Yet another box set. Don't they come thick and fast at this time of year?
I first reported on this set in all of it's versions last month, so if you wish to read it or refresh your memory, you can do so here.
As I indicated then, I opted for the set entitled 'The Best of The Cutting Edge' which came on three LP records plus two CD's. Housed in a very sturdy slipcase box, each of the albums has been pressed on 180g vinyl and each is contained within a nice thick card cover in a retro style that puts me in mind of the kind of covers old 78 RPM records used to come in. Not only that, but there is also a card, not paper, inner sleeve. A nice touch I feel.
And of course there is a book which in this edition is a 12" x 12" softback running to 56 pages. And a very fine thing it is if I'm honest. In fact it was one of the main reasons for me plumping for the vinyl version, to have a book of a decent size that I could actually read without the aid of a magnifying glass.
The least impressive part of the set are the two CD's which are in ordinary card sleeves but as they will mainly be used in the car, that is a very minor quibble.
Obviously I'm aware that having gone for the lower priced set, I was set to miss out on a lot of music that is included in the 'Deluxe Edition'. However those nice people at a certain well known online retailers that shall remain nameless, provide a service that enables a purchaser to download a copy of their item. On the day of release, I duly set about downloading my copy, only to discover that I was provided with the full Deluxe Edition! All 6 CD's (111 tracks) of it!
So enough of the packaging and downloads. What of the quality of the music? Well, all I can say is that this is exactly what made me a fan of Bob Dylan in the first place. Did anyone ever produce a better body of work in such a short space of time? And what we have here allows us to experience first hand how those wonderful 1965/66 recordings evolved in the studio to eventually become the trio of albums 'Bringing It All Back Home', 'Highway 61 Revisited' and 'Blonde on Blonde'. Albums that were all recorded within a 14 month period. Incredible!
For the purpose of this post, I intend to focus on the vinyl version - a mere 36 tracks, as absorbing and analysing the larger collection will take considerably longer but is something I feel I may return to in the fullness of time. Personally I believe that the vinyl albums provide one with a more pleasurable listening experience. Why? Well simply because there is far less repetition. I mentioned that there were 36 tracks spread across the three discs and these represent 33 different songs. Only 'Like a Rolling Stone', 'Desolation Row' and 'Highway 61 Revisited' are repeated and in vastly different arrangements. Compare that with four versions of 'On The Road Again' or 'It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry' or even 20 versions of 'Like a Rolling Stone' that appear on the Deluxe Edition, and you can possibly imagine that this might jar after a while.
OK everything included here may not be absolutely top class, but it is not meant to be. Let's not forget that this collection is part of the Bootleg Series. We are dealing here with rehearsals, demos and alternate takes that were considered to be not good enough for the officially released albums or were still very much works in progress. So on side 6 of the vinyl we hear an unusual fourth take of 'Just Like a Woman' taken at a much faster pace than the sedate released version. Even producer Bob Johnson comments "That's one hell of a beat". He doesn't sound convinced and one can understand why Dylan soon reverted to the slower tempo. Also some of the tracks come to a sudden and abrupt ending which can take one unawares upon first hearing. There are also short throw-away snippets of songs such as 'You Don't Have to Do That'. But none of these things ultimately detract from the listening experience. Simply because much of the content is absolutely brilliant and we are witnessing first hand a genius at work - warts and all. We hear Dylan creating and refining his words and melodies, making adjustments to the tempos or the way the words fit within the framework of the songs. There are changes that will surprise people who are familiar with these songs but the whole experience is absolutely fascinating and always entertaining.
In my view we should just be bloody grateful to Bob for allowing us to witness this act of creation.
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.
The fairy-lit and decorated tree stands in the living room and supermarkets are beginning to clear their shelves to make room for Easter eggs which means it must be time to look back at the best albums of 2014. Beginning as usual with the best re-releases and box sets.
The most excitement this year seems to have been generated by the release of Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series Volume 11.
In other words 'The Basement Tapes'.
Understandable I guess when one considers the significance of those recordings. Without those informal sessions I doubt there would have been any 'Music From Big Pink'
nor any of the genre which we now call 'Americana'. So, pretty important then. But what of the actual musical content of the set itself?
Well to satisfy the Dylan fans, it simply had to be a complete release of all the tracks available including alternate takes, demos and false starts. But therein lies the problem for me because the truth is that most of that stuff is not very good. Nevertheless it is an historic document and most of those who were prepared to fork out about £100 appear to have been well pleased. Personally I have found it more enjoyable to create a playlist of my favourite pieces, and let's be honest, there are some truly great songs there, but each to his own.
Other box sets this year have included the Small Faces excellent 'Here Comes The Nice' which I wrote about here. Of course this release has been made even more poignant by the recent death of Ian McLagan.
Also Led Zeppelin have released remastered and expanded versions of their first five albums, Wilco have released a collection of rarities entitled 'Alpha Mike Foxtrot' and Crosby Stills Nash & Young have also brought us a 4 CD set of live recordings from their 1974 stadium tour. Another fine box set came from the occasionally overlooked Mike Bloomfield. 'From His Head To His Heart To His Hands' is a mixed bag of material from throughout Bloomfield's career including a dozen previously unreleased tracks. It has all been nicely compiled by his friend and frequent collaborator, Al Kooper.
