Bob Dylan's Blog, page 16

The Witmark Demos and The Original Mono Recordings Now Available!

BOB DYLAN'S THE WITMARK DEMOS NOW AVAILABLE ALONG WITH FIRST RE-RELEASE OF THE ORIGINAL MONO RECORDINGS

Forty-Seven Original Demos Recorded For Dylan's Early Music Publishers Highlight First New Volume In Famed Bootleg Series Since 2008

Artist's First Eight Groundbreaking Albums Available In Limited Edition Box Set of Newly Mastered Mono Versions



Available For First Time On Compact Disc and 180-Gram Vinyl

Columbia Records has released Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Volume 9—The Witmark Demos, in conjunction with Columbia/Legacy's release of the artist's first eight long-playing albums in a box set titled Bob Dylan—The Original Mono Recordings. Both sets have been long sought by collectors and fans worldwide, with The Witmark Demos seeing their first commercial release nearly five decades after they were first recorded, and The Original Mono Recordings returning to the marketplace for the first time ever on Compact Disc, as well as on fully analogue 180-gram vinyl.

The Bootleg Series Volume 9 - The Witmark Demos and Bob Dylan - The Original Mono Recordings are available now at Amazon.com: The Original Mono Recordings and The Witmark Demos.

A few sources outside the U.S.:

UK: Amazon, HMV.com, Play.com, and all good indie shops.

AUSTRALIA: JB Hi-Fi

BELGIUM: FNAC

DENMARK: Stereo Studio

FRANCE: Starter, Les Disquaires Independants

GERMANY: Amazon, JPC

INDIA: Rhythm House, Landmark

KOREA: Hottracks

NETHERLANDS: BOL.com, Plato, Kroese

NORWAY: Platekompaniet

PORTUGAL: FNAC

SOUTH AFRICA: Look & Listen

SPAIN: FNAC

SWEDEN: CDON.com

SWITZERLAND: CEDE.ch

The Witmark Demos features 47 Bob Dylan songs recorded by the artist—accompanied only by his acoustic guitar, harmonica and occasionally piano—for his first music publisher, Leeds Music, in January 1962, and for his second publisher, M. Witmark & Sons, between 1962 and 1964. Listening to these recordings, one can trace Dylan's dramatic growth as a songwriter from early traditionally-styled songs like "Man On The Street" and "Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie" through the social commentary of "Blowin' In The Wind, "The Times They Are A Changin'" and "Masters Of War", and the groundbreaking lyrical genius of "Mr. Tambourine Man." All of these songs, and all the others on The Witmark Demos, were written—and their subsequent demos recorded—before Bob Dylan turned 24 years old.

Among the many gems found on The Witmark Demos are 15 Bob Dylan songs that were recorded by the artist only for these sessions, and which have never been officially released to the public until now. These include the plaintive"Ballad For A Friend," the civil rights era-inspired "Long Ago, Far Away" and "The Death Of Emmett Till," and the poignant "Guess I'm Doing Fine."

While many of these early songs on The Witmark Demos found their way onto Bob Dylan's own albums, much of the world's first exposure to them was through their recordings by others, including Peter, Paul and Mary and Stevie Wonder ("Blowin' In The Wind"), Judy Collins ("Tomorrow Is A Long Time") and The Byrds ("Mr Tambourine Man"). It's a testament to the lasting cultural impact of these songs that they have been covered by more than a thousand artists in the nearly fifty years since these demos were created.

The Witmark Demos also features a deluxe booklet featuring in-depth liner notes by noted music historian Colin Escott, as well as rare photographs of Bob Dylan captured during the same period as these early recordings.

The Original Mono Recordings is comprised of Bob Dylan's first eight long-playing albums, painstakingly reproduced from their first generation monaural mixes as the artist intended them to be heard: One channel of powerful sound, both direct and immediate. While stereo recordings had been available as early as the mid-1950s, mono was still the predominant—and often preferred—mode of recording and mixing by the top artists of the 1960s. As a result, artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan devoted their attention to the mono mixes, leaving the stereo mixing process to studio engineers.

The Original Mono Recordings are accompanied by a deluxe booklet, featuring vintage photographs of Bob Dylan and an expansive essay from renowned author and critic—and longtime Dylan aficionado—Greil Marcus. Each disc in the set comes in its own individual jacket which faithfully replicates the original album artwork, complete with labels and stickers that were found on the original 1960s releases.

These eight albums—spanning the artist's self-titled debut in March 1962, through John Wesley Harding released on December 27, 1967—are universally regarded as some of the most important works in the history of recorded music. Together with The Witmark Demos, they provide the public with a wide-ranging view of Bob Dylan's work during the 1960s, and chronicle his amazing evolution from fledgling songwriter to one of the world's most inventive and singular recording artists.

