Carrying on with my favourite box sets...



#9 - The Bootleg Series Vols 1–3: (Rare and Unreleased 1961–1991) by Bob Dylan (1991)




This was Bob Dylan's second box set, following 1986's Biograph (which was the set that really kick-started the whole box set era). That earlier set is great as a career overview, featuring as it does all of Dylan's big hits, along with standout album tracks and a smattering of unreleased songs to tempt the completist. But The Bootleg Series Vols 1–3: (Rare and Unreleased 1961–1991) consists entirely of previously unreleased recordings from the Columbia vaults.

The thing about Dylan is he was such a prolific and talented songwriter in the '60s and '70s that, quite often, there simply wasn't enough space to fit all his best compositions onto his then-current albums. He also sometimes misjudged the worth of his songs, which resulted in a brilliant composition like "Blind Willie McTell" going unreleased, when its parent album (the, frankly, dire Infidels) doesn't contain anything approaching the quality of that song.

This 3x CD box set collects 58 session outtakes, live recordings, and demos from 1962 through to 1989, providing a hugely enjoyable "alternate history" version of Dylan's recording career. Sure, this is a box set that is squarely aimed at Dylan nuts like me, but the quality of the music is so high that even much more casual Dylan fans would enjoy it, I'm sure. Of course, the success of this set inaugurated the sprawling "Bootleg Series" of archival Dylan releases, which is currently up to volume 17, as of this writing.


Here is the 1962 outtake "Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues", which humorously recounts how the sale of forged tickets to a picnic at Bear Mountain State Park ended in overcrowding and injury…




And here is the aforementioned "Blind Willie McTell", which is a stunning rumination on the history of American music and slavery from 1983…

Ahhh...I knew we'd likely see this box set in your run down. I know that it's a very well-regarded collection -- I have the feeling that it might have been reissued a few times, with an updated track listing, perhaps? Don't quote me on that, but it's definitely a set that seems to have been in print for a long time.

Of the two tracks you picked, obviously "Mama Tried" is a stone-cold classic, and I love the pick-axe-on-rock percussion on "Workin' Man Blues" (and James Burton's guitar break too, of course). I feel like we've discussed these two songs semi-recently??

I might very well be tempted by this box set, if I ever saw it for a good price. I like Haggard's music quite a bit, but I only own one vinyl compilation of his stuff -- The Very Best of Merle Haggard from 1974...






As you can see from the track listing, most of his most famous hits from the '60s and early '70s are here, but there are also some important tracks missing. It doesn't even have "Sing Me Back Home" on it! So, I've always fancied digging a little bit deeper into his discography. This box set would seem like a logical place to start.

We probably have because both of those songs get super heavy rotation by me. 

There have been so many Greatest Hits albums for Hagg that it's insane.  That's not a terrible selection of songs, but there are definitely couple of glaring omissions and a couple of odd choices.  Neither Every Fool Has a Rainbow nor I Wonder What She'll Think About Me Leaving were ever released as a singles.  Sing Me Back Home is a glaring omission.  If you wanted an album track Irma Jackson would be a great choice since Hagg wanted that as a single instead of The Fightin' Side of Me.  

As with a lot of things, sometimes the way music hits you has a lot to do with where you are coming from. So both Slam and Confessor, it's interesting to me because not only do a lot of your tastes run classic (which is cool, mine often do as well) but more specifically are actually a lot of material my parents listened to. There's a familiarity from recollections of them playing many of the artists you both post, and Merle and Dylan would fall into this category. In some cases as I read through both of your comments (which I'm enjoying) as well as listening to the songs mentioned, it's a little mix of nostalgia and a little bit getting reacquainted with some of this music.

So I don't always have a lot to add beyond that because it's a little more enjoying reading and listening, but again it's fun and is giving me some fresh stuff to explore even if I never spring for full box sets. I will also be passing along the info on the Bob Dylan set to my son, he is huge into music histories and even produces some short film retrospectives on musicians as part of his video projects (he is studying film and music in college as well). He recently did one on Dylan so this may be right up his alley. You guys would love his musical tastes, he's much cooler than me lol!

Great pick! I don't own this box set, but I can't for the life of me think why not? I'm a big Tom Petty fan -- particularly of the run of albums from 1979's Damn the Torpedoes through to 1994's Wildflowers. The title of this set is apt: he is indeed an American treasure.

Yeah, I need to pick this up.

I currently do "I Won't Back Down" and "Free Fallin'" in one of my covers duo, and in the past I've done "American Girl" and "Running Down a Dream" with various bands.

The one I'd really like to do in my duo is "The Waiting", but I don't think it's really well known enough over here in the UK to resonate with bar audiences. Although Petty had a reasonable cult following in the UK through the late '70s and early '80s (even scoring a surprise hit in 1985 with "Don't Come Around Here No More"), it wasn't until he joined the Traveling Wilburys that his profile really went mainstream in Britain. Coming off of that, he had by far his biggest UK success with the Full Moon Fever album, and "I Won't back Down" and "Free Fallin'" are by far his best known songs over here as a result.

I totally love "The Waiting", I never got to play it either. I remember "Don't Come Around Here No More" getting a lot of exposure with the MTV video, but then it was Wilburys and Full Moon Fever here as well as best I can recall that got the big exposure. So much great earlier material too, but as you say, you have to know the audience. I felt like we could get away with more fun sets with private party gigs (the non-corporate type), but we weren't making a living doing that either! Still though, I was living out in the Southwest in my early 20's, and outdoor gigs in particular were amazing. Bonfires with desert mountain backgrounds, perfect weather...I'm totally digressing here but these songs remind me of some high times indeed.