Welcome Bootleg: ‘More Blood, More Tracks’

By ROB PATTERSON

I can’t go too long here without writing about Bob Dylan. He’s important to any genuine populist or progressive as the greatest writer of political songs in popular music. He’s important to any music buff as the greatest writer of popular songs since he first emerged at the dawn of the 1960s, all alongside being a towering cultural influence and – to me at least – one of the most fascinating eccentric geniuses ever.

I don’t usually say “greatest” about anyone or anything. But the preponderance of creative evidence earns him those declarative bests, hards down.

To ice the cake, he continues well into the sixth decade of his career to create vibrant new work on a consistent basis. And the mining of his archives through The Bootleg Series offers a treasure trove of delights, insights, revelations and, yes, more masterpieces. The 14th edition of that effort, More Blood, More Tracks, is yet another spectrum of satisfying and engaging pleasures.

When the original Blood on the Tracks was released in 1975, it was one of those junctures where some pundits and critics declared now “Dylan is back!” As had been already said a few times before, certainly with Nashville Skyline, John Wesley Harding and New Morning. But hindsight does reveal how the era when Blood … was released did mark a return to fairly consistent touring and recording after his 1966 break from the music biz treadmill.

And it was a masterful collection of powerful, eloquent and emotionally resonant songs, a true high point in a catalog rife with them. The release has two elements to it: The 11 song sampler, which I’ve been digging on (big time) and is the subject at hand here. And the 97-track complete sessions collection, which I hope I live long enough to acquire and explore.

The sampler is like a visit to an alternate Dylan universe. Blood on the Tracks was and remains a pivotal album on which he burrowed into a rich seam of his writing largely focusing on heartbreak and romance. But it’s also a work of stunning symbology, mythology both already extant and of his own creation, poetic brilliance and wordplay galore, and compelling melodicism. And more, as Dylan at his finest offers.

The 11 tracks include two new Dylan songs not on the album, which was made in 1974 sessions in New York City and later Minneapolis. The sampler is all from the New York recordings, stripped-down versions recorded live in the studio either solo or with just a bass. (Interestingly, the version I got on disc from Legacy Recordings and the one on Spotify have some different versions and tracks, but I’m not complaining.)

One great change from the songs from that session on the original album and those on the sampler is that Dylan had the tapes speeded up some 10-20 percent – a common practice at the time to make recordings sound “brighter” on Top 40 radio. Heard slower and less rushed, many of the already stunning songs blossom even further with a bit more time to be savored before another line comes along to command your attention.

It would be absurd to say that these newly-released recordings show Dylan at the greatest command of his talents ever, because he’s been that in a variety of ways a number of times over the years. But he does sing them with a supple yet potent expressiveness that few other singers have ever managed so well. And his fleshed-out. rhythmic songster-style guitar accompaniment is wondrously rich and dynamic. It’s folk that rocks sans band or electricity applied to incredible songs by a magnificent artist at the top of his game. What’s not to like?

Populist Picks

TV concert: Surviving Twin by Loudon Wainwright III – One of the many “new Dylans” to emerge in the early 1970s, Wainwright has made his mark as a razor-sharp yet still (mostly) kind humorist in song whose catalog includes many wonderful songs about the vagaries and absurdities and more within families. This concert cum spoken word performance mixes some of his finest numbers on being a son with readings from his famed writer father’s columns for Life magazine along with songs about his mom and father to his son (the fabulously talented fellow musician Rufus). A great and touching thematic presentation from one of my favorite live musical performers.

TV Series: Get Shorty – Though different from both the original Elmore Leonard book and subsequent hit movie, this new iteration stays true to their spirit with a more hard-boiled variation on the theme.

Rob Patterson is a music and entertainment writer in Austin, Texas. Email orca@prismnet.com.

From The Progressive Populist, May 1, 2019

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