Best Of The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg 12

L'ultimo capitolo di The Bootleg Series della Columbia/Legacy offre le leggendarie session di studio che hanno prodotto "Bring It All Back Home", "Highway 61 Revisited" e "Blonde On Blonde", la trilogia capolavoro che ha manifestato Bob Dylan come autore, artista e performer di una profondità, una forza e un'originalità senza precedenti. Tutte le registrazioni incluse in "The Cutting Edge 1965-1966" sono state realizzate dagli incontaminati master tape originali, e, per la prima volta, vengono qui riunite le incisioni più ricercate di tutto il repertorio dylaniano, in tutto 111 tracce. Nei 6 CD del box-set si susseguono outtake di studio, canzoni inedite, tracce di prova, e versioni alternative 'work-in-progress', comprese le session complete di "Like A Rolling Stone". Il CD dedicato alle venti take alternative di "LARS", per esempio, ci permette di osservare con precisione millimetrica il lavoro del cantautore in studio (1965), quando la sua creatività letteralmente esplose. Ascoltando le varie versioni di "Like A Rolling Stone" si intuisce la traiettoria creativa del Genio di Duluth, mentre calcola i parametri della canzone, ma anche le sue frustrazioni. Bob (con la sua band di sessionmen) inchioda la versione definitiva sulla take n. 4, ma tuttavia continua a lavorare su nuove alternative, inquieto, cercando di catturare qualcosa che sembra ancora sfuggirgli. Evidentemente esasperato dopo la take n. 13, lo si sente domandare a Tom Wilson - "Perché non riusciamo a farla nel modo giusto?". Vengono tra l'altro evidenziate anche le tracce base separate, con la chitarra di Bloomfield, con la ritmica e la voce di Bob, con batteria e organo e con basso e pianoforte. Qui è possibile intravvedere dettagli suggestivi: il modo in cui Michael sottolinea i refrain o come Bob smetta di suonare la ritmica quando canta, o semplicemente sentire l'ambience dello Studio A della Columbia Records.
Dalle session di "Bringing It All Back Home" c'è un'interessante versione acustica dal mood jazzy di "Subterranean HomesickBlues", un'interpretazione di "Outlaw Blues" secondo i canoni del Delta e una performance di "Mr. Tambourine Man" registrata con la batteria
Dalle session di "Highway 61 Revisited" emergono una dura versione di "It Takes A Lot To Laugh...", una rendition sognante di "Tom Thumb's Blues" che rimanda al mood di "Loaded" dei Velvet, e due tracce della title track. La prima ha uno slancio martellante à la "Run Run Run" dei V.U., mentre la seconda è più leggera e Bob suona divertito anche un fischietto da policeman. Vi è anche una formidabile take di "Desolation Row" eseguita al pianoforte.
Tra le sessioni di "Blonde On Blonde", che rendono questo box-set assai intrigante, possiamo ascoltare alcuni dei primi lavori di Dylan con gli Hawks: le energiche take di "Visions Of Johanna", "One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)" e l'inedita outtake "She's Your Lover Now". Quest'ultima non è stata inclusa nella track list perché Bob non è mai riuscito a registrarla come intendeva: è una canzone complessa, con cambi di tempo e accordi insoliti, ma è sicuramente uno dei migliori brani che abbia mai scritto in quegli anni. C'è anche un'interpretazione di "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" con coloritura di clacson.
Nell'insieme "The Cutting Edge 1965-1966" rappresenta una parte vitale dell'arte dylaniana. Non solo per le rivelazioni interessanti che riguardano la prassi di lavoro in sala d'incisione di Bob Dylan, ma per il modo in cui l'artista si manifesta come persona. I momenti divertenti, gli errori e gli intoppi qui documentati, tra il caparbio lavoro e gli autentici lampi di genio, aggiungono preziosi elementi a questo accattivante ritratto di Dylan nel suo periodo aureo. Imprescindibile per ogni autentico fan. Altri potranno apprezzare il meno ponderoso "The Best Of The Cutting Edge" in doppio CD.

