Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8
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Free Music Notes for Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8
Free Music Review: Essential
Hit: 5 Stars
After much anticipation, we can finally listen to "Tell Tale Signs". I think the best way to critique this album is to individually review each track.
Disc: 1
1. Mississippi 6:04 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
A great opener to a phenomenal album! Spare and rolling describes Bob Dylan's version of "Mississippi" from the forthcoming "Tell Tale Signs" album. I love Dylan's guitar playing on this track and his delivery is spot on as he narrates the lyrics. The percussion is spare and accentuates the song perfectly. I could almost imagine this song being performed on a small stage or on a porch in the deep south because of the atmosphere it conjures.
This version sounds more like the country gentleman than the recorded version from "Love and Theft." Both versions are stellar, but this one seems a little more pure and natural.
2. Most of the Time 3:46 (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
The harmonica accompaniment is definitely welcome and although this version sounds like a run through, Dylan's vocals and guitar playing sound great! The tone on the acoustic guitar is warmer than the version from "Oh Mercy."
3. Dignity 2:09 (Piano demo, Oh Mercy)
Another run through, interesting to hear Bob play a piano that sounds so spare.
4. Someday Baby 5:56 (Alternate version, Modern Times)
The build up on this track is pronounced and the jitterbug sound has been completely removed making this song sound more like a statement than a jam. This version sounds like a better fit for "Time Out of Mind" than "Modern Times" and sounds so foreign to my ears.
Throughout the track, the drumming is perfect as it shuffles along, and I think Dylan chuckles during the last verse. Inclusion of this track is interesting to see how the final product was so dramatically different.
5. Red River Shore 7:36 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
A story song with a traditional narrative told about lost love reinterpreted from the Kingston Trio. A song rooted in zydeco, while complex, would not have fit in with the dark tones of "Time Out of Mind." This song sounds like an orphan that was just waiting for a proper release.
6. Tell Ol' Bill 5:31 (Alternate version, North Country soundtrack)
Swinging, dark and brooding. This sounds like a cousin to "Things Have Changed" and is completely awesome. This vengeful song paints such a grim image to the songs that have preceded it on this album. The barroom piano and guitar interplay are top notch in this wintry stunner.
7. Born in Time 4:10 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
This song contains ruminations on a love that might have been lost. Competent playing although the production shows its age. This song is not one of my favorites, but it is not a terrible song. I'm hesitant to say that it reminds me of a coffee advert or late-period Eric Clapton, but I can't get either image out of my head.
8. Can't Wait 5:45 (Alternate version, Time Out of Mind)
Early run through of "Can't Wait." This version sounds like they're working out ideas in the studio. The band doesn't sound as confident on this version and sound restricted.
9. Everything is Broken 3:27 (Alternate version, Oh Mercy)
Why do I feel like Lanois was the naysayer when he produced Dylan's albums? I have a feeling that if Dylan had produced "Oh Mercy" it would have been a little less staid. Dylan cuts loose with his vocals and the band follows suit.
10. Dreamin' of You 6:23 (Unreleased, Time Out Of Mind)
After listening to this track several times, and looking at the lyrics, this song seems to be a compilation of ideas that would eventually form the songs, Can't Wait, Standin' In the Doorway and thematically Cold Iron's Bound. Those elements alone seem to have produced three good songs, but when crammed together in one song, it seems like an overload.
Dylan's delivery seems off in this song as well. I can't put my finger on it now, but his delivery seems a little schmaltzy. There's no menace in the music, but lyrically the song is pretty deep. There is an organ in the song that seems out of place while a noodly guitar keeps playing the same riff all the while sounding more and more boring. The song feels strained by all of these elements and collapses on itself.
11. Huck's Tune 4:09 (From Lucky You soundtrack)
Elegiac tune about a love gone wrong played as a country waltz with allusions to Moon River. This song is possibly the best thing about the "Lucky You" soundtrack, a solid track.
12. Marchin' to the City 6:36 (Unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
A gospel tinged compilation of ideas from "Time Out of Mind" I love the organ playing in the track as it silhouettes the guitar. Ends with Dylan proclaiming, "I don't know..." before fading off.
13. High Water (For Charley Patton) 6:40 (Live, August 23, 2003, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada)
This is a great live take of this track. Dylan's delivery is razor sharp and the band sound tight. The guitar work is outstanding. I saw them on this tour, and I can attest that this touring band is greatly missed.
