Tag Archives: bootleg

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Song of the Day #89: ‘Idiot Wind (Demo)’ – Bob Dylan

On my short list of the best albums ever made (one that’s admittedly getting longer and longer as I dig up material for this blog), Bob Dylan has no fewer than six strong contenders for the uppermost slots. And tops among those six would have to be Blood on the Tracks, the greatest breakup album ever recorded.

Every song is a perfectly polished gem, and the opening quartet of ‘Tangled Up in Blue,’ ‘Simple Twist of Fate,’ ‘You’re a Big Girl Now’ and ‘Idiot Wind’ has to be the best opening of any album, ever. It’s hard to believe the record could be any better.

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Song of the Day #88: ‘Moonshiner’ – Bob Dylan

This week’s theme marks my first official repeat of an artist I’ve already covered in my Songs of the Day, and I’ve given that honor to the worthiest of performers. Today through Friday I will highlight tracks from Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series.

Dylan was the first widely bootlegged rock artist and 30 years after those first bootlegs showed up he decided to release many of the hidden gems officially. The Bootleg Series started with three extraordinary volumes in 1991 covering that entire 30-year span. The next three volumes chronicle live shows throughout the years, including the famous “Judas” concert in Manchester. Volume Seven is the companion soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s seminal Dylan documentary No Direction Home. And Volume Eight, released just two weeks ago, covers outtakes and unreleased material from the last 20 years. I’ll pull this week’s selections from the lot of them.

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