Bob Dylan’s hidden treasures (part one)
October 26th, 2008 by Wade Tatangelo in News
I immediately go into fanboy mode when a new Dylan “Bootleg Series” entry such as Tell Tale Signs (or album proper) drops. Then, after devouring the fresh product, I start rifling through my piles of genuine bootlegs because, like any Dylan junkie, once you’ve tasted the forbidden fruit, you just can’t get enough.
I’ve compiled a list and decided to write about some of my favorite Dylan rare and unreleased cuts. In part, to justify all the hours/money I’ve spent over the years, especially my college years, gathering all these gems. Not sure how often these entries will pop up, probably a couple per month. Most likely on slow music news day, like today. Here ya go:
“If You See Her, Say Hello” (live; alternate lyrics) 4/18/1976, from the bootleg Acoustic Thunder
This is the meanest I have ever heard Dylan. Recorded at the Lakeland Civic Center during the messy end of the famed Rolling Thunder Revue Tour, it finds a feisty Bobcat performing solo with acoustic guitar and harmonica, recasting a once gentle, Blood on the Tracks goodbye-to-his wife number as a vicious screed. Almost every line is rewritten and laced with deadly venom.
“If you see her, say hello, she might be in North San Juan,” Dylan snarls on the opening line. “She left here in a hurry, I don’t know what she was on.”
His bitterness, with borderlines on hatred, grows with each verse.
“If you’re making love to her, watch it from the rear, you never know when I’ll be back or liable to appear,” he threatens. “For it’s as natural to dream of peace as it is for rules to break, and right now I ain’t got much to lose, so you better stay away.”
The most crushing lines arrive at the end: “My head can’t understand no more what my heart don’t tolerate/Well, she’ll be back someday, of that there is no doubt/And when that moment comes, Lord, give me the strength to keep her out.”
A far cry from the original performance/lyrics. Gripping stuff. If you can stomach it.
UPDATE 10/28: Here’s the clip.
October 26th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
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October 27th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Any chance of e-mailing an MP3? I have many many bootlegs, but not this one, and I’d love to hear this version of the song!
October 27th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Never mind! Just found it for download at: http://rs16.rapidshare.com/files/66360321/AT.zip
Thanks for the brilliant song discovery tip!
October 27th, 2008 at 10:38 am
This is a great collection of songs. Mysterious, elusive, enigmatic…just like the man himself. Songs with color and character.
And if you love the characters Bob’s created here, you should (shameless plug alert) take look at my new novel, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, a murder mystery set in the rock world in which all the suspects are characters in Bob’s songs.
An entire book built around Bob’s creations? That’s just the kind of depth this man has. Intrigued? You can get a copy on Amazon.com or go “behind the tracks” at http://www.bloodonthetracksnovel.com to learn more about the book.
October 27th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Another post about Dylan. Is there some sort of record you’re trying to set that I don’t know about?
December 21st, 2008 at 2:21 am
Im the person who taped these and a lot of other concerts in the Bay area.Im the one yelling “sit down” and my ex wife Debbie says “really!” I never expected this stuff to end up on the internet when I used to trade with other tapers in the 70s,Hell there wasnt even an internet then.We also did from this tour the Tampa Show,the AM Bellview Biltmore “Indoor Hard Rain” and the Bayfront Center shows].Ironically I got remarried in the Ball Room the show was taped in because I remembered how cool it looked.Tickets for the Hard Rain taping were given out at random to people at the Tampa concert.I still have the masters for these shows.
April 21st, 2009 at 9:31 am
Try http://ineedfile.com to look for rapidshare files. I using it regularly and allways satisfied with the results
It’s redesigned now and looks much more beter. More than 7 000 000 files in their database.
They offer search toolbars for FF and IE. They also offer search bar for your site.Enjoy.