Disc: 2
1. Mississippi 6:24 (Unreleased version #2, Time Out of Mind)
A shuffling version of "Mississippi" that sounds a little more deliberate than the released version. Dylan is at his most articulate on this performance. The banjo seems like a forced accompaniment to add southern authenticity to this song. The playing on this sounds taut and not as carefree as the other versions.
2. 32-20 Blues 4:22 (Unreleased, World Gone Wrong)
Dylan's take on the Robert Johnson classic which proves worthy of the original recording. Dylan's spare delivery is honest and original.
3. Series of Dreams 6:27 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
An alternate take from "Oh Mercy". This version is a little more loose sounding and janglier. This version removes some of the Lanois gauze that was applied to the track.
4. God Knows 3:12 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
Upbeat, but the sentiment sounds dated like a motivational poster from the late 1980's. Again, not one of my favorites, the guitar is a little too U2-like in this track.
5. Can't Escape from You 5:22 (Unreleased, December 2005)
Somber and graceful. The organ is churchlike and stately. The lyrics evoke an outtake from "Time Out of Mind".
6. Dignity 5:25 (Unreleased, Oh Mercy)
A very rubbery reverb drenched version of "Dignity." This version captures a more upbeat vibe than the released version. The band sounds loose and carefree.
7. Ring Them Bells 4:59 (Live at The Supper Club, November 17, 1993, New York, NY)
Outstanding live version of this track. The guitar/slide tone is goose bump inducing. This entire concert needs to be given an official release as one track seems like a tease!
8. Cocaine Blues 5:30 (Live, August 24, 1997, Vienna, VA)
A stellar live recording featuring one of Dylan's better touring bands. Dylan and Tony Garnier's vocals are tremendous. Bucky Baxter's pedal steel is definitely worth noting and sadly is missed from Dylan's touring band. Sublime.
9. Ain't Talkin' 6:13 (Alternate version, Modern Times)
This version is concise and effective. The guitar tone and production are solid on this truncated version.
10. The Girl on the Greenbriar Shore 2:51 (Live, June 30, 1992,Dunkerque, France)
Great live take on this traditional song.
11. Lonesome Day Blues 7:37 (Live, February 1, 2002, Sunrise, FL)
Playing with a band that is as hot as Florida, Dylan delivers the goods on this live take. Dylan's guitar playing is sorely missed from his recent performances.
12. Miss the Mississippi 3:20 (Unreleased, 1992)
Dylan's heartfelt recording of the Jimmie Rodgers classic.
13. The Lonesome River 3:04 (With Ralph Stanley, from the album Clinch Mountain Country)
Bob performs excellently with the Dr. on this bluegrass standard. A great duet.
14. `Cross the Green Mountain 8:15 (From Gods and Generals Soundtrack)
This orphaned song is a fitting closer to this bootleg series. The best thing about the Gods and Generals Soundtrack was this elegiac track.
This bootleg volume proves itself to be just as essential as the rest. It offers an exclusive look into the music of Bob Dylan during the late 80's until the present. If only they would release some of the early nineties live performances in their entirety, as those are completely necessary.
Highest Recommendation.
Free Music Review: Excellent later Dylan round-up
Hit: 5 Stars
Thank goodness for the Bootleg Series; not only does it constantly present us with new ways of approaching our favorite Dylan songs and reveal his often fascinating creative process, it's also provided me with some of my very favorite Bob Dylan albums, which I return to again and again. This most recent installment rounds up unreleased, alternate, and live material from what can generally be called Dylan's "late" period--from 1989's Oh Mercy to his most recent studio album, 2006's Modern Times. When I first heard about this release, I was really excited. I've really enjoyed Dylan's more recent work; Oh Mercy is one of my favorite Dylan albums, and to me it really marks the beginning of his latest comeback in terms of quality, which has fortunately lasted until today. As always, Dylan's more prolific than the final studio releases would have you believe, and, as often happens, much of the material that ends up off the records is as good or better than the album cuts.
