"The Best Of The Cutting Edge: 1965-1966 - The Bootleg Series Vol. 12" by BOB DYLAN - 'Highway 61 Revisited' and 'Blonde On Blonde' Album Outtakes and Sessions - Musicians Included Charlie McCoy, Wayne Moss and Kenneth Buttrey of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry, Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat & Tears, Mike Bloomfield of The Electric Flag, Hargus Robbins, Jerry Kennedy, Joe South, Bill Aikins, Paul Griffin, Will Lee, Bobby Gregg of The Devil’s Anvil, Wayne Butler of Charlie McCoy & The Escorts, Henry Strzelecki of The Teenagers, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel and Levon Helm of The Band (November 2015 UK Columbia/Sony/Legacy 26-Track 2CD Compilation - Volume 12 in The Bootleg Series - Truncated Version of the Super Deluxe Edition Box Set - Mark Wilder Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

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"...My Love Laughs Like The Flowers..." 

 

Beating Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention's "Freak Out!" by only one week - Rock's first double-album "Blonde On Blonde" was a zenith for the Bobster (and it's been an artistic touchstone ever since). 

 

Released as a 2LP set 20 June 1966 in the USA on Columbia C2L 41 (Mono) and Columbia C2S 841 (Stereo) and 13 August 1966 in the UK on CBS Records DDP 66012 (Mono) and CBS Records SDDP 66012 (Stereo) - "Blonde On Blonde" was produced by BOB JOHNSTON and peaked at No. 9 and No. 3 in each country respectively. "Highway 61 Revisited" from 1965 was the same - an influence beast. Between them, these two long-players were the culmination of an extraordinary talent run amok, peak 60ts period songs made all the more amazing by a sympatico band that delivered Bob Dylan's new electrified vision. 

 

And that where this sensational Volume 12 in the ongoing 'Bootleg Series' for all things Dylan comes a ramblin' in - shaking its Tambourine man and gettin' positive with Johanna, 4th Street and Tombstone Blues. Let's get to Dylan's 115 dreams...

 

UK released 6 November 2015 - "The Best of The Cutting Edge: 1965-1966 - The Bootleg Series Vol.12" by BOB DYLAN on Columbia/Sony/Legacy 88875124422 (Barcode 888751244221) is a 36-Track 2CD Compilation of outtakes from the "Blonde On Blonde" sessions that plays out as follows:

 

CD1 (70:21 minutes):

1. Love Minus Zero No Limit (Take 2 Acoustic)

2. I'll Keep It With Mine (Take 1 Piano Demo)

3. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream (Take 2 Solo Acoustic)

4. She Belongs To Me (Take 1 Solo Acoustic)

5. Subterranean Homesick Blues (Take 1 Alternate Take)

6. Outlaw Blues (Take 2 Alternate Take)

7. On The Road Again (Take 4 Alternate Take)

8. Farewell, Angelina (Take 1 Solo Acoustic)

9. If You Gotta Go, Go Now (Take 2 Alternate Take)

10. You Don't Have To Do That (Take 1 Solo Acoustic)

11. California (Take 1 Solo Acoustic)

12. Mr. Tambourine Man (Take 3 with Band, Incomplete)

13. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Take 8 Alternate Take)

14. Like A Rolling Stone (Take 5 Rehearsal)

15. Like A Rolling Stone (Take 11 Alternate Take)

16. Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence (Take 2 Unreleased Take)

17. Medicine Sunday (Take 1, Early Version of 'Temporary Like Achilles')

18. Desolation Row (Take 2 Piano Demo)

19. Desolation Row (Take 1 Alternate Take)

All tracks Produced by TOM WILSON except 13 and 16 to 19 by BOB JOHNSTON

 

CD2 (75:00 minutes): 

1. Tombstone Blues (Take 1 Alternate Take)

2. Positively 4th Street (Take 5 Alternate Take)

3. Can you Please Crawl Out Your Window? (Take 1 Alternate Take)

4. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Take 3 Rehearsal)

5. Highway 61 Revisited (Take 3 Alternate Take)

6. Queen Jane Approximately (Take 5 Alternate Take)

7. Visions of Johanna (Take 5 Rehearsal)

8. She's Your Lover Now (Take 6 Rehearsal)

9. Lunatic Princess (Take 1)

10. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Take 8 Alternate Take)

11. One Of Must Know (Sooner Or Later) (Take 19 Alternate Take)

12. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again (Take 13 Alternate Take)

13. Absolutely Sweet Marie (Take 1 Alternate Take)

14. Just Like A Woman (Take 4 Alternate Take)

15. Pledging My Time (Take 1 Alternate Take)

16. I Want You (Take 4 Alternate Take)

17. Highway 61 Revisited (Take 7 False Start) 

All Tracks Produced by BOB JOHNSTON

 

The hard-card slipcase and 62-page colour booklet are among the best I've seen in this entire Bob Dylan series - wads of period photos - rare picture sleeves - press adverts - track-by-track info - notes from a pre-Blood, Sweat & Tears Al Kooper, the album artwork photographer and even backing vocalist Angeline Butler - it's really fantastic stuff. And MARK WILDER has once again done the Audio business with Remasters that thrill every time. These recordings jump and feel alive and yet are intimate in those quieter acoustic moments when you want them too. Exceptional.

 

There are genuinely hair-raising moments on this twofer that I suspect even die-hard Dylanites shudder at - the gorgeous unadorned acoustic Takes of "She Belongs To Me" and "Farewell, Angelina", while ace guitarist Mike Bloomfield plays an absolute blinder on Take 8 of "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" and his soloing on Take 2 of "Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence". And even if the take of "Medicine Sunday" is incomplete and stops too criminally soon, you can hear the magic of The Band on it (Robertson, Hudson, Danko and Helm are all there). And if you needed confirmation of his tale-telling genius, Disc 1 ends with a spellbinding Take 1 of "Desolation Row" with only Dylan on Acoustic and Russ Savakus on a Double Bass - a staggering eleven-minutes and fifteen-seconds of brilliant rhyming lyrics and melody. These are just some of the gems on CD1 - there's oodles more.

CD2 throws up a starter on the Paul Revere's horse song (no need to be nervous) "Tombstone Blues", but even though it's good, the genius of the finished article isn't quite there yet. Take 5 of "Positively 4th Street" is so good too - but for me the first moment of must-have comes with a Take 1 of "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window" - Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper keeping time the piano tinkering of Paul Griffin. The same band attempts Take 3 of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" in early August 1965 - such a lovely languid feel - stunning stuff in its easy-going shuffle. Paul Griffin gets to 'organ' shine for a tasty alternate of "Queen Jane Approximately" but The Band (Robertson, Manuel, Danko and Hudson) can't really save a too-fast hammy take on "Visions Of Johanna". Better is their contribution to "She's Your Lover Now". Joe South and much of a future Area Code 615 (Charle McCoy, Wayne Moss etc) vamp up a weird sound-effects cut of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat". Far better are Robbie Robertson (Guitar) and Paul Griffin (Organ) on a lovely version of "One Of Must Know (Sooner Or Later)". And on it goes...

This twofer is an embarrassment of riches and along with "Tell Tale Signs: Rare And Unreleased 1989-2006 - The Bootleg Series Vol.8" marks high-points in this truly extraordinary series. 

Bob Dylan is a legend, but "Cutting Edge" actually shows why. Toppermost of the poppermost - and there's nothing approximate about it...