BOB DYLAN: THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 8: TELL TALE SIGNS (1989-2006; 2008)
1) Mississippi (alt. version
#1); 2) Most Of The Time (alt. version); 3) Dignity (piano demo); 4) Someday
Baby (alt. version); 5) Red River Shore; 6) Tell Ol' Bill; 7) Born In Time; 8)
Can't Wait (alt. version); 9) Everything Is Broken (alt. version); 10) Dreamin'
Of You; 11) Huck's Tune; 12) Marchin' To The City; 13) High Water (For Charlie
Patton) (live); 14) Missisippi (alt. version #2); 15) 32-20 Blues; 16) Series
Of Dreams; 17) God Knows; 18) Can't Escape From You; 19) Dignity; 20) Ring Them
Bells (live); 21) Cocaine Blues (live); 22) Ain't Talkin' (alt. version); 23) The
Girl On The Greenbriar Shore (live); 24) Lonesome Day Blues (live); 25) Miss
The Mississippi; 26) The Lonesome River; 27) 'Cross The Green Mountain.
The next installment in The Bootleg Series
returns us to the original format. Since the release of the original triple
package, more than 15 years had elapsed, and in the interim Bob had managed to
recapture the hearts of fans and critics alike one more time — clearly, the
entire fruitful period in between the «pre-comeback» of Oh Mercy and the super-success of Time Out Of Mind, Love &
Theft, and Modern Times needed
some extra coverage, to bring collectors, completists, and cultists up-to-date
with the latest developments. Sure the third disc of the original series had some
duds on it, but that was the Eighties, you know — surely Bob's blistering
comeback had to lead to its own precious leftovers in dust bins?
Well, to tell the truth, this one's been a
little over-hyped. First, although two discs for 18 years of music making does
not feel too disproportionate
compared to three discs for the previous 28 years of music making — one should not
forget that back in the 1960s, each year counted for five in comparison. Look
at this track listing and you will see that approximately half of these songs
are alternate versions of officially released counterparts (demos, rejected
takes, live versions, the usual stuff), whereas much of the other half gathers
leftovers that had been officially
released — on various movie soundtracks (North
Country, Gods And Generals,
etc.). Altogether, you only get something like five or six completely new
songs. This is still a treat, but one that gets diluted in a sea of all too
familiar voices and melodies.
Second, Tell
Tale Signs presents very little, if anything, in the way of actual big-time
«surprises». Most of those years Dylan spent reconnecting with his heritage —
the dark side of Americana, in so many different, but nearly always similar, ways
— and these outtakes mostly just offer more of the same. Blues, folk,
country-oriented tunes with predictable melodies and the usual hoarse singing:
no wonder the liner notes are mostly busy discussing the wonders of the lyrics
rather than anything else. This is not a jarring criticism, though — merely a
warning that if you already have the original official LPs, Tell Tale Signs will not be opening
your eyes in a manner of which the old Bootleg Series was sometimes capable.
That said, this is still Dylan's Bronze Age
here, and the album is consistently listenable throughout, and there are even
highlights a-plenty. Particularly treasurable are the Time Out Of Mind outtakes: ʽDreamin' Of Youʼ is an atmospheric
guitar lover's paradise, with several haunting, weepy lines flowing in and out
of each other, perfectly complementing the main lyrical message ("I'm
dreamin' of you / That's all I do / And it's driving me insane"); ʽRed
River Shoreʼ is a nostalgic ballad with a Texmex flavor (the accordeon strikes
again) that was, perhaps, deemed too happy-sounding for the album; and the two
early versions of ʽMississippiʼ (one almost purely acoustic, one with a full
backing band) are arguably better than the final take on Love & Theft, which seems a little overproduced in comparison.
Of the soundtrack tunes, ʽTell Ol' Billʼ is
pretty good, even if the melody is basically just a rewrite of the verse melody
for ʽMan Gave Names To All The Animalsʼ (well, we wouldn't expect Bob to
overtax himself for a goddamn soundtrack) — nice «dark boogie» atmosphere
smelling of unexplored alleys and unseen dangers. But the real highlight is
ʽ'Cross The Green Mountainʼ, a song commemorated to the Civil War (only too
appropriate for a movie about the Civil War) that somehow manages to get a
unique sound going, courtesy of Tony Garnier playing a minimalistic «doom-style»
bassline and Larry Campbell contrasting it with a romantic violin part, while
Bob is telling us a not-too-sophisticated moral tale on the evils of war. This
is probably the greatest song on the album, so, not coincidentally, it is also
set at the very end — and it gives a deeper impression than any song from Love & Theft (both were recorded in
2002).
Honorable mention should also go to the live
cuts — so far, Bob has not released a single complete live album from the Never
Ending Tour, so this is the easiest way to check out his band on a good night
(other than actually buying a ticket to the next show, of course). On Disc 1,
there is a really gritty, nasty rendition of ʽHigh Waterʼ, with Bob's
guitarists raising hell and, overall, turning the formerly moody-creepy song
into a kick-ass blues-rocker (not necessarily a «good» thing per se, but a good
example of how Bob can still radically reinvent his new songs even at this late
date). ʽLonesome Day Bluesʼ on the second disc is closer to the studio version
and also featured in surprisingly lo-fi quality, but the acoustic rendition of the
old ʽCocaine Bluesʼ from 1997 is hard to beat, with Bob's «whining» voice
perfectly fit for the whiny occasion.
Finally, there are just some extra nice touches
here and there — the versions of ʽBorn In Timeʼ and ʽGod Knowsʼ, for instance,
will be a drop (two drops) of pleasure to those who hated the keyboard-heavy
production of these songs on Under A Red
Sky (as it turns out, they sounded so much better under the original
supervision of Lanois during the Oh
Mercy sessions). A couple extra acoustic oldies, recorded in the 1992-93
«back-to-rootsiest-roots» period, would have made a good addition to the
original Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong. And ʽDignityʼ has a
more interesting and flashy arrangement than on the live Unplugged version. In short, some
of these alternate versions can outshine the originals — the final list depends
on the listener, but I guess you could say that is the privileged advantage of
an album of outtakes from your not-so-revolutionary period.
Overall, this is a fine supporting companion to
Dylan's latest creative renaissance, as long as you do not set your expectations
unjustifiedly high or join the salivating crowds of worshippers, ready to
overpraise each scrap as soon as it is found and laid out on the table. One
thing that it proves is that it always makes sense to pry into the man's
vaults, no matter from which epoch they date. But the quality of the vault in
question is tightly correlated with the quality of its epoch — thus, if your
favorite Dylan album is Love & Theft,
for some reason, then run, don't walk, to get this stuff. Otherwise, just walk.
A walking man's thumbs
up here.
Great to see these reviews of the newer BS entries. I can imagine the thumbs will go away again for the next volume. One quick note, 'Tell Ol' Bill' is an alternate version (the one on the "North Country" soundtrack was in a major key - having seen the movie, the creepier version included here probably would have fit the story better).
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