You’ve just bought that Japanese import version of Blood on the Tracks, and you finally scraped together enough money for the vinyl version of volume eight in Dylan’s Bootleg series. As you lovingly place them on your Dylan Shelf in the perfect spot (for accessibility and presentation), your husband and/or wife wipes a tear of joy from his/her North Country eye, and you mumble to yourself: “That’s it… I’ve got it all….”
WRONG, motherfucker! Because Bob Dylan has just announced that on October 19 he’ll be releasing volume nine in his Bootleg series on Columbia, titled The Witmark Demos: 1962 - 1964. The two-disc set serves as the first official collection of 47 songs Bobby recorded for his two earliest song publishers, Leeds Music and M. Witmark & Sons. The collection includes early versions of classic tunes like “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and “Blowin’ in the Wind,” as well as session-exclusive numbers like “The Death of Emmet Till” and “Ballad for a Friend.” All of the music was made with just voice, acoustic guitar, and a dash of piano, and was recorded before Dylan was 24.
The deluxe set also includes a booklet of photos from the recording sessions and in-depth liner notes by Colin Escott. I know that you’ll be buying the deluxe version, because you need to have it all. All of it.
The Bootleg Series Volume 9 — The Witmark Demos tracklisting:
Disc 1:
01. “Man on the Street (Fragment)”
02. “Hard Times in New York Town”
03. “Poor Boy Blues”
04. “Ballad for a Friend”
05. “Rambling, Gambling Willie”
06. “Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues”
07. “Standing on the Highway”
08. “Man on the Street”
09. “Blowin’ in the Wind”
10. “Long Ago, Far Away”
11. “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”
12. “Tomorrow Is a Long Time”
13. “The Death of Emmett Till”
14. “Let Me Die in My Footsteps”
15. “Ballad of Hollis Brown”
16. “Quit Your Low Down Ways”
17. “Baby, I’m in the Mood for You”
18. “Bound to Lose, Bound to Win”
19. “All Over You”
20. “I’d Hate to Be You on That Dreadful Day”
21. “Long Time Gone”
22. “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues”
23. “Masters of War”
24. “Oxford Town”
25. “Farewell”
Disc 2:
01. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
02. “Walkin’ Down the Line”
03. “I Shall Be Free”
04. “Bob Dylan’s Blues”
05. “Bob Dylan’s Dream”
06. “Boots of Spanish Leather”
07. “Walls of Red Wing”
08. “Girl from the North Country”
09. “Seven Curses”
10. “Hero Blues”
11. “Whatcha Gonna Do?”
12. “Gypsy Lou”
13. “Ain’t Gonna Grieve”
14. “John Brown”
15. “Only a Hobo”
16. “When the Ship Comes In”
17. “The Times They Are A-Changin’”
18. “Paths of Victory”
19. “Guess I’m Doing Fine”
20. “Baby Let Me Follow You Down”
21. “Mama, You Been on My Mind”
22. “Mr. Tambourine Man”
23. “I’ll Keep It with Mine”
• Bob Dylan: http://www.bobdylan.com
• Columbia: http://www.columbiarecords.com
