The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966

The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966

by Bob Dylan
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966

The Bootleg Series, Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966

by Bob Dylan

CD(Special Edition)

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Overview

"I'll do this one more time and if I can't do it, we'll do another song. I'll do any song as good as I can do it the first time." Bob Dylan says these words once his first solo take of "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" breaks down after a minute. Dylan's definition of "good" is fluid, of course. Sometimes, a first take satisfied him -- "Maggie's Farm" and "Gates of Eden" are two prime examples -- but often he'd find he could do a song better or at least do it differently, swapping out words, speeding up the tempo, and changing the feel, occasionally radically transforming his song. Sometimes, these radical transformations are the versions that found their way to the finished record, so they're now seen as etched in stone but The Cutting Edge 1965-1966, the 12th volume of The Bootleg Series, shows Dylan didn't enter the studio with posterity in mind when he went to cut Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde: he was making music of and for the moment. Familiarity hasn't necessarily dulled the impact of these three records, all written and recorded within a span of 14 months -- a period of time when Dylan also filmed Don't Look Back, electrified the Newport Folk Festival, and was declared a Judas at the Royal Albert Hall -- but they have made them seem inevitable, works carved out of granite whose fates were preordained. The gift of The Cutting Edge is that it makes this, the greatest run of creativity in Dylan's career and perhaps in rock & roll in general, once again seems wild, nervy, and quicksilver, upending expectations and undercutting conventions. Within one of the three sets of liner notes, Bill Flanagan calls these six discs of outtakes, alternates, and rehearsals "work tapes," which is technically true, but undersells how this music crackles as it shape-shifts, sometimes soaring, sometimes stumbling, but always feeling fiercely alive. If it's difficult to claim that a solo "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" and a locomotive "Visions of Johanna" recorded with the Band are superior to the versions on Home and Blonde, they're nevertheless magnificent in their own right while also shedding light on how Dylan worked; with producer Tom Wilson, the singer/songwriter wasted no time, while Bob Johnston allowed Bob to twist and test his songs, letting him discover the soul that lay within. Along the way, Dylan was truly fearless -- he'd goose a tempo to see if it gave a ballad life, he'd let Mike Bloomfield and Robbie Robertson run wild; the fact that he abandoned a song as wonderful as "She's Your Lover Now," possibly because it never quite withstood such stress tests, speaks volumes -- and among the many gifts The Cutting Edge has to offer is that it illuminates these three great records while also illustrating that they were just mere snapshots in time. By breaking down the barriers that separated these three albums, The Cutting Edge shows how for Dylan during this blinding, brilliant peak his music was a living thing, evolving from song to song, take to take, where the quest itself was as transcendent as the final destination. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date: 11/06/2015
Label: Legacy / Sony Music
UPC: 0888751244122
Rank: 50034

Tracks

Disc 1

  1. Love Minus Zero/No Limit [Take 1] [Breakdown]
  2. Love Minus Zero/No Limit [Take 2]
  3. Love Minus Zero/No Limit [Take 3] [Remake] [Complete]
  4. Love Minus Zero/No Limit [Take 1] [ Remake] [Complete]
  5. I'll Keep It With Mine [Take 1] [Piano Demo]
  6. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue [Take 1]
  7. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream [Take 1] [Fragment]
  8. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream [Take 2] [Complete]
  9. She Belongs to Me [Take 1] [Solo Acoustic Version]
  10. She Belongs to Me [Take 2] [ Remake] [Complete]
  11. She Belongs to Me [Take 1] [Remake] [Complete]
  12. Subterranean Homesick Blues [Take 1]
  13. Subterranean Homesick Blues [Take 1] [Alternate Take]
  14. Outlaw Blues [Take 1] [Complete]
  15. Outlaw Blues [Take 2] [Alternate Take]
  16. On the Road Again [Take 1] [Complete]
  17. On the Road Again [Take 4] [Alternate Take]
  18. On the Road Again [Take 1] [Remake] [Complete]
  19. On the Road Again [Take 7] [Remake] [Complete]
  20. Farewell, Angelina [Take 1] [Solo Acoustic Version]
  21. If You Gotta Go, Go Now [Take 1] [Complete]
  22. If You Gotta Go, Go Now [Take 2] [Alternate Take]
  23. You Don't Have to Do That [Take 1] [Solo Acoustic Version]