13 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Essential window into the creative process behind the triptych of Bob Dylan's most classic,groundbreaking recordings!

David Binder

Recensito in Italia il 5 dicembre 2015

If you want to understand the process of how some of Bob Dylan's best-loved music became so, you NEED to hear this box set. Upon preordering, I wondered if an entire disc devoted to just one song - "Like A Rolling Stone" - would be overkill; but after spending more than an hour hearing how a waltz-time song with completely different phrasing (and many different lyrics) gradually morphed into the song we know so well and love so much?

Quite simply, a revelation...about how Dylan worked with his producer, and how Dylan was constantly able to look at where he was In the creative process and realize the song had yet to reach its true potential, as band members adjusted their parts and the whole thing gradually took shape, one step at a time.

I now wish I could have afforded the 18-disc super deluxe edition, but if a reasonably priced edition ever pops up somewhere, I'll be first in line. It would be great to hear more similar treatments of other songs. But as it is, if "Like a Rolling Stone" is the centrepiece and raison d'être of The Cutting Edge, the less comprehensive but still revelling multiple takes of other material found on what may be Dylan's most essential tryptich - Bringing It All Back Home; Highway 61 Revisted; and Blonde on Blonde - continues to shed light on Dylan's creative process...and, for those who've never set foot in a recording studio, a pretty good idea of what goes into making a record. It isn't just s matter of going and laying down the tracks: it's oftentimes an evolutionary process, as artists go into the studio with basic ideas that must then be developed, honed and fine-tuned until they're the versions with which everyone is happy...and to which we fans have all become so familiar.

One of the best Bootleg Series instalments yet for Dylan...though, with the previous The Basement Tapes Complete, Dylan is truly on a roll with a new approach to design that, beginning with Volume 10 (Another Self Portrait), clearly demonstrates that there's still a deep well of previously unheard material upon which to draw.

With box sets like Another Self Portrait, The Basement Tapes Complete and, now, The Cutting Edge, I can't wait to find out what th focus of Volume 13 is going to be!

2 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Un bel Bootleg ufficiale

Recensito in Italia il 4 gennaio 2022

Una chicca per gli appassionati di Dylan

Dylan non ti deve piacere, va amato

Luigi Forina

Recensito in Italia il 5 dicembre 2020

Arrivato in tempi ristretti, buon imballaggio, ma... per quanto si possa amare Dylan, questo è il box set series peggiore. 7 traccie uguali per ogni canzone solo che cambiavano tonalità o strumento... inoltre insopportabile il 4* CD , tutto “ like a Rolling Stones “ tutto frammentato da prove e non cantata per intero. Insomma se lo adori, fa per te ma se sei solo curioso è altamente sconsigliato

Una persona l'ha trovato utile

Riccardo B.

Mr. Dylan

Recensito in Italia il 19 dicembre 2019

A mio parere gli anni migliori del nostro. Valanga di alternate take. Alcune sublimi altre un po’ meno ma nel complesso ottimo disco.

Will Rock

trilogia della svolta

Recensito in Italia il 16 gennaio 2017

12° capitolo della bootleg serie, contiene gli album Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited e Blonde on Blonde. cioè l'inizio della svolta elettrica ed il capolavoro blonde on blonde (rolling stone l'ha classificato al nono posto nella TOP 500 ALBUMS OF ALL TIME)
Highway 61 contiene una delle più grandi canzoni rock della storia (se non la più bella)
c'è da aggiungere altro ?
è comunque sufficiente acquistare la versione 2 cd

Recensito in Italia il 16 giugno 2016

The Cutting Edge parte da quello che già conosciamo. Non ci sono quasi inediti, ma varie, anche molte, versioni della stessa canzone. Eppure il lavoro è stato fatto in maniera certosina. Sono state messe assieme varie versioni di ogni canzone, ma non ce ne sono di uguali, anzi;
è il periodo qualitativamente più spumeggiante, creatico e geniale di Sua Bobbità e, di conseguenza, questo è uno straordinario documento storico oltre che artistico.
Da avere assolutamente...la versione sceglietela voi.

