There is a new Bob Dylan set out today. Volume 10 in the ongoing Bootleg Series. This one covers sessions from the "Self Portrait" and "New Morning" records. Your first thought might be, "Why?" That was mine. But folks, while I don't think this is one of the "most important and fulfilling" Dylan releases the way David Fricke thinks it is, I do think it's right up there. Just get the awful "Self Portrait" record out of your brain. What you will hear on this set is something that barely resembles what became the finished product. Read David Fricke's review HERE. He's pretty dead on. All I can add is, Dylan's voice is the secret weapon to this set. If you're a fan, you need to dig in. This is a solid listen from top to bottom.
And just when you think it is safe to go back in the water, another 6 CDs of Beach Boys material surfaces, this time with 60 unreleased tunes. I have not yet begun to listen to "Made In California," simply because I don't have a copy...yet. But yes, I am excited.
That's it.
19 comments:
As one of the few (only?) who always loved "Self Portrait", I am really excited about this release. At this point in his career he was one of the best singers in rock music. I'm not sure if it is still on YouTube but last week when I heard "Pretty Saro", a previously unreleased song, it was some of the best singing I have ever heard him do.
As fr the Beach Boys, I just saw the track listing. Yawn.
Somehow I got a copy of "Another Self Portrait" last week, but I haven't listened to it yet. I, er, acquired it for the inclusion of the live set from the Isle Of Wight. I sampled a couple songs and it sounds pretty swell.
The Sly Stone set looks good.
I can't imagine there's any Beach Boys left that's worth hearing I don't already have.
Hello all…no, please remain seated,
Truth be told, I fear the re-issue of Self-Portrait. To my tastes, it’s one thing for an artist to issue unreleased tracks or alternate versions from masterpieces: Blood on the Tracks, Exile on Main Street, etc. But for a dog like Self-Portrait? Out-takes from Dirty Work anyone?
Sly…what a shame that he’s either not in shape or chooses not to try to re-affirm his place in popuklar music. Can’t deny the greatness of the original work, though. Like the man said: Boom-lakka-lakka-lakka. Well played, Sylvester. Well played.
Beach Boys….always been just a casual, greatest hits kind of fan. Talk about late to the party…know what song I just discovered about a month ago? I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times. Holy crap! Whatta great tune!
Regards,
RichD
My 2 cents on Self Portrait/Another Self Portrait...
http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/08/bob-dylan-self-portrait-beautiful
Bruce H
I got an advance on the Beach Boys' box set. Tales of 60 unreleased songs are kinda b.s., since the vast majority of those are (good) remasters/remixes, not so alternate takes and so on.
The actual outtakes, unheard live stuff and etc that ARE worth having -- according to me, who has virtually everything official and deep, deep bootleg - amount to maybe 15 tracks, the best of which are:
1. (the original) Soul Searchin' and Still a Mystery - outtake from the '95 sessions Brian and Andy Paley co-wrote and co-produced, with I think Don Was doing something or other. Full band vocals on both.
2. "Where Is She," a lovely Brian tune with group vocals from '69 or so.
3. Wouldn't it be nice to live again - Dennis outtake from 'Surf's Up.' A couple more good Dennis tracks, e.g., 'Barnyard Blues.'
4. Three or four live cuts from '72/'73: "Only With You," "Wild Honey,"
5. Sherry She Needs Me - weird construction of original '65 track and backing vocals, plus Brian vocals from '76 or so.
A couple live cuts from the '93 box set tour (Wonderful and Vegetables)
And maybe a handful of others.
And that's about it.
Thanks for this rundown, Peter. Been listening on Spotify. "Where Is She" and "Soul Searchin" knocked me out. And somehow I had never heard "It's Over Now," which is quite lovely.
Is it wrong to say that I would love to hear the unreleased stuff from "Dirty Work"?
@RichD
I think the idea here might be that outtakes from masterpieces are usually a disappointment as the best stuff made the cut. With Self-Portrait, the curiousity lies in what was there before it was crapped on in production, therefore no vanwoert, you are not wrong in wanting to hear unreleased stuff from "Dirty Work," especially if it's before Steve Lillywhite crapped on it.
I have a lot of listening to do. I think I need the Dylan set AND the Sly set.
And add me to someone who would LOVE to hear "Dirty Work" outtakes.
All I can say is, YAAAAAAAAAY, Street Date is back.
Ex-pat Ed
Sal, you have a point. More often than not, a band leaves nothing on the playing field when recording a masterpiece.
Except….have you ever heard of a Stones boot called Highway Child recorded during the Beggar’s Banquet session?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oGwTaeo0_U
Or Travellin’ Man recorded during the Sticky Fingers sessions? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US3fczvs6pQ
How on earth does a band not finish stuff like that into a complete song? I mean both those albums are about as good as it gets but, still. Fun to speculate.
Next, let me unburden myself here…publically. I lied. Of course I want to hear outtakes from Dirty Work!!!! Fuckin-ay I wanna hear ‘em! I’ll happily listen to Keith spending 10 hours refining the riff to One Hit to the Body, while Mick hums along trying to coax out the melody. Bores my wife to tears; makes me go upstairs, but hey…ya do whatcha gotta do.
But Self-Portrait? Hummmpphhh….I may be a whore but I still choose my clients with a little care.
(weeellll....regarding Dylan…is it really good?)
I hate myself.
Regards,
RichD
Rich,
No it's not really good. It's really, really great!
Nice to see the If-It's-Tuesday new release day post returning.
One of my favorite features on Burning Wood.
hpunch
Two things: 1.Another Self Portrait is really good! 2. Self Portrait (the original) is better than anything Dylan released after Planet Waves (there, I said it!!)
The Sly & Beach Boys sets should be excellent as well.
re: Bombshelter Slim's comment
"2. Self Portrait (the original) is better than anything Dylan released after Planet Waves (there, I said it!!)"
UH OH
I needed a good laugh today, and this thread has provided it. I'll never hear fuckin' "DIRTY WORK" the same again.
Me, I sure can't wait to get the Dylan set. I'm going full monty and buying whatever the most expensive version is, $1,250 or whatever. I want it.
The Sly box should be great. Not a big Beach Boys fan, heretically.
Like most people, I've been culturally trained to believe Self Portrait is dogshit. I downloaded the whole 4-disc set from Emusic ... and what I heard sounded pretty damn good, although I gather this release dwarves what was originally put out.
What was it at the time that cause such a negative reaction? The concept of Dylan doing covers of contemporary artists? I've known more than a few fans who preached that Self Portrait was never really all that bad, and now I have to believe there's some truth to that.
The New Morning outtakes also sound pretty interesting, as do the Isle of Wight tracks. This one was a no brainer, although I couldn't see laying out so much money for the CD-version of the Deluxe package.
Bobby Neuwirth liked Self Portrait best of all?
http://www.blacklistedjournalist.com/column23a.html
[better read this great memoir if ya havent]
I am underwhelmed by Another Self Portrait. There is some good stuff on it, certainly, but I just don't agree either that it eclipses the old album (which I always enjoyed without adoring) or even that it proves that the old one was ruined by post-production. The good recording of the Isle of Wight is nice to have (and matches my memory — I was there) but also proves they needed to do some warm-up gigs. I'm glad to have ASP, which I think it's really for fans and even completists (fools such as I); I can't imagine I'll play it as often as Tree With Roots — but the early version of Minstrel Boy is a tantalizing reminder that we don't have all of that material either. Bring it on!
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