All very nice indeed.
However I suspect that they will all pale into insignificance when I eventually get to hear Volume 2 of 'The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records'. I have repeatedly been drawn back to the wonders of Volume 1 which was released last year, and the second volume covering the period 1928 to 1932 promises to be even more wonderful, featuring the recordings of Charley Patton and my own personal favourites, Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas. I can't wait to hear it in it's entirety (800 tracks)
I'm now turning my attention to the best of the new releases of 2014. Check back soon to see if you agree with my selections.
Well, here we are in December already. Where has this bloody year gone I wonder?
It is therefore time to turn my attention to what I consider the best album releases of the year, but the White Room rules clearly state that I can only include new albums, not reissues regardless of how well they have been remixed, remastered or repackaged. So the following represent those albums that cannot feature in my final 'best of 2013' list.
It has been a great year for new albums but likewise it has been pretty wonderful for reissues also.
Early in the year, Family marked their 40th anniversary live reunion with a boxed set of all of their seven studio albums plus a live album from 1970, three singles and two CD's of alternate versions and studio outtakes. All nicely packaged with a 70 odd page book.
You can read my thoughts here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/box-sets-4-family-once-upon-time.html
and here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/family-once-upon-time-hands-on-verdict.html
Bob Dylan reissued what many consider one of his worst ever albums, yet 'Another Self Portrait' demonstrated that stripped of all the adornments that helped to ruin the original album, there were some very fine songs there. Additionally this package was boosted by the inclusion of some alternate versions of songs which later featured on 'New Morning'.
And speaking of Dylan, The Band brought out 'Live at The Academy of Music 1971' a four CD set which documented all of their performances at that venue in '71. If you can bear the repeated performances of various songs, there are some absolute gems in there.
In an earlier post which can be read here - http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/box-sets-7-john-martyn-island-years.html
I reported on the release of an 18 disc box set of all of John Martyn's recordings on the Island label. Plus an additional live DVD. Expensive but wonderful. (And I did grab myself a bit of a bargain with that one).
It has been a wonderful year for Beatles fans what with the voluminous 1st part of 'All These Years' by Mark Lewisohn (I am still working my way through the deluxe edition). Nineteen years after the release of 'Live at The BBC', the second volume, 'On Air' has been issued. While it may not be quite as essential as the first volume, it is still a fascinating piece of history and makes for some great listening. After all it is The Beatles!
However..... the absolute prize for the best reissue set of 2013 just HAS (in my opinion) to go to 'Hidden Masters' a six CD box set covering the career of Jess Roden. You can read my thoughts on that here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/jess-roden-hidden-masters.html
and here:-
http://eddie-graham.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/box-sets-6-hidden-masters-jess-roden.html
Look out soon for the White Room best albums of 2013.
See ya.
For much of this week I have been laid low with what I am told is a heavy head cold. Personally I think it is a virulent form of 'man-flu'.
Anyway every cloud..... as they say. The time has given me the opportunity to catch up on some of the outstanding books I referred to recently. Also, I have as always been listening to music.
This week the playlist has been mainly:
VII by Blitzen Trapper of which more later.
Live at The Academy of Music 1971 by The Band and what a fine band they were.
Nothing Can Hurt Me (Movie Soundtrack) by Big Star
Wise Up Ghost & Other Stories by Elvis Costello & The Roots
Another Self Portrait by Bob Dylan (The Bootleg Series Vol 10). Self Portrait is still a pretty duff album but the takes on the first two CDs of this collection demonstrate that Dylan may just have started Americana way ahead of its time.
All very enjoyable. Consequently my pain and suffering have been eased considerably.
Upon my return to the UK after an Easter break in the sunshine, I learned of the death of Paul Williams at the age of 64.
Probably best known as the founder of 'Crawdaddy' magazine in the mid 1960's, Williams provided an outlet for promising young music writers such as Jon Landau and Pete Guralnick. As it was a US publication, it was something that passed me by, living as I did in the UK. Consequently I first became aware of the work of Paul Williams the writer when I picked up a book entitled 'Bob Dylan - Performing Artist'. The book in question covered the period 1960 to 1973 and became the first of a trilogy of books about Dylan as, well yes you guessed it, a performing artist. This meant that the book was not a biography of Dylan but focused on his performances of songs whether in the studio (released and unreleased) or live (mainly officially unreleased).
What struck me about the book and particularly about Williams' style of writing, was that he wrote about the way the music made him feel. This was not something I had encountered before and I found the style unique and totally compelling. He wrote with such enthusiasm that the reader (me) was driven to seek out that performance. If it was a well known version of a song I had heard many times, I found myself listening to it in a different way and consequently finding new, undiscovered pleasures. In most instances however, his description would be of a live performance that I had never previously heard (those being the days when bootleg recordings were much harder to acquire) and I found myself compelled to obtain a copy of the recording that Williams referred to. It was a quest that was worth the effort as I discovered some absolute gems, thanks entirely to Paul Williams.
In 1995, Williams suffered a serious brain injury when he was involved in a cycling accident. This led to the early onset of Alzheimer's disease and his health had steadily declined until his death.
His creation of a 'serious' rock magazine revealed him as a visionary and his unique approach to his writing showed that he had a real talent and enormous enthusiasm that was infectious. His work will be missed.