Traduci tutte le recensioni in Italiano

Le recensioni migliori da altri paesi

Francisco Hernández

Una obra obligatoria

Recensito in Messico il 7 maggio 2017

Bob Dylan ganó el Nobel y de inmediato conseguir esta colección se volvió más difícil. Básicamente consiste en casi todo lo que grabó Bob entre 1965 y 1966. Hay una pequeñas joyas inéditas aquí o por fin limpiadas, como ese demo al piano de Desolation Row. Desquita cada centavo.

Joe

Bob Fans Will Absolutely Appreciate

Recensito in Australia il 11 marzo 2019

Always great to hear alternate versions of the songs we love. Some great additions to his lineup.

Constant Listener

DEAR MUSIC APPRECIATORS

Recensito negli Stati Uniti il 6 novembre 2015

Dear Music Appreciators,

Bob’s back. Can you dig it, man? There’s a lot to dig into on this release, whichever version you decide to go with. The sound is great and has a sort of up close and personal and in the studio feel to it (as it should!). It’s interesting to hear these classic songs as they evolve and change. Most versions included on this 6 disc set seem to be different enough or good enough that they are worth listening to.

What a great opportunity to step back in time and hear these seminal songs of the 60’s as they were and as they could have been vs. how they were released. The Cutting Edges gives some insight to Dylan’s process during the peak of his powers and only serves to increase the perception that his was a one-time only comet streak of musical inspiration that arguably burned brightest during the nearly two year period represented in these recordings.

The hard bound book accompanying this deluxe issue is called Bob Dylan Mixing Up The Medicine 1965-1966 and it is almost entirely photographs with not much in the way of text. It’s fun to see all these pictures, especially the pictures of lyrics sheets with handwritten changes and newspaper articles from the time period that are clear enough to read the text of the articles. I also like the section titled “Articles from Around the Globe” that includes magazine and album covers and assorted Dylan related oddities of the time from other countries.

The actual lines notes are packaged with the discs and seem reasonably extensive (54 pages including pictures). The discs are packaged to look like mini LP’s in a gate fold sort of style - there are three sections that fold out with 2 discs in each section. One of the product photos on Amazon is made to look like there are 5 separate pieces to this deluxe edition plus the discs, but there are only three - the photo book and the liner notes with the fold out discs - and both of those slide into the main slipcase. In the Amazon photo they are showing the photo book and the liner notes/discs twice - one where you see the front of them, and once where they are laying open to show an example of the contents.

For what it’s worth, I’ve created a little track-by-track/side-by-side guide to help you know the difference between what’s on the 2 disc version vs. what’s on the 6 disc version of this release. But first, some summary notes on the subject:

- The 2 disc version contains 36 of the 111 tracks on the 6 disc version.

- It appears the 2 disc version contains 2 tracks (disc 1 track 14 and disc 2 track 3) that are slightly shorter than their counterparts on the 6 disc version. There may be others with very minor differences of a few seconds as well.

- The 2 disc version contains just 2 versions of “Like a Rolling Stone” whereas the 6 disc version devotes the entirety of disc four's 20 tracks to the song and I’ve read this is the full sessions for this particular song, but not sure if that is accurate.

The 2 disc version contains the following number of tracks off each disc of the 6 disc version:
- 10 out of the 23 tracks on disc 1
- 8 out of the 19 tracks on disc 2
- 2 out of the 20 tracks on disc 3
- 7 out of the 19 tracks on disc 4
- 4 out of the 15 tracks on disc 5
- 5 out of the 15 tracks on disc 6

How many songs (regardless of take or version) that appear on the 6 disc set do not appear on the 2 disc set? Answer = 12

Those songs are:

- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
- It’s All Right Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
- From a Buick 6
- Ballad of a Thin Man
- Jet Pilot
- I Wanna Be Your Lover
- Unknown Instrumental
- 4th Time Around
- Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)
- Temporary Like Achilles
- Obviously 5 Believers
- Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands

So, other than that the 6 disc version is comprised of additional versions of these songs as well as additional versions of the same songs that appear on the 2 disc set.

