Columbia Records recently announced “DYLAN,” a“definitive” 3-CD retrospective set for release October 1. According to the press release, this triptych will contain “51 Tracks spanning five decades” and include “extensive liner notes and never-before-seen photos.”
My first reaction upon hearing about this imaginatively titled box set was “I think this album already came out in 1985. It was called Biograph.”Biograph, you may recall, was the first “box set” of the CD era (it was also available on LP and cassette - how quaint). ‘Twas a sumptuous banquet of 53 Dylan standards, key album tracks and gems from the vault, sequenced by feel rather than chronology.
The previously unreleased tracks were stunning. “Lay Down Your Weary Tune” from The Times They Are A-Changin’ sessions, was one of his best-ever songs, with words worthy of Whitman (Walt, not Slim). “I Wanna Be Your Lover” was a barn burner with the Hawks in his plugged-in prime. And it staggered the mind to think how “Up to Me” was left off Blood on the Tracks.
If you knew Dylan only by his heavy-airplay classics (as I did at the time), Biograph was the ideal entry point into the heart, soul and stunning versatility of this genius for the ages. A surprise hit, Biograph paved the way for a deluge of boxes from the sublime (James Brown’s Star Time, Rhino’s Sun Records Collection) to the ridiculous (100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong).
Dylan deserves better than to be repackaged like chicken past its expiration date. Since he has blazed so many trails already, perhaps it is time for him to reinvent the box set medium and pave the way to a new era of music consumption. Here are a few suggestions:
• "This Is Ten Times Worse". 3 CDs of live performances arranged by quality: one inspired, one forgettable and one god-awful.
• "I Mumbled Something Underneath My Breath". 88 incomprehensible late-period performances with no track listing. Part retrospective, part parlor game, it will allow hard-core fans to spend hours debating what song Dylan is actually playing. Is he doing “To Ramona” or “Boots of Spanish Leather”? Is that “Drifter’s Escape” sped up or “Tombstone Blues” slowed down? Is he covering the Carter Family or Warren Zevon?
• "How Many Times..." A 41-CD box containing all 1,027 known performances of "Blowin’ in the Wind."
• TV Talkin’ Songs. A deluxe CD/DVD set of Dylan’s most bizarre TV appearances and acceptance speeches. Highlights include his 1991 Lifetime Acheivement Grammy speech (“It is possible to become so defiled in this world that your own mother and father will abandon you”); his appearances on the 1986, 1989 and 1991 Chabad telethons; and the episode of Dharma and Greg where he jams with T-Bone Burnett and Jenna Elfman.
Suggestions? Rock Turtleneck welcomes them wholeheartedly.
4 comments:
Good suggestions! But quite seriously, are we ever going to get a volume of his Christian-era live performances? The word is that they're amazing. I'm not a person of faith, but I wonder why is period, which saw the excellent Slow Train and Saved albums, is being neglected? Frank.
the key is frank! so let us follow this answer with frank's request.
what a good idea.
andre fritze.
I'm a little puzzled by your reaction... you obviously were delighted by Biograph when you were a youngster just getting into Dylan. That was 22 years ago, and Dylan has not stayed still since then. The last decade alone has given us three wonderful albums, not to mention a plethora of non-album tracks from movie soundtracks and so on. Aren't the youngsters of today deserving of an entry point into the genius etc etc (read your own words) which is up to date, not a relic of the 1980s? Perhaps all those gnashing their teeth over the re-packaging of Dylan should realise that perhaps they're not the target audience?
That's right! I want an entry level record from the man and I shall have it! Respect the record or I'll have JC take back the shout out.
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