The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos 1962-1964 by Bob Dylan (Columbia)
Like sketches, jottings and discarded Polaroids, demo recordings can reveal much about an artist’s intentions. In rare cases they can equal or better the finished work. Since 1991, Columbia Records has released eight volumes of Bob Dylan rarities, including out-takes, live recordings and demos, many of which have arguably outshone “definitive” versions. This latest volume in the Bootleg Series collects the first demos Dylan made as an original songwriter, recorded for his publishers Leeds Music and M Witmark & Sons in New York City. Many of the songs, like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Boots of Spanish Leather,” were destined for the LPs The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and The Times They Are A-Changin’ which shot the young troubadour to fame. But others, such as “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues,” a satire on the commie-hating, hard-right establishment of America in 1963, failed to make the cut and were judiciously shelved.
Fifteen previously unreleased songs appear on The Witmark Demos, further illuminating the flight Dylan made from the reluctant folk hero to the herald of the psychedelic era, in which the more abstract and benign imagery of songs like “Mr Tambourine Man” work their influence. Collectors have illegally circulated the Witmark demos for years, but this official release will at last grant them the recognition they deserve.
Like sketches, jottings and discarded Polaroids, demo recordings can reveal much about an artist’s intentions. In rare cases they can equal or better the finished work. Since 1991, Columbia Records has released eight volumes of Bob Dylan rarities, including out-takes, live recordings and demos, many of which have arguably outshone “definitive” versions. This latest volume in the Bootleg Series collects the first demos Dylan made as an original songwriter, recorded for his publishers Leeds Music and M Witmark & Sons in New York City. Many of the songs, like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Boots of Spanish Leather,” were destined for the LPs The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and The Times They Are A-Changin’ which shot the young troubadour to fame. But others, such as “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues,” a satire on the commie-hating, hard-right establishment of America in 1963, failed to make the cut and were judiciously shelved.
Fifteen previously unreleased songs appear on The Witmark Demos, further illuminating the flight Dylan made from the reluctant folk hero to the herald of the psychedelic era, in which the more abstract and benign imagery of songs like “Mr Tambourine Man” work their influence. Collectors have illegally circulated the Witmark demos for years, but this official release will at last grant them the recognition they deserve.