Disc 1 Track 1 on The Best of the Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 2 Love Minus Zero/No Limit (Take 2 Acoustic) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 2 on The Best of the Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 5 I’ll Keep it With Mine (Take 1, Piano Demo) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 3 on The Best of the Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 7 and 8 Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream (Takes 1 and 2 Solo Acoustic) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 4 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 9 She Belongs to Me (Take 1 Solo Acoustic) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 5 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 13 Subterranean Homesick Blues (Take 1 remake electric) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 6 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 15 Outlaw Blues (Take 2 remake electric) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 7 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 17 On the Road Again (Take 4 electric) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 8 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 20 Farewell, Angelina (Take 1, Solo Acoustic) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 9 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 22 If You Gotta Go, Go Now (Take 2, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 10 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 1 Track 23 You Don't Have to Do That (Take 1, Solo Acoustic) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 11 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 2 Track 1 California (Take 1, Solo Acoustic) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 12 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 2 Track 4 Mr. Tambourine Man (Take 3 with Band, Incomplete) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 13 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 2 Track 6 It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (Take 8, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 14 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = a shorter version of Disc 3 Track 5 Like a Rolling Stone (Take 5, Rehearsal) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 15 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 3 Track 12 Like a Rolling Stone (Take 11, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 16 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 2 Track 9 Sitting On a Barbed Wire Fence (Take 2) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 17 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 4 Track 12 Medicine Sunday (Take 1) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 18 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 2 Track 16 Desolation Row (Take 2, Piano Demo) on the Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 1 Track 19 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 2 Track 15 Desolation Row (Take 1, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)

Disc 2 Track 1 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 2 Track 10 Tombstone Blues (Take 1, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 2 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 2 Track 14 Positively 4th Street (Take 5, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 3 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = a shorter version of Disc 4 Track 1 Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (Take 1, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 4 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 4 Track 7 Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Take 3, Rehearsal) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 5 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 4 Track 3 Highway 61 Revisited (Take 3, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 6 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 4 Track 10 Queen Jane Approximately (Take 5, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 7 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 4 Track 19 Visions of Johanna (Take 5, Rehearsal) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 8 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 5 Track 5 She's Your Lover Now (Take 6, Rehearsal) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 9 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 5 Track 11 Lunatic Princess (Take 1) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 10 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 5 Track 14 Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Take 8, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 11 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 5 Track 10 One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) (Take 19, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 12 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 6 Track 4 Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (Take 13, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 13 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 6 Track 6 Absolutely Sweet Marie (Take 1, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 14 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 6 Track 8 Just Like a Woman (Take 4, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 15 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 6 Track 10 Pledging My Time (Take 1, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 16 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 6 Track 14 I Want You (Take 4, Alternate Take) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)
Disc 2 Track 17 on The Best of The Cutting Edge = Disc 4 Track 5 Highway 61 Revisited (Take 7, False Start) on The Cutting Edge (6 disc)

Sincerely,

Constant Listener

103 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Get the 2-Disc Version for the Keeper Tracks. The 6-Disc Version Has Too Many Inessentials, Omissions, and Other Flaws for $100.

Recensito negli Stati Uniti il 7 novembre 2015

UPDATE (9.10.2016): I purchased the 6-disc set upon its release last November. Subsequently, I have listened to it in its entirety about three times, have carefully read both books, and have had large handfuls of selected tracks in rotation on both my home and work iTunes for weeks to months at a time. In addition, I have been able to access the entire 18-disc "Collector's" set and have listened to that all the way through. My final analysis: Unless you are a completist, get the 2-disc version for $17 and request the 6-disc set from your public library for a one-time foray. Beyond that, don't send another penny to Columbia.

PROS:

* I have heard a number of these takes on bootlegs over the years but never sounding this good nor presented so cohesively.

