Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home Soundtrack (2CD) | Rare Recordings & Live Performances | Perfect for Music Collectors & Dylan Fans

This entry into the Dylan bootleg series differs from all the others simply because these rare covers, rare live recordings and alternate takes have been carefully compiled/tracked down and brought to you by the same guy (people? Team?) responsible for ALL KINDS of movies and soundtracks and “Martin Scorsese presents…” editions that honestly just RULE. I could list them all here if I was not drunk… with happiness (at having bought this).And no, there’s no expanded edition for $95 for serious “Dylanologists” ??? I just like this one, all the songs are great. If I had to make any complaint, it would be that this, or any other in the series, could have some more Bloomfield on it. Give him his own edition. He was with Dylan for a short time, but what they did inspired Hendrix, changed music, CHANGED THE WORLD.This album has been reviewed enough here, but I just have a few thoughts that have come up since the No Direction Home DVD has been out. I am more than a casual fan of Bob Dylan, but by no means a "Dylanologist"What were the British fans expecting from Dylan?Here is the timeline, in reverse chronological order:Summer 1966: Dylan booed throughout the UK. "I came to see a folk singer, not a pop band" A quote from a "fan" from No Direction HomeAugust 1965: Highway 61 Revisited released. Like a Rolling Stone. Enough said.Summer 1965: Newport Folk festival. Dylan has "sold out" to rock and rollMarch 1965: Bringing it All Back Home released. More rock than folk.August 1964: Another Side of Bob Dylan released. Dylan is no longer recording pure folk music.Were Dylan's albums not sold in Europe? I think the radio play was mostly by off shore pirate radio stations, so his new songs were not on the radio?Dylan had moved way past his folkie days by the time he was in the UK, but the audience was expecting a full show of his old material. I just do not understand this.If you have listened to "Highway 61" so many times you can hear it in your sleep, this is the album for you. The outtakes of those songs are positively thrilling. Direct with little changes that shake things up, you marvel at how fresh these songs still are today. The first disc is his early acoustic songs and they are also quite enthralling, especially "This Land is Your Land" which has become a bit of a cliche having been appropriated aplenty. When Mr. D does it, it is so gritty and heartfelt it almost makes you cry. His version beats all others. This is a positively must for all Dylan fans and I recommend it to younger generations who have never listened to the early records. So cool.This was an absolutely TREMENDOUS CD.Especially recommended on Side 2 are "She Belongs to Me" ("She's an artist, She Don't look Back") and a Devestating Version of "Desolation Row".On Side 1 are "When my Ship comes in" (In the Video Baez tells how Dylan is upset that they won't let him in a Hotel because of his "Scruffy appearance", then as Baez tells it "So he wrote 'When My Ship comes In' He can't get a Hotel Room, so he writes when my Ship comes In"!!!)Also on Side 1 is a "Catch Lightning in a Bottle" version of "Chimes of Freedom.AND if you like this CD, check out Baez's performance on YOUTUBE of "Diamonds and Rust"; Then go to the 1992 Dylan Tribute where the Clancy Brothers (and for this performance only Tommy Makem) do "When My Ship Comes In". You can't go wrong on any of these.If you have many of Dylan's albums of the sixties, this is an excellent addition. Disc one is solo acoustic and chronicles a songwriter coming into his own. Disc two is full of live and alternate takes that shed new light on the original versions of the songs. Sometimes alternate takes are meant to be kept off of albums, these versions are quite rewarding, and definitely worth repeated listens. The liner notes include other pictures taken from the album cover photo sessions. Here are some other fine albums you may like if you like Dylan:1) Kings Avenue by Joe Kile2) Stranger's Almanac by Whiskeytown3) Banjos And Sunshine by Sixty Acres4) Ain't No Grave: A Tribute To Traditional And Public Domain Songs by Various ArtistsThis set is one of the most telling in the aftermath of the great ones' career.The performances remind us of a man who stood up to war and injustice,and makes me wonder if most of it turned out to be a youthful folker latching onto the college-age rebels of the time. The Woody Guthrie influence is here,as well as some blues-laden pieces that are tinged with dust-bowl feeling,and wisdom beyond the young Dylans' years.I enjoyed this immensely,and believe it is a man who propelled himself with earnest through a period of fertile writers,of which he may very well be the best. Was he channeling? Songs like "blowin in the wind" make me think so!A real treasure of time and poetry...go for it!Historical as well as VERY interesting..I have to admit that in the past I was not a real big fan of Dylan. Most of the original recordings of his top hits are so overplayed that they became monotonous. This set with different takes and occasional comments by Bob was a pleasant surprise. I skip a few of the songs, but I like most of them. A couple of them even made my own personal top 100 list.Nice edition, nice booklet, according to others Bootleg Series.Should have bought it in vinyl, also.If you're a Bootleg Series fan, maybe it's not the best of them, but it worths the price.After a long career which has famously been `Bootlegged' many times, Bob Dylan has now decided to do what the fans have wanted all along and started to release previously archived material - unreleased demos, live recordings, stuff that never made it onto albums etc - in a series of official Bootleg albums. The first three volumes were a good mixture of alternative versions and live numbers that never made it to albums and included many important and interesting recordings, such as the original Blood on the Tracks sessions. The fourth volume was the infamous Manchester concert from 1966, recorded at a time when Dylan was accused of being a traitor to the folk movement for his electric album Highway 61. So far so good, these were recordings well worth owning, especially the visceral '66 concert. But for volumes 5 and 6 somewhat uninteresting live recordings were released, that led me to feel as though material was now being released for the sake of it and to cash in on avid fans (such as myself) who will buy anything released by his Bobness.This seventh volume in the series addresses these issues, and presents us with another 2 discs of important material that really adds to your Dylan collection. Chronologically it covers the period from 1959 and a rather muddy recording which doesn't sound much, but was in fact the first recording made by the legend. It then follows his career for 7 years up to Highway 61 Revisited. The transformation in his style and ability in the time is astonishing. It tells the story of his progression through a series of previously unreleased recordings - demos, alternative versions, songs cut from albums and live recordings. An interesting way of doing things, and much better for the avid Dylanologist that charting his progress through the usual best of route. The material here is genuinely new, interesting and worthwhile. Especially cuts of songs that were dropped from albums before release, some of these are so good that you wonder why they were dropped. It's a real testament to Dylan's genius, and a very essential purchase for any Dylan fan.Bob Dylan remains to me, The GREATEST Artist/Singer/Songwriter/Poet/Whatever that ever walked gods green earth. Scorsese's film blew me away and the soundtrack does just the same. People know what they're buying when they buy this kind of thing. Absolute quality. Arrived quickly and with no problems at all. Cheers seller.Pleased with this purchase. Delivery prompt. Item exactly as expectedI was really surprised just how good this CD is, particularly CD2. An excellent compilation.Another chapter in the wonderfully inspiring and (mostly) progressive story that is Bob Dylan. Here lies the the rougher edges of what was undoubtedly Bob's most sucessful period. Absolutely spot on.