Dylan, 'Thin Wild Mercury Music' - anyone heard this?

Just what the name says.
damianm
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Dylan, 'Thin Wild Mercury Music' - anyone heard this?

Postby damianm » Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:39 pm

Hi everyone

I've been intrigued about this one for some time, BoB being one of my favorite albums of all time. For those that don't know, TWMM is an, er.. 'unofficial' collection of outtakes from the Blonde On Blonde sessions.

I haven't had any luck thus far in finding even the lousiest-sounding MP3s of it, and a couple searches on BT sites (at which I'm hardly an expert, so I might've well missed it) also came up empty.

Sooo, until I stumble across it somewhere.. what is it like? How's the sound? Most importantly, how good is the material on it?

(some info available here)

Thanks!

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MK
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Postby MK » Tue Jul 26, 2005 9:52 pm

I think some of that stuff may be coming out on the new Bootleg Series. I'd wait for THAT release since TWMM, to my knowledge, uses rough tape copies. Excellent sound for a bootleg, but for an official release, subpar. "She's Your Lover Now" (band version) is on the official Bootleg Series with some noodling during the start-up of the song edited out - no big loss.

"Jet Pilot" is little longer than the Biograph version which edits it a bit but it's not a great outtake. It's only interesting for that brief joke about 'she's really a man' which you hear on the Biograph version.

"If You Gotta Go, Go Now" is better on the Bootleg Series, and the alternate "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" with glockenspiel is pretty good, but not as good as the Biograph version, and if you still want it, you can get it on the unofficial Genuine Bootleg Series Vol. 1.
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Rspaight
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Postby Rspaight » Wed Jul 27, 2005 6:15 am

Track list for Bootleg Series 7:

http://tinyurl.com/cqgjp

Ryan
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damianm
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Postby damianm » Wed Jul 27, 2005 6:26 am

Rspaight wrote:Track list for Bootleg Series 7:

http://tinyurl.com/cqgjp

Disc 2 looks unbelievably good. Would those be all outtakes or is there live stuff as well?

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Postby Rspaight » Wed Jul 27, 2005 9:19 am

I've heard that there will be a mix of live and studio. I'm eagerly awaiting more details.

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Postby Jelly » Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:50 am


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Postby lukpac » Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:07 pm

Jelly wrote:http://bobdylan.com/updates/


15 Chimes of Freedom Live at Newport Folk Festival, Rhode Island 7/26/1964
2 Maggie's Farm Live at Newport Folk Festival, Rhode Island 7/25/1965

Makes one wonder why they just don't release all of both shows. I also have to wonder what Maggie's Farm is going to sound like. I've got the '65 show in two forms: one in stereo with (IIRC) 4 songs, but with edits in some songs (Maggie's Farm included) and canned applause between songs, while the other is mono with (again, IIRC) 5 songs and all of the between song applause and dialogue as it happened.

I'd *assume* they have the original tapes, which could present Maggie's Farm in stereo and unedited, but the question is, will they?
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Postby Chris M » Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:37 pm

Supposedly this is the liner notes for Disc 2 of the upcoming Bootleg Series 7..

"CD 2 starts with a lovely drum-less variation of a song originally called “Worse than Money” but now better known as SHE BELONGS TO ME. Dylan has always found infinite shadings in the blues and this track with the beautifully liquid guitar of Bruce Langhorn is no exception.

Originally called “Phantom Engineer”, IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH, IT TAKES TRAIN TO CRY was still an up-tempo shuffle here in take 8. Future legend guitarist Mike Bloomfield continues to turn the blues idiom upside down.

Take 9 of TOMBSTONE BLUES features more wild Bloomfield guitar, a galloping baritone sax and what sounds like background vocals from the band. There exists another version of the issued take with background vocal overdubbed by the Chambers Brothers but the uniqueness of this version merited it's inclusion here.

This earlier take of JUST LIKE TOM THUMB BLUES, like many of the alternates, features slight lyrical changes that offer a fascinating glimpse inside the creative process. The performance here is a bit more focused lacking the smeared crayola bleary sunrise sound of the issued take, wholly appropriate for a song about a man who "started out on burgundy but soon hit the harder stuff".

Al Kooper discusses this version of DESOLATION ROW in his notes but two additional things must be pointed out. The first is Kooper's inspired Bo Diddley-esque riffing towards the end of the track. And, secondly, my favorite lyrical variant on the album as "They're spoon-feeding Casanova to get him to feel more self-assured" is, in this version, "They're spoon-feeding Casanova the boiled guts of birds".

By take 6 of the title track from HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED, Mike Bloomfield has switched to slide guitar and has nailed down the signature riff. At the end of this take, Al Kooper takes off the siren whistle he is wearing around his neck and gives it to Dylan. The missing piece.

Whether electrifying “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” in 65, blasting “Masters of War” at the Grammy Awards in 1991, or transforming “If You See Her Say Hello” in Myrtle Beach last night, Bob Dylan has constantly kept his songs alive by reshaping them, experimenting with form, rhythm, tempo and texture as can be seen by this slow, blues-drenched take of LEOPARD SKIN PILLBOX HAT. There also exists a novelty version complete with buzzers and car horns. This version, radically different from the electrified stomp heard on Blonde on Blonde and introduced by Dylan as a folk song in No Direction Home, is unique for containing two verses not heard in other versions, the second of which is a shout-out to blues great Memphis Minnie and her famous song "Me & My Chauffeur"

Take 5 of STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN shows how quickly the magical Nashville sessions gelled. Already better than most performers on their best day, this song went through only minor changes before becoming one of the key tracks on Blonde on Blonde.