* It is a joy to hear the evolution of the songs unfold. An excellent example is the development of "Just Like a Woman" from the lethargic first take in 6/8 time through the frug-ready 4/4 bounce of Take 4, then slowed back down to the near-final tempo in Take 8 but with several lyrics still being sorted out (e.g., "She wakes" and "She makes mistakes just like a woman") and the triplet interlude not yet formulated. These rough cuts demonstrate that the renderings of these songs that were included on their respective albums/45s clearly were the best ones, and that (for the most part) Dylan and Co. knew when to keep working and when to stop working in order to capture both the essence and the potential of these songs without losing their spirit. Likewise, this set reveals that Dylan not only experimented with the presence of a backing band to bypass the limitations of his solo acoustic style, but he also came to understand the limits of a band sound and take action when it was appropriate to strip things back down (e.g., "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Desolation Row").

* There are a number of gems on this set. These include early runs of "Outlaw Blues" thrashed out in Bo Diddley rhythm and of "Subterranean Homesick Blues" with Dylan stumbling over the lyrics more than once when he attempted the song with a band for the first time. In addition, Dylan figuring out how to play the "police car" whistle on "Highway 61 Revisited," interpolating lounge piano styling into "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," and incorporating a musical knock-knock joke between a doorbell and a car horn into a take of "Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" suggest that these sessions really were a lot of fun.

* Dylan's experiments with time signatures, keys, instrumentation, and especially rhythm, vocal phrasing, and lyric variations across the set clearly demonstrate that there was never "one" particular version of any of these songs. What eventually became regarded as "reworkings" of several of these songs in subsequent decades had actually been considered as part of their formative process--e.g., Take 2 of "Queen Jane Approximately" is closer to the way I recall Dylan performing the song on a rare occasion in Indianapolis in 2010 than to the 1965 album cut. Like other reviewers, I also have observed that these tracks contain the seeds of Dylan's later vocal patterns--e.g., the early slow takes of "One of Us Must Know" sounded like they could have been cut during the "Basement Tapes" era; Take 6 of "She's Your Lover Now" during the "New Morning" sessions; and Take 1 of the New York "Visions of Johanna" during the "Desire"/"Hard Rain" period.

* The isolated tracks of the master take of "Like a Rolling Stone" reveal that the cut was not without a sizable handful of errors--but that with the parts fused into a gestalt, the cohesion among the musicians embracing the power of the moment rendered the mistakes unnoticable for over 50 years. Meanwhile, to the musicians' credit, they were able and willing to keep up with Dylan's furious inventive pace (often learning the songs by osmosis), not to mention his limited ability to articulate his creative vision. For example, during an earlier rehearsal of "Rolling Stone," Dylan impatiently shouted "No, ya'll got lost!" when the band missed a cue in his unconventional song structure. Then he clearly sounded lost himself when pianist Paul Griffin figured out the structure and lucidly explained it to the others, nervously giggling "That's right!" before blasting his harmonica like a freight train entering a railroad crossing and retorting, "Okay, let's do the tune! Slower, softer!"

CONS

* I find it problematic that Columbia excluded substantial amounts of studio chatter. Some is indeed included--e.g., Dylan spontaneously uttering song titles on command, driving Tom Wilson to frustration with his impulsiveness, and ring-leading the chaos that gelled into "Rainy Day Women" (Bob Johnston had to intervene by commanding the musicians to turn off a portable radio and shouting, "Now, don't lose this beat!"). But overall there is *a lot* missing, even in the 18-disc set, which has been previously been available elsewhere (e.g., "You Don't Have to Do That" and the solo acoustic "Subterranean Homesick Blues"). Hearing more of what occurred in the room before and after the music really would have provided a better feel for the overall atmosphere of the recording process, with all of its healthy creative tension. I find this issue particularly problematic on the complete "Like a Rolling Stone" session. While I am aware that the tape was occasionally stopped for a few moments here and there, it would not have started rolling for each take just as the drummer snapped the snare. (It did not, as Bobby Gregg counting off "... 3" is clearly audible at the beginning of each of the isolated tracks from the album cut but was edited from the front of the master Take 4.) This absence of chatter, noodling, and periods of silence really takes away from the "fly on the wall" experience that these discs are supposed--and were alleged by Columbia's advertising--to provide.

