On ‘More Blood, More Tracks,’ Familiar Bob Dylan Songs Cut Closer to the Bone

One interesting thing -- today you could release at least two different albums together, or as separate discs at the same time (BOTT-NY and BOTT-MN), and people would snap them up. Then, to have 2 versions of just one song on the same album was anathema. I remember how weird people thought it was to have 2 versions of Forever Young on Planet Waves, or when George Harrison had 2 versions of Isn't It a Pity on All Things Must Pass. I will get this. As an amateur musician, I perform several of the songs and love the whole album. To the point about the beauty of the music, I often play You're a Big Girl Now as a harmonica/guitar instrumental, it's such a beautiful, heart-tugging melody.

My favorite Dylan album. Tangled Up In Blue probably my favorite song. It’s fascinating to read the history behind the recordings. I can’t imagine those songs sounding anything but the way I’ve heard them hundreds of times over the years.

I've been a Dylan fan for over 30 years and have been a huge devotee of his Bootleg Series releases since Vol. 1-3 was released in 1991. The things that man has in his vaults is truly mind-boggling, and each release is monumental in its own way, but I have to say I find some of these exhaustive, encyclopedic sets a little much; they are more like reference volumes than listening experiences. For example, the beautifully assembled collection Another Self Portrait was two CDs full of revelatory performances from an overlooked period of Dylan's career, with maybe 2 songs appearing more than once (but in radically different versions). By contrast, More Blood, More Tracks has something like 8 versions of Simple Twist of Fate, which is probably my favorite Dylan song, but who wants to hear that many versions in a row, no matter how revealing they are to the creative process? While it's great to have all this historic genius material available, there is something to be said for having a concisely curated collection (such as the also available single-CD version) that one can simply put on and listen to in the car, kitchen, or, given that this is Blood on the Tracks, in a dark room with a bottle of whiskey and a pack of Marlboros. I myself will probably get the full iTunes download for about 50 bucks, which will allow me to jump around the tracks and make a playlist of my own favorite versions, and skip the pricey booklet.

The only man to find a way to rhyme Ashtabula, OH in a song

Joni Mitchell said it best...

Oh my... dear Santa, I've been very good this year and deserve an early present... please! Fascinating read on my most loved LP. off to Amazon to order. The who shebang is tempting after reading the details... details in the article as well as comments here. thank you all

I followed Dylan from the beginning, in college 1963 others came into my dorm room and broke my Dylan records, I saw him at Newport, for me singing “Song to Woody” at parties enabled me to meet several attractive women, and “Lily,Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” has been one my favorite songs, But after buyng this album I stopped listeng to Dylan, I could not appreciate his live performances and the sounds of his new records stopped communicating to me. When I heard the first album in the rcord store, I listened to whole thing, and then bought it, his arrangements of the old songs, and later his own songs, his voice(s), the hints of or stolen words) from old English ballads, —I wish, I wish in vain I could sit simply in that room again. To the time of this album, each album had its own flavor, but when he performed and in later albums it all just seem to run together in a cacophony of sound that wa outsied of my life and since then I never listened to anything new, and at 73 years old I occasionally l go back and listen to the old songs. I still like the old songs, especially his performances of them, and there never was a song writer who spoke so directly to my heart, but its been over 40 years since I stopped listening and I don’t think its made a difference in my life.

One of the greatest American albums of all time.

I hope the serious omission of musical credits is corrected on the new version. For Dylan completists, I'm sure a collection like this is wonderful. I love the guy, but there are only so many hours in the day. I'm to the point where I get as much satisfaction thinking about