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Bob Dylan: Springtime in New York 1980-1985: The Bootleg Series, Volume 16 (5CD)
Bob Dylan
guitar and vocalsb.1941
But there are, in fact, a comparable number of outtakes here from the sessions for Shot of Love (Columbia, 1981), the album preceding the aforementioned LP co-produced by the Nobel Laureate with
Dire Straits
band / ensemble / orchestra1977 - 1995
To wit, one alternate version of "Jokerman" and a single outtake of "Blind Willie McTell" is not comprehensive in this context. Or when taking into account what's documented to have been recorded (in 'The Bob Dylan Center' in Tulsa OK., one of the main sources for the aforementioned book) plus what's been disseminated unofficially over near forty years. More strictly speaking, this sampling hardly compares to the extensive lengths to which curators took the recordings for Blood on the Tracks (Columbia, 1975): the Deluxe Edition of Volume 14 from 2018 consists of a half- dozen CDs, with a running time of over six hours.
More clearly depicted in The Bootleg Series Volume 16, however, is Bob's approach to working in the studio. More often than not he appears compelled to ignore the accepted guidelines and, rather than tailor his songs to fit the confines of an album, he seeks to find the essence of his compositions in the recordings. Consequently, relatively inferior numbers may find their way into the track sequencing, as happens with Infidels' "Union Sundown" and "License to Kill."
To be fair, this edition suffers in part because its timeline overlaps Volume 13; Trouble No More 1979-1981 that includes examination of the first of the three albums revisited here and in so doing documents how a triptych of superlative songs then preserved for posterity—"Every Grain of Sand," "Caribbean Wind" and "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar"—might well have rendered Shot of Love significant rather than run of the mill, if they had all been part of the original track-list (only the first was so designated). Egregious as is the absence of those stellar pieces on Dylan's twenty-first studio album, their exclusion here in any form whatsoever, is comparably so.
In their otherwise discerning wisdom, however, producers Jeff Rosen and Steve Berkowitz decided not to allow virtually any repetition on Springtime in New York. The pair instead chose only three heretofore previously-released pieces to appear within the fifty-seven total cuts, thereby unintentionally reaffirming the futility (and frustration) inherent in a completist approach to this iconic artist's work; of The Bard's contemporaries, only
Neil Young
guitarb.1945
In that latest collection, the former Buffalo Springfielder often prefers to proffer surrogate versions of past LPs to alternately offer a different angle or confirm the wisdom of the original. In effect, the final CD of The Bootleg Series Volume 16 fulfills a similar goal because, shorn of the add-ons of Arthur Baker's disco-inflected mix so prevalent of its era, tracks such as both the slow and fast renditions of "When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky" are preferable to the one on the mid-eighties album. Each in its own way, plus eight others including "Straight A's in Love," proffer a vintage Dylan unlike the artist on the prior two LPs, (almost) as sentimental as he is irascible and invariably the well-practiced poet.
Likewise, on "Seeing The Real You At Last" and "Emotionally Yours," two of " data-original-title="" title="">Tom Petty's Heartbreakers (guitarist
Mike Campbell
guitarb.1954
Bruce Springsteen
composer / conductorb.1949
It might well be fair to say that 1980-1985 chronicles Bob Dylan's self- teaching in studio technique. His education with a variety of individuals and their respective production approaches actually commenced just prior to the chronology of this compendium, when Jerry Wexler oversaw Slow Train Coming (Columbia, 1979) and Saved (Columbia, 1980). On the former, the titular leader of Dire Straits as well as its drummer Pick Withers were among a finite list of accompanists similar to the latter's, while a number of guests appear the next year alongside Dylan's touring personnel of the time: drummer
Ringo Starr
drumsb.1940
The Beatles
band / ensemble / orchestra
Ronnie Wood
guitar, electric
The Rolling Stones
band / ensemble / orchestrab.1962
Meanwhile, a core band of accompanists two years later was populated by the Jamaican rhythm section of drummer " data-original-title="" title="">Sly Dunbar and bassist
Robbie Shakespeare
bassMick Taylor
guitar
Little Richard
piano1935 - 2020
In keeping with the aforementioned allegiance to his original compositions then, it's hardly surprising, this collection's track-listing clarifies carryover from one project to the next. "Clean Cut Kid" and "Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)" are only the most overt examples in terms of the self-composed, but the regular appearance of covers throughout, on compact disc four in the form of
Jimmy Reed
guitar, electric1925 - 1976
Elvis Presley
vocals1935 - 1977
The curators of Volume 16 walk a fine line between greater and lesser depth. Yet in doing so, they are essentially whetting the appetite for future installments by juxtaposing a haunting solo performance of "Dark Eyes" (written at the behest of Arthur Baker!) with the spoken/sung writing collaboration with playwright Sam Shepard, "New Danville Girl," eventually released in modified form on the execrable LP Knocked Out Loaded (Columbia, 1986). Logic would dictate the eventual appearance of at least some of the full-bore studio performances long-time Dylan collaborator
Al Kooper
composer / conductorb.1944
Befitting the thirtieth anniversary of this vault initiative, the packaging for this 5CD version of Springtime in New York 1980-1985 boasts as much meticulous care as the researching and preparation of the music (mixed and mastered by Mark Wilder, Steve Addabbo, and Chris Shaw). What may rightly be termed a 'labor of love' appears in various forms, including a stylish graphic design by Geoff Gans, accentuated by both flat and glossy finishes on a slipcase holding two hardbound enclosures: one book sporting the aforementioned liner notes, a plentiful selection of photos and other ephemera of the period such as posters, ads etc., the other carrying the compact discs, logically enough, inserted alongside pages containing all due credits, right down to track-by-track personnel annotation.