The collection opens with a stripped down acoustic take of "Mississippi," one of Love and Theft's most memorable tracks. It's a good choice as a lead-off--it's more buoyant and conversational than the official version, and sets the tone of intimacy and warmth that really permeates this entire collection. A lot of people can't stand Dylan's voice these days, but I really enjoy it--not only does it convey the sometimes world-weary tone of a lot of his later material, I think it's the perfect instrument for forcefully transmitting the tenderness and occasional anguish that also appears in his recent work (not to mention enhancing the live reinventions of his extensive back catalog). On many of the tracks here, his voice is also a tool for wringing dry humor and fun out of his ever-playful words. "Most of the Time" follows suit, sounding almost like a Blood On The Tracks outtake. "Dignity" is a priceless inclusion (we get two versions here with vastly different production)--after reading Dylan's extensive notes on this song in Chronicles, Vol 1, it's great to finally hear the song's stark and moving imagery.
Although these songs span nearly 20 years, it's remarkable how well they sit alongside each other--the compilation isn't sequenced chronologically, and it's all the stronger for it: in many ways, it plays like a brand new double album. Sure, the moody, murky Daniel Lanois production from Oh Mercy and Time Out of Mind is noticeable, but the spirit and vibe of many of the songs is cohesive throughout. It seems that many of the best songs on this set simply weren't included in their original albums because they just didn't fit with the rest of the songs or mood--"Red River Shore" is a bit too playful for Time Out of Mind, while the driving "Dreamin' of You" was probably too fast for the album's languid pace.
This collection highlights a number of Dylan's other strengths, including slow blues--"Marchin' to the City" and the second version of "Mississippi" are weighty examples of his inimitable skill with preventing slow blues from being boring. It also shows that Dylan is still sometimes best experienced live--"High Water" (probably my favorite Love and Theft track) from 2003 rocks almost crushingly, and "Ring Them Bells" is achingly poignant, supplemented by the sounds of an appreciative audience. In addition, this set reminds us of Dylan's power as an interpretive singer--"32-20 Blues," "Miss the Mississippi" and "The Girl on the Greenbriar Shore" communicate this with humanity, and also act as a nagging reminder that he put out two excellent folk standard albums in the mid-90's (Good as I Been to You and World Gone Wrong), which are still largely neglected. Finally, tracks like the moving "'Cross the Green Mountain" demonstrate that Dylan the songwriter STILL unquestionably has something big to say.
I could wax poetic about each and every one of these songs, but it's a long album and this review is already long enough! I'll only mention that, like all of the other Bootleg releases, this one has excellent photos (charting the rarely-seen late 80's Dylan and into his more recent Col. Sanders cowboy outfit days) and exhaustive prose liner notes, as well as track-by-track notation. Unfortunately, I can't comment on the "Deluxe" edition, since I don't have $100 to spend on one more disc of material (not much of a value, by the looks of things), though it would be nice to hear more of the same. Whereas the No Direction Home installment sometimes begged the question "Haven't I pretty much heard all of these songs before?", this installment ties together unheard material with very fresh-sounding versions of more familiar tunes, making it a more necessary addition to a collection. If nothing else, this set is a resounding reminder that, as he turns his songwriting eyes on his cavernous past and to the strange and uncharted present and future, Dylan is producing some of the strongest material of his career.
Free Music Review: a tale from the dark ages
Hit: 5 Stars
its amazing to me that all the reviews never mention dylans meaning. the meaning of a cd, its concept usually follows the name the title the artist gives his cd. here tell tale signs is exactly that. the signs of our modern times are telling a tale. dylan is a real christian, a spiritual man in a waste howling wilderness of a world gone wrong.he literally believes a spiritual book called gods word the bible.now in that holy word christ said when you see these signs know that the end of time has just begun. wars earthquakes famine nation against nation mans love growing cold know that my return is at hand.so the tell tale signs to a spiritual man are evident.most of the songs not all are about his love relationship with the lord. dylan praise god has been given a gift from god to write and sing glorifing songs to the lord. david the psalmist did the same. i speak with great respect and humility and say that dylan is really for our modern times another david writig psalms along still waters. he is a blessing sent of god for a spirtual mans understanding and godly pleasure.his words have no truthful meaning for the modern dark ages.for instance cant escape from you/what does that mean. it seems on the surface to suggest that dylan is hopelessly in love with a women who long since has left him.but in the book of psalms david states if he could go as fast as light itself from one end of the earth to the other god