Disc 2

  1. California [Take 1] [Solo Acoustic Version]
  2. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) [Take 1] [False Start]
  3. Mr. Tambourine Man [Takes 1-2] [False Starts]
  4. Mr. Tambourine Man [Take 3 With Band] [Incomplete]
  5. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry [Take 1] [Complete [6/15/65]
  6. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry [Take 8] [Alternate Take]
  7. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry [Take 3] [Incomplete]
  8. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry [Take 3] [Remake] [Complete]
  9. Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence [Take 2]
  10. Tombstone Blues [Take 1] [Alternate Take]
  11. Tombstone Blues [Take 9]
  12. Positively 4th Street [Takes 1-3] [False Starts]
  13. Positively 4th Street [Take 4] [Complete]
  14. Positively 4th Street [Take 5] [Alternate Take]
  15. Desolation Row [Take 1] [Alternate Take]
  16. Desolation Row [Take 2] [Piano Demo]
  17. Desolation Row [Take 5] [Remake] [Complete]
  18. From a Buick 6 [Take 1] [False Start]
  19. From a Buick 6 [Take 4]

Disc 3

  1. Like a Rolling Stone [Takes 1-3] [Rehearsal]
  2. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 4] [Rehearsal]
  3. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 5] [Rehearsal]
  4. Like a Rolling Stone [Rehearsal Remake]
  5. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 1] [Remake] [Rehearsal]
  6. Like a Rolling Stone [Takes 2-3] [Remake] [False Starts]
  7. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 4] [Remake]
  8. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 5] [Remake] [Rehearsal]
  9. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 6] [Remake] [False Start]
  10. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 8] [Remake] [Breakdown]
  11. Like a Rolling Stone [Takes 9-10] [Remake] [False Starts]
  12. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 11] [Alternate Take]
  13. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 12] [Remake] [False Start]
  14. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 13] [Remake] [Breakdown]
  15. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 14] [Remake] False Start]
  16. Like a Rolling Stone [Take 15] [Remake] [Breakdown]
  17. Like a Rolling Stone [Master Take] [Guitar]
  18. Like a Rolling Stone [Master Take] [Vocals] [Guitar]
  19. Like a Rolling Stone [Master Take] [Piano] [Bass]
  20. Like a Rolling Stone [Master Take] [Drums] [Organ]

Disc 4

  1. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? [Take 1] [Alternate Take]
  2. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? [Take 17]
  3. Highway 61 Revisited [Take 3] [Alternate Take]
  4. Highway 61 Revisited [Take 5] [Complete]
  5. Highway 61 Revisited [Take 7] [False Start]
  6. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues [Take 1] [Breakdown]
  7. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues [Take 3] [Rehearsal]
  8. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues [Take 13] [Complete]
  9. Queen Jane Approximately [Take 2] [Complete]
  10. Queen Jane Approximately [Take 5] [Alternate Take]
  11. Ballad of a Thin Man [Take 2] [Breakdown]
  12. Medicine Sunday [Take 1]
  13. Jet Pilot [Take 1]
  14. I Wanna Be Your Lover [Take 1] [Fragment]
  15. I Wanna Be Your Lover [Take 6] [Complete]
  16. Instrumental [Take 2] [Complete]
  17. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? [Take 6] [Complete]
  18. Visions of Johanna [Take 1] [Rehearsal]
  19. Visions of Johanna [Take 5] [Rehearsal]