The melancholy solo acoustic version of VISIONS OF JOHANNA seen in No Direction Home can already be found on Bootleg Series Volume 4, Live 1966. Instead of repeating it here, the compilers offer an electric attempt with Al Kooper and the Band. Except for the missing quarter note crescendos of drummer Mickey Jones, this is what it may have sounded like if it had joined “I Don't Believe You” and “One Too Many Mornings” in the amplified portion of the European tour"
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Postby Chris M » Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:43 pm

lukpac wrote:
Jelly wrote:http://bobdylan.com/updates/


15 Chimes of Freedom Live at Newport Folk Festival, Rhode Island 7/26/1964
2 Maggie's Farm Live at Newport Folk Festival, Rhode Island 7/25/1965

Makes one wonder why they just don't release all of both shows. I also have to wonder what Maggie's Farm is going to sound like. I've got the '65 show in two forms: one in stereo with (IIRC) 4 songs, but with edits in some songs (Maggie's Farm included) and canned applause between songs, while the other is mono with (again, IIRC) 5 songs and all of the between song applause and dialogue as it happened.

I'd *assume* they have the original tapes, which could present Maggie's Farm in stereo and unedited, but the question is, will they?


I read somewhere that the Newport Maggie's Farm is from a "newly discovered source" or something similar. I want to say that most of the bootleg versions were sourced from the film soundtrack but I'm not really certain. So you have a true stereo version of Newport '65?

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Postby lukpac » Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:05 pm

Chris M wrote:I read somewhere that the Newport Maggie's Farm is from a "newly discovered source" or something similar. I want to say that most of the bootleg versions were sourced from the film soundtrack but I'm not really certain. So you have a true stereo version of Newport '65?


A few things:

This gives a description of the mono version I have. The complete setlist is:
- Maggie's Farm
- Like A Rolling Stone
- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry
- It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
- Mr. Tambourine Man

I don't recall how long that goes at the end on the copy I have. Or where it starts exactly. But it's a good description.

The stereo version I have omits Mr. Tambourine Man. It also edits out a few chunks of Maggie's Farm and replaces all of the between song chatter with loud applause from somewhere else. It seems clear that it was produced for release at some point.

The '64 set I have is in stereo too, although I don't recall what happens between songs. Maybe I should pull all that stuff out.
"I know because it is impossible for a tape to hold the compression levels of these treble boosted MFSL's like Something/Anything. The metal particulate on the tape would shatter and all you'd hear is distortion if even that." - VD

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Postby Chris M » Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:53 pm

Fascinating. Thanks for posting that.
"I've had 40 years experience with hearing tape and vinyl. I was recording tapes before you were born" - Grant

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Postby Rspaight » Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:01 pm

Thanks for the info. Obviously, I could do without the recycling of "Song To Woody" and "Like A Rolling Stone" but there's enough good stuff there to make it worthwhile.

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Postby JohnS » Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:04 pm

1) re. the stereo Newport tracks, from both 1964 and 1965... I presume the festivals were recorded professionally with a view to releasing a highlights LP, as they'd done for previous years (Dylan and Joan Baez are on the 1963 one I believe) or maybe just a 'Dylan Live at Newport' album as per Ray Charles, Muddy Waters and others. The fact that the stereo mixes are edited/messed about as described by Luke suggest that they were done by a record company somewhere down the line.
2) re. Thin Wild Mercury Music/'If You've Gotta Go'... I believe that the version of this here is *different* to the Bootleg Series 1-3 take; it's the one released on a 7" single in Europe in 1967, it sounds pretty similar but is a different take and features a girl group on backing vocals. I say I *believe* this cos I'm not sure - I had a copy of TWMM once but I got rid of it(!) cos I thought I'd duplicated the tracks subsequently on other CDs... I can't vouch for certain

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Postby czeskleba » Fri Jul 29, 2005 12:05 am

Regarding Thin Wild Mercury Music, I'd say it's well worth having. Unless I'm missing something it looks like nothing on TWMM is going to be on the new Bootleg Series, so there's still a decent amount of stuff on it that has not been released officially. Highlights are the two New York versions of Visions of Johanna (AKA Freeze Out), the earlier alternate version of Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window (sounds very similar in arrangement to Positively 4th Street), a Dylan solo piano version of She's Your Lover Now, and Keep it With Mine, an instrumental that is the only circulating outtake from the 1966 Nashville sessions. Sound quality varies widely... sources are tape and acetate and needle drops of a couple rare official releases. Presented cleanly without nonoising or anything.
Last edited by czeskleba on Mon Aug 01, 2005 7:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Postby Chris M » Mon Aug 01, 2005 1:24 am

Just listened to this set for the first time and it definitely worth it. The Nashville I'll Keep it with Mine instro is great as is the solo piano She's Your Lover Now. It was cool to finally hear the complete last verse on She's Your Lover Now. It's essential for that alone.
"I've had 40 years experience with hearing tape and vinyl. I was recording tapes before you were born" - Grant