Flesh And Blood (Studio Recording, Post 1978) 4:30:35

[SCantiGOP]

1. Thanks so much for this

Best concert I ever saw was Dylan and the Band a few years before this.
I'm still listening to the aucoutic White Album.
Thank you bigly!

[bathroommonkey76]

3. I was born in 76 lol

But I have a huge bootleg collection from those 70s shows with the Band-- St Valentines 74 (I believe) comes to mind.

No problem-- Music nuts should stick together. lol

[williesgirl]

2. Wow, thanks!

[bathroommonkey76]

4. YW