No doubt there are those who might prefer a different and/or more extensive plumbing of the depths within the Bob Dylan vault. But there is hardly any question the rigorous method of archiving as applied to this sumptuous set proves effective for its own purpose, not to mention accurately reflecting its subject's often enigmatic and unpredictable manner. ">
Track Listing
CD 1: Se?or (Tales of Yankee Power); To Ramona; Jesus Met the Woman at the Well; Mary of the Wild Moor; Need a Woman; A Couple More Years ; Mystery Train; This Night Won’t Last Forever; We Just Disagree; Let’s Keep It Between Us; Sweet Caroline; Fever ; Abraham, Martin and John. CD 2: Angelina; Price of Love; I Wish It Would Rain; Let It Be Me; Cold, Cold Heart; Don’t Ever Take Yourself Away ; Fur Slippers ; Borrowed Time; Is It Worth It?; Lenny Bruce; Yes Sir, No Sir. CD 3: Jokerman; Blind Willie McTell; Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight; Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight; Neighborhood Bully; Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart; This Was My Love; Too Late [acoustic] ; Too Late [band] ; Foot of Pride. CD 4: Clean Cut Kid; Sweetheart Like You; Baby What You Want Me to Do; Tell Me; Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground; Julius and Ethel ; Green, Green Grass of Home; Union Sundown; Lord Protect My Child; I and I; Death is Not the End. CD 5: Enough is Enough; License to Kill; I’ll Remember You; Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love); Seeing the Real You at Last; Emotionally Yours; Clean Cut Kid; Straight A’s in Love; When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky [slow]; When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky [fast]; New Danville Girl; Dark Eyes.
Personnel
Bob Dylan
guitar and vocalsMark Knopfler
guitarMick Taylor
guitar
Fred Tackett
guitar
Ronnie Wood
guitar, electricIra Ingber
guitarRyan Hedgecock
guitar
Mike Campbell
guitarSteve Ripley
guitar
Danny Kortchmar
guitarSteve Van Zandt
guitarWillie Smith
keyboardsCarl Pickhardt
keyboardsDavid Mansfield
mandolinBenmont Tench
keyboardsAlan Clark
keyboardsVince Melamed
keyboardsStephen Eric Hague
keyboardsIan McLagan
keyboardsRoy Bittan
pianoAdditional Instrumentation
Bob Dylan: guitar, piano, harmonica; Fred Tackett: mandolin; John Paroulo; keyboards; Steve Douglas: saxophone; David Campbell: viola; Dennis Karmazyn: cello; Richard Seher; synthesizer; Tim Drummond: bass, guitar; Donald Dunn: bass; Howie Epstein: bass; Robbie Shakespeare: bass; Greg Sutton: bass; Carl Sealove: bass;Tony Marsico: bass; Anton Fig: drums; Chalo Quintana: drums; Colin Allen: drums; Sly Dunbar: drums; Jim Keltner: drums; Ringo Starr: drums; Don Heffington: drums; Bashiri Johnson: percussion; Sammy Figueroa: percussion; Clydie King, Carolyn Dennis, Gwen Evans, and Regina McCrary, Madelyn Quebec, Peggi?Blue, Queen Esther Marrow, Clydie King: background vocals; Curtis Bedeau, Gerard Charles, Brian George, Lucien L. George, and Paul George (Full Force): background vocals.
Album information
Title: Springtime in New York 1980-1985: The Bootleg Series, Volume 16 (5CD) | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Legacy Recordings
Tags
Bob Dylan
Extended Analysis
Doug Collette
Bob Dylan: Springtime in New York 1980-1985: The Bootleg Series, Volume 16 (5CD)
Legacy Recordings
Dire Straits
Neil Young
Tom Petty
Mike Campbell
Howie Epstein
Bruce Springsteen
Ringo Starr
The Beatles
Ronnie Wood
Rolling Stones
Sly Dunbar
Robbie Shakespeare
Mick Taylor
Little Richard
Jimmy Reed
Elvis Presley
Al Kooper
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