would be there. if he made his bed in hell the grave god would be there too. hence david cant escape from you/ god. god as a spirit is everywhere.omnipresent.isnt it a pity we cant escape the justice and judgement of god especially when he returns.just to prove the point i will stay with this one song. dylan states he hears the sound of thunder roaring loud and long, sometimes youve got to wonder god knows ive done no wrong. when the law was given on mt. sinai there was thuder and earthquakes lightning and fear from the people and even moses himself.now no one keeps the law and all are condemned for breaking it.this being the wrath of god. now dylan hears spiritually this thunder. how/ BECAUSR THE WRATH OF GOD is revealed from heaven against all ungodlinee/ sin.it is revealed in punishment like wars,tidal waves, hurricanes etc.so thats the tell tale sign the sound of thunder dylan hears. now its been roaring loud and long since the beginning.now dylan wonders if the wrath of god is upon him. but dylan has real faith agift from god and so he reads that promise that god has not appointed us/the elect of god to wrath, but to the saving of the soul.but he says god knows ive done no wrong.now dylan knows hes done plenty of wrong. hes bit into the root of forbidden fruit just like adam and eve.but god states we have been justified from all sin through the work of christ.no sin no wrong no wrong no wrath.even though dylan knows hes a sinner he with that faith he believes what god says and not his accusing conscience.hence god knows ive done no wrong.i just wanted to give one example of mostly all the word meaning to mostly all his songs on tell tale signs. if im allowed ill write more another time . but to prove to you that his meanings are all godward ill leave off with this.the beginning of the song states as follows/ the evening train is rolling all along the homeward way. the evening train is the true church. its moving from thisworld to heaven but its still in the world by the fact thats its evening/ its not dark yet in this world but its gettin there.all my hopes are over the horizon is obvious. all my dreams have gone astray.the lords will which is perfect dashes our silly natural temporal plans for the glory of god.the hillside darkly shaded. the hill is mt. zion where the lord and his people are congregated on this earth. thats why its darkly shaded.theres no light of god in the world and the true church is hidden from the big fake hypocritical ones.stars fall from the sky. jimmy swaggert, haggard etc. all the joys of earth have faded. love not the world,if u be risen with christ seek those things that are above.but the night untouched my love. all the pain darkness emptiness isolation aloneness suffering fotr christ/dylan still loves his lord. ill stop here but i just wanted to show that the game is the same its just on another level.dylan is a spiritual man who is apilgrim an alien a foreigner to this planet. dont get up gentlemen im just passing thru........Free Music Review: Dylan is croaky, gravelly ... and brilliant
Hit: 5 Stars
Dylan, while he may not have what you'd call a traditionally great voice (duh), is one of the best singers of the rock era, and even beyond. His phrasing, his intonation, the character with which he imbues the words he's singing -- these are the things that make his songs brilliant musically and not just lyrically. In other words, what makes him a brilliant musician and not just a poet.
That has never been truer than it has in the last several decades, and rarely been more apparent than on his latest Bootleg Series set, Tell Tale Signs.
It seems he's never been more at home with that croaky, gravelly instrument of his, and the way he winds it around these songs -- both the unreleased material and the alternate versions of tracks we know -- makes this collection far more than an amalgam of outtakes and curiosities for the die-hards. It stands on its own with the likes of recent classics like Time Out of Mind and "Love and Theft".
Not that the outtakes aren't fascinating. With the exception of the mournful "Born in Time" -- a marked improvement over the one on the oddly produced and generally forgotten Under the Red Sky album -- I'd say none of these tracks should have supplanted the original album versions. But the two versions each of "Mississippi" and "Dignity," for instance, with their changing tempos and vocal styles and new verses woven throughout, offer a window into Dylan's creative process.
He's often said his albums are just blueprints of his songs to be fleshed out over the course of their existence, but it's amazing how fully formed those blueprints -- and even the blueprints of the blueprints, like the songs here -- really are.
It's interesting to hear the alternative version of a track like "Most of the Time" from "Oh, Mercy" -- with a faster tempo and stripped of Daniel Lanois' eerie production, the same song elicits a completely different emotional reaction. The original album version is Dylan at his most heartbreaking -- it's a wrenching self-portrait of a man who knows that he's lying to himself. In the alternate track, though the lyrics are basically the same, the singer comes across as someone who may really be "halfways content." The first singer may have last seen his lost love a few years before; the second one a few decades. It's a fascinating juxtaposition. Both songs, it's worth noting, are wonderful.