The complete track listing of The Bootleg Series Volume 9—The Witmark Demos is as follows:

Disc 1:

1. Man On The Street (Fragment)

2. Hard Times In New York Town

3. Poor Boy Blues

4. Ballad For A Friend

5. Rambling, Gambling Willie

6. Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues

7. Standing On The Highway

8. Man On The Street

9. Blowin' In The Wind

10. Long Ago, Far Away

11. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

12. Tomorrow Is A Long Time

13. The Death of Emmett Till

14. Let Me Die In My Footsteps

15. Ballad Of Hollis Brown

16. Quit Your Low Down Ways

17. Baby, I'm In The Mood For You

18. Bound To Lose, Bound To Win

19. All Over You

20. I'd Hate To Be You On That Dreadful Day

21. Long Time Gone

22. Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues

23. Masters Of War

24. Oxford Town

25. Farewell

Disc 2

1. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

2. Walkin' Down The Line

3. I Shall Be Free

4. Bob Dylan's Blues

5. Bob Dylan's Dream

6. Boots Of Spanish Leather

7. Walls of Red Wing

8. Girl From The North Country

9. Seven Curses

10. Hero Blues

11. Whatcha Gonna Do?

12. Gypsy Lou

13. Ain't Gonna Grieve

14. John Brown

15. Only A Hobo

16. When The Ship Comes In

17. The Times They Are A-Changin'

18. Paths Of Victory

19. Guess I'm Doing Fine

20. Baby Let Me Follow You Down

21. Mama, You Been On My Mind

22. Mr. Tambourine Man

23. I'll Keep It With Mine

The eight albums in The Complete Mono Recordings are as follows:

Bob Dylan—1962

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan—1963

The Times They Are A-Changin'—1964

Another Side Of Bob Dylan—1964

Bringing It All Back Home—1965

Highway 61 Revisited—1965

Blonde on Blonde—1966

John Wesley Harding—1967

Bob Dylan Art News

News about Bob Dylan's art:

Current exhibit of "The Brazil Series" at the National Gallery of Denmark:

National Gallery web site

From the AP:

Bob Dylan's 'Brazil Series' on display in Denmark

Doug Heselgrave's review in No Depression

To the Editor (of Berlingske Tidende),

I hear that some Danish critics have been harsh about Bob Dylan's paintings on view at the Statens Museum. Well, Dylan is all too used to criticism: for his entire career, he has been criticized for many things that, with the...

Brandeis Show Bonus Offer Available Exclusively At Select Retail Partners

Bob Dylan in Concert: Brandeis University, 1963 has never been heard, bootlegged, or circulated in any way. It was taped on May 10, 1963, at Brandeis University's First Annual Folk Festival.

Pre-order the Witmark Demos or The Original Mono recordings from one of the below retailers and receive this bonus CD with your shipment.

US: Amazon.com
UK: Amazon, Play.com
AUSTRALIA: JB Hi-Fi
BELGIUM: FNAC
DENMARK: Stereo Studio
FRANCE: Amazon, FNAC
GERMANY: Amazon
INDIA: Rhythm House, Landmark
KOREA: Hottracks

Bob Dylan Fall 2010 Tour Dates

Bob Dylan and his Band have announced the first dates of their Fall tour, beginning with five concerts in Florida in October.

Ticket information, a complete itinerary and set lists can be found on bobdylan.com's tour page.

The Witmark Demos and The Original Mono Recordings to be Released October 19

BOB DYLAN'S THE WITMARK DEMOS SET FOR OCTOBER 19 RELEASE ALONG WITH FIRST RE-RELEASE OF THE ORIGINAL MONO RECORDINGS

Forty-Seven Original Demos Recorded For Dylan's Early Music Publishers Highlight First New Volume In Famed Bootleg Series Since 2008

Artist's First Eight Groundbreaking Albums Available In Limited Edition Box Set of Newly Mastered Mono Versions



Available For First Time On Compact Disc and 180-Gram Vinyl

Columbia Records will release Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series Volume 9—The...

Bob Dylan To Perform At The Warfield In San Francisco

Goldenvoice presents Bob Dylan and His Band performing one show on Wednesday, August 25, at The Warfield in San Francisco. All tickets are general admission and will be available at The Warfield box office on the day of the show only. No advance tickets will be available anywhere for this performance. Admission to the show is $60 cash. No credit cards will be accepted.

The box office and the doors will open at 5:30 pm, with show time at 8 pm. Ticketholders will enter the venue...

Bob Dylan Contributes Track for Benefit of Haitian People

Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" has been remixed and contributed to a new album, Rhythms Del Mundo: Revival.

Other highlights include reworkings of Coldplay's "Clocks," Dizzee Rascal's -topper "Holiday," Franz Ferdinand's "The Dark Of The Matinee" and Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc."

Proceeds from this album will be used to provide necessities such as medical supplies, food, water and shelter to the people of Haiti, Chile and the Tibetan Plateau who are still struggling to survive in...

Bob Dylan to Perform Special Show on August 25

Bob Dylan and his band will perform a special show on August 25. Details will be announced next week.

Bob Dylan Summer 2010 U.S. Dates

Bob Dylan and his Band will perform throughout the western United States in August and September. The first dates have been announced and more will be released soon.

Pre-sale tickets will be available for some shows on the tour. Pre-sale and general on-sale ticket information and a complete itinerary can be found on bobdylan.com's tour page.

Stay tuned for more announcements!

Newsweek's Albums of the Decade: "Love and Theft" is #2

Newsweek just published its list of best albums of the decade, and Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft", released on 9/11/2001, is #2.

Read Newsweek's article here.

Find out more about "Love and Theft".