Disc 5

  1. Visions of Johanna [Take 7] [Complete]
  2. Visions of Johanna [Take 8]
  3. Visions of Johanna [Take 14] [Complete]
  4. She's Your Lover Now [Take 1] [Breakdown]
  5. She's Your Lover Now [Take 6] [Rehearsal]
  6. She's Your Lover Now [Take 15]
  7. She's Your Lover Now [Take 16] [Complete]
  8. One of Us Must Know [Sooner or Later] [Take 2] [Rehearsal]
  9. One of Us Must Know [Sooner or Later] [Take 4] [Rehearsal]
  10. One of Us Must Know [Sooner or Later] [Take 19] [Alternate Take]
  11. Lunatic Princess [Take 1]
  12. Fourth Time Around [Take 11] [Complete]
  13. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat [Take 3] [Complete]
  14. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat [Take 8] [Alternate Take]
  15. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 [Take 1] [Rehearsal and Finished Track]

Disc 6

  1. Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again [Take 1] [Rehearsal]
  2. Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again [Rehearsal]
  3. Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again [Take 5]
  4. Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again [Take 13] [Alternate Take]
  5. Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again [Take 14] [Complete]
  6. Absolutely Sweet Marie [Take 1] [Alternate Take]
  7. Just Like a Woman [Take 1] [Complete]
  8. Just Like a Woman [Take 4] [Alternate Take]
  9. Just Like a Woman [Take 8] [Complete]
  10. Pledging My Time [Take 1] [Alternate Take]
  11. Most Likely You Go Your Way [And I'll Go Mine] [Take 1] [Complete]
  12. Temporary Like Achilles [Take 3] [Complete]
  13. Obviously Five Believers [Take 3] [Complete]
  14. I Want You [Take 4] [Alternate Take]
  15. Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands [Take 1] [Complete]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Bob Dylan   Primary Artist,Piano,Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica,Slide Whistle,Guitar (Acoustic)
John Hammond, Jr.   Guitar
Mike Bloomfield   Guitar
Joseph Macho, Jr.   Bass
Sandy Konikoff   Drums
Kenneth Buttrey   Drums,Guitar
Angeline Butler   Vocals (Background)
Bobby Gregg   Drums
Joe South   Bass,Guitar
Garth Hudson   Organ
Wayne Moss   Guitar,Trombone
Charlie McCoy   Bass,Guitar,Trumpet,Harmonica,Bass Harmonica,Guitar
Jeff Rosen   Compiled
Robbie Robertson   Guitar
Rick Danko   Bass
Frank Owens   Piano,Piano (Electric)
Jerry Kennedy   Guitar
Richard Manuel   Piano,Piano (Electric)
Al Kooper   Organ,Piano,Celeste,Tambourine,Piano (Electric)
Al Gorgoni   Guitar
Bruce Langhorne   Guitar,Tambourine
Kenny Rankin   Guitar
Paul Griffin   Organ,Piano,Piano (Electric)
Russ Savakus   Bass
John Sebastian   Bass,Harmonica
Hargus "Pig" Robbins   Bass,Piano
William E. Lee   Bass
Levon Helm   Drums
Sam Lay   Drums
Harvey Brooks   Bass
Henry Strzelecki   Bass,Organ
John Boone   Bass

Technical Credits

Rowland Scherman   Photography
Bill Flanagan   Liner Notes
Jan Persson   Photography
Tony Frank   Photography
Dale Smith   Photography
Val Wilmer   Photography
Geoff Gans   Art Direction,Package Design
Glenn Korman   Research
Jerry Schatzberg   Photography
Steve Berkowitz   Producer
Daniel Kramer   Photography
Parker Fishel   Research
Maria Villar   Design
Jean-Marie Perier   Photography
Fred McDarrah   Photography
Don Hunstein   Photography
Ben Rollins   Liner Notes
Jeroen Van Der Meer   Project Manager
Bjorn Larrson   Photography
Bob Johnston   Producer
Sean Wilentz   Liner Notes
Jeremy Holiday   Editorial Coordinator
Eugene Smith   Photography
Jeff Rosen   Producer
Mark Wilder   Mastering
Bryan Lasley   Design
Damian Rodriguez   Mixing
Steve Addabbo   Mixing
Tom Wilson   Producer
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