* The 6-disc set focused too much on complete takes (many of which I found great for a one-time listen but thereafter proved inessential) and not enough on false starts and rehearsals (which adorned the 18-disc set) that arguably were a lot more interesting. These include: Take 11 of "On the Road Again" (in which Tom Wilson interrupted the take to inform Dylan that "that tempo's too fast to squeeze in those words, Bobby"; Dylan retorted, "Hey man, come awn! We were gonna do it!" and Wilson continued, "You want to do it right!"); Take 2 of "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (in which Dylan and Tom Wilson negotiated the introduction); Take 1 of the Nashville "Visions of Johanna" session (in which Bob Johnston had forgotten to turn on Dylan's vocal mic and needed to request that he start over); Take 2 of the electric "115th Dream" (the long-rumored take in which musicians missed their cues); and aborted attempts at a harmonica overdub on "Tombstone Blues" and a harmonica outro on "Love Minus Zero/No Limit."

* Given the price of the 6-disc set, I am disappointed that more care was not given to preparing the accompanying books. First, many of the photos were incorrectly arranged/labeled. For example, a number of shots from the recording sessions for "Highway 61 Revisited" were placed under the section for "Blonde on Blonde," and a shot from the end of the 1966 tour (with Mickey Jones' drums in clear view) was awkwardly stuck in among prints and news clippings from the solo "Don't Look Back" tour a year earlier. Second, like the "Mono Recordings" set a few years back, I came across a number of typos and other factual errors in the personnel notes. To add to other reviewers' observations that Dylan was listed as playing piano on tracks in which he actually played guitar (and vice-versa), my favorite was Dylan's "vocal" credit on the instrumental recorded with The Hawks/Band during the New York "Blonde on Blonde" sessions. In addition, there is no evidence to support the statement in the liner notes that Dylan overdubbed a harmonica atop John Sebastian's cross-harping on the first electric run through "Outlaw Blues." (The author was referring to Dylan's overdub onto the final album take recorded the following day, likely to simulate Sebastian's playing in his absence). Small details, but disappointing that I dropped a C-note for this much inattention to detail.

CONCLUSION

This set was basically the latest edition of Dylan's "Copyright Extension" project with added fanfare. I am not saying that it is all a hoax. Two-thirds of the 6-disc set is new material--a lot of fun to absorb. However, the tracks that are really worth paying for are on the 2-disc set. The rest are, for the most part, one-time listens. Hence my recommendation above to download the former and request the latter from the library. That, combined with the intentional exclusion of studio chatter and the abundance of errors in the books, makes the $100 spent for the 6-disc box feel like a bit of a loss. How is it that comparable sets of previously unissued material by, say, Miles Davis are available from the same label with more comprehensive content and packaging for considerably less?

33 persone l'hanno trovato utile

Rhondo Alameda

Excellent… but be aware the final and best cuts are on the original 3 album releases

Recensito negli Stati Uniti il 19 marzo 2023

‘The Cutting Edge’ Bootleg Series Vol 12 is absolutely for people already familiar with Dylan’s arguably greatest 3 albums- ‘Bringing It All Back Home’, ‘Highway 61 Revisited’, and ‘Blonde on Blonde’. Don’t mistake either the 2 disc or 6 disc version of this set as a substitute for the 3 original albums.
These sets introduce you to different and developing versions of the songs before their full blossom.

Based on the info given by one reviewer listing which cuts on the 6 disc set are included on the 2 disc set, I have to disagree with another otherwise good review that states the tracks that are worth paying for are on the 2 disc set. In taking notes on just discs 5 and 6, there are a half dozen or more tracks worth listening to multiple times or at least more than once, that aren’t on the 2 disc set. That said, there are some pretty rough cuts on both sets that are significantly inferior to the fully developed recordings that make up the 3 great, legendary albums. The process is exposed, with some nice variations along the way.

Personally I wouldn’t recommend trying to listen to over 100 tracks on 6 discs too hurriedly- that’s just asking for fatigue and disappointment! Take time, over days, months, and years. If you put it down for a year or two or three and open it again, you’ll be glad you have it. ;)