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Dylan bootlegs a treasure

By Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 6, 2008 at 6 p.m.

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Bob Dylan

Photo by William Claxton / Associated Press

Bob Dylan

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Bob Dylan spent the first 25 years of his career frustrating his fans by not releasing the treasure trove of unreleased songs and live recordings he had in his vault, spawning a bootleg industry that thrives to this day.

Now, he regularly delivers. The eighth edition of his own bootleg series is in stores today, but with a fan-frustrating hitch. A double CD of Tell Tale Signs is $22.98 (but less than $15 on sale, and it has been streaming online at NPR.org for days). To get a third bonus disc of 12 songs, however, you need the Deluxe Edition - at $169.98 ($135 on sale). To say the least, fans of the music are mighty miffed, and as you read this, disc three is likely being pirated across the Internet.

It's a great time to be a fan of Dylan obscurities. Even now, some fans aren't aware that rarities such as the previously unreleased The Death of Emmett Till are available through iTunes. Now, we have a bunch more.

Tell Tale Signs leans toward post-1990 Dylan, and there's some great stuff left from that rich writing streak that brought Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft and Modern Times. Each disc starts off with an alternative version of Mississippi. One's a laid-back, breezy version that's a far cry from the doomed tone the song eventually took on Love and Theft; the other is a growling, slow take. He clearly made the right call in the released version, but the alternatives are interesting sketches.

A bluesy version of Can't Wait (from Time Out of Mind) is a revelation, a complete lyrical rewrite that is even darker, with lines like "You think you've lost it all / there's always more to lose" that weren't in the original.

Some has the feel of filler. Everything Is Broken isn't much removed from the familiar version, just slightly different production and lyrics. The live version of High Water (For Charlie Patton) doesn't come close to the ominous original version, though its lyrics ("It's bad out there/high water everywhere") remain just as relevant today as the day of its original release: Sept. 11, 2001.

What's next? There are plenty of outtakes still in Dylan's vault, but time has not been kind to some of them. With Julius Rosenberg's sons recently conceding that their dad passed nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, for example, one doubts the indignant Infidels outtake Julius and Ethel will ever see the legal light of day.

But fans will still find plenty to love here - and likely on disc three, if any of us can ever afford to hear it.

Mark Brown is the popular music critic. Brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2674

Bob Dylan

Tell Tale Signs

Columbia Records

Grade: A-

National Public Radio is streaming Tell Tale Signs in its entirety online. Find a link to NPR at RockyMountainNews.com/extras.

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Comments

  • October 7, 2008

    11:39 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    UNV_ME writes:

    Yes. This albums are truly a treasure. His live performances nowadays... not so much. He does not play guitar, does not face the audience, does not address the audience, does not allow cameras to show him on the big screen video projectors at the shows and does not play the songs people want to hear. Dylan... I love you but you should retire.

  • October 8, 2008

    7:13 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mark Brown writes:

    I agree. Dylan's live performances of 10 years ago were incredible. In the past several years he has gone to a fairly rote 15-song set that he rushes through.

    I should note that people looking for the Dylan rarities on iTunes need to search under the name Blind Boy Grunt, the alias Dylan was using when he recorded some songs for Broadside magazine. You'll find six rarities under that name.