After what has been literally months of speculation as to what would make up Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series Volume 12, all was revealed this week when we were informed that it would consist of unreleased outtakes and alternate versions of the songs recorded in 1965 and 1966. Let's be honest, this is no major surprise as these recordings are very close to being 50 years old which would mean that the copyright would pass into the public domain - unless they became commercially available first. However, the news has caused a flurry of excitement in the music press, the Dylan fan community and yes, even among my own friends, who are all anxious to get their hands on this material. Well, one must remember that this was the period in which Dylan issued no fewer than three seminal albums (one of which was a double), albums that even today are regarded among the best work by Dylan and indeed any other recording artist. In case you are not old enough to know this, or happen to have arrived from another planet, the albums in question are, 'Bringing it all Back Home', 'Highway 61 Revisited' and 'Blonde on Blonde'.
The Bootleg Series began way back in 1991 (can it really be 24 years ago?) with 'The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3'. It was a way of appeasing fans who had collected Dylan's unreleased work in the studio and on stage on, well yes you guessed it, bootleg albums and tapes. We were then given seven years to digest this package as 'The Bootleg Series Volume 4' was not released until 1998. Since then the pace has increased somewhat with the last four volumes all arriving in the seven years since 2008. And the packages are becoming increasingly more elaborate with basic and more expensive deluxe versions on offer.
For Volume 12 (released on 6 November), the choice is even greater with a basic 2 CD version entitled 'Best of the Cutting Edge' and a Deluxe Edition containing no fewer than 6 CD's. Such a collection is great if one wishes to listen to multiple versions or takes of the same song. I love the song 'Like a Rolling Stone' but seeing that Disc 3 of this set is made up of 20 versions of it, I wondered if I my love would endure hearing it over and over for an hour or more. It doesn't sound to me like the best audio experience and certainly not one you would wish to inflict on your non Dylan loving friends or family. However I expect that this will indeed be the most popular of the editions on offer.
The thing is, that we Dylan fans all tend to be completists and simply have to own every possible version of a song that has been committed to tape. Not that the so called Deluxe Version will give us that. For to obtain every single note recorded by Dylan in those two years. one would have to choose the limited edition (only 5000 units). This consists of 18 CD's (379 tracks), nine mono vinyl singles in picture sleeves and a 180 page hardcover book. And the price for this version? Well in the UK you would get one penny change from £600.Despite the fact that most Dylan fans (myself included) already own some of this material on bootleg albums such as 'The Genuine Bootleg Series' (4 volumes) or 'Thin Wild Mercury Music' , there are few among us who will not hesitate to purchase one of these packages in November. Advance orders for their personal preferences have in many cases already been made. For myself, I have pretty much decided that I am going for the Deluxe 3 LP and 2 CD version complete with a booklet of liner notes and unreleased photographs. I think that should be sufficient for me.
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