Bob Dylan – Bootleg Series Vol. 9: Witmark Demos 1962-64
New Bootleg Series Captures Early, Authentic Bob Dylan
By Ben Corbett, About.com Contributing Writer
Nowadays in music journalism, a rumor is good as a fact. And when the longtime Bob Dylan fanzine Isis leaked the rumor of The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 earlier this year, it immediately went viral. As per normal, word of any new Dylan release is explosive information, and every major music blog—even Rolling Stone—joined in the hype. Finally in August, Columbia Records confirmed the October 19 dual release of The Bootleg Series Vol. 9, The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964, along with a new limited-edition box set, The Original Mono Recordings.
The Witmark Demos
In 1962, with the ink still drying on his Columbia contract, a 20-year-old Bob Dylan signed with Leeds Music, a song publishing firm run by Lou Levy. After recording eight demos, Dylan’s new manager, Albert Grossman, bought the Leeds contract on January 5, 1962 and resold it to Witmark Music Publishing, where Dylan recorded another 41 demos through 1964. These austere versions are essentially stripped-down song templates with Dylan singing to simple piano or acoustic guitar arrangements. Originally made to be passed around among music producers, musicians, and industry insiders, these recordings were never intended for the public ear.
Although a few of the demos were showcased on 1991’s The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3, the bulk have remained unreleased until now. The 47 songs on the new two-disc compilation are book-ended by a fragment of “Man on the Street” from the Leeds sessions and a piano version of “I’ll Keep It With Mine” from Witmark. In between are the first-ever takes of many songs that were released on Dylan’s first three albums, including “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” “Masters of War” and “Don’t Think Twice.” As Colin Escott writes in the liner notes, “The two-and-a-half year span of these recordings encapsulates an artistic transformation like no other in our time… It’s almost like being there at the moment of creation again.”
The biggest feature of the Witmark compilation is the inclusion of 15 never-released originals that haven’t been heard by the public in any form, essentially an album’s worth of virgin material from the height of Dylan’s early folk years.
The Bootleg Series Volume 9 track list:
Disc 1:
1. “Man On The Street (Fragment)”
2. “Hard Times In New York Town”
3. “Poor Boy Blues”
4. “Ballad For A Friend”
5. “Rambling, Gambling Willie”
6. “Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues”
7. “Standing On The Highway”
8. “Man On The Street”
9. “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
1. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
2. “Walkin’ Down The Line”
3. “I Shall Be Free”
4. “Bob Dylan’s Blues”
5. “Bob Dylan’s Dream”
6. “Boots Of Spanish Leather”
7. “Walls of Red Wing”
8. “Girl From The North Country”
9. “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”