Strip those and the live tracks (more on those later) from Tell Tale Signs, though, and what's left is what plays like an original album worthy of the Dylan canon. "Red River Shore" aches with nostalgia and heartbreak; "Marching to the City" drips and builds with gospel and blues; "Miss the Mississippi" is poignant, melancholy and yet somehow soothing -- it exemplifies the "archaic music" that Larry "Ratso" Sloman cites in the liner notes as fueling Dylan's most recent rebirth.
That would be enough, but the live tracks on the set add yet another dimension, and make you hope Bob has at least one more live double-disc in him. His voice on "High Water" and "Ring Them Bells" is surprisingly robust, almost as if the Dylan of Before the Flood had come out the other end of the torrent a little creakier but none the worse for wear.
There are quibbles -- Sloman raves over the 8-minute Civil War lament "`Cross the Green Mountain," but I can't seem to get through it without my eyes glazing over. And not all of these tracks may be "bootlegs" -- some (like "Mountain") were on soundtracks, the "Political World" outtake has been available on iTunes and I'll be darned if "Series of Dreams" isn't the same one from Bootleg Vol. III.
But taken as a whole, this is another Dylan collection that will make you shake your head in wonder -- and be glad you're here at this moment in time to see just what else Bob has left up his sleeve.
Free Music Review: More range than a Prius, an instant classic
Hit: 5 Stars
Someday Bob Dylan's going to die --- probably in a hotel room in a two-bit city, after playing his 300th concert of the year on his endless "I don't wanna go home" tour --- and then everybody will suddenly realize he was America's Picasso. (Or is it Shakespeare?)
For days afterward, we'll be subjected to the Great Man for Dummies lecture. Dylan, the protest singer. Dylan goes electric. Dylan the cryptic recluse. The born-again Christian. And then the astonishing mid-life --- well, for a musician, late-life --- revival.
Somewhere in there will be a mention of the Bootleg recordings, as if they're footnotes to the real records. You know: outtakes. Which got released only because this guy inspired reverence and his devotees couldn't get enough.
No.
"Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8"is some of the best Dylan I have ever heard. And there's a lot of it: 27 songs, weighing in at around 135 minutes. As I write, Amazon.com is selling the two-CD set for $13.99, which makes this beyond a bargain.
The songs were recorded between 1989 and 2006. It's a fascinating period --- in these years, Dylan streamlined his music, rediscovered his love of the blues, and made CDs that are shockingly accessible. And he was prolific; music poured out of him, he couldn't keep away from it. Although his voice is a disaster now --- my wife and I worship at his shrine, but we don't feel we ever need to see him in concert again --- between 1989 and 2006 he still had it. The result: CDs that shine.
This may not be apparent to you the first few times you hear it. What you hear may make you think this is a white man imitating a Southern blues master, with an occasional break for stripped-down rock and a bit of folk. True, but nothing here is an imitation --- Dylan dearly loves American roots music, and he's taken it into his DNA.
Just look at his picture on the cover of the unusually helpful booklet that accompanies these CDs. White jacket, black collar. White shirt, black Kentucky Colonel tie. His face is a portrait of bright lights and late nights and beds that are not his own. His hair is an uncombed mass of ringlets. He has a circus master's moustache. All he needs is a cape and a cane.
If these visual cues fairly scream 19th century, you've got your first clue. Dylan's up on what's happening now --- some phrasing suggests he's gone to school on rap --- but he's really working a more ancient vein. That's another reason you'll have trouble really hearing the brilliance; the surface is so familiar you don't think to look for depth.
There's a junior Dylanologist in our family, and he's been listening harder and longer to some of these songs than I have. In an excited e-mail, he wrote me: "His lyrics are so rhythmic. He'll have a simple walking baseline and then do all the syncopation with verse. And he'll repeat the same line over and over again. But it's not repetitive, because he changes the meter of the phrase subtly each time."
Okay, so the junior Dylanologist knows far too much. But he got that knowledge because repeated listening to Dylan is so rewarding.
These two CDs? Very rewarding. The music has more range than a Prius. You can play it as pleasant background --- music to cook by. It's fun in the car. And at the deepest levels, I think, Dylan offers us an alternate vision of America, the whole man-woman thing and even Life itself.
I remember how, after Andy Warhol died, Julian Schnabel was asked to name some exciting new artists. "Andy," he said sadly. Thinking about exciting new musicians, I'd say: Bob Dylan, born in 1941.
Don't wait until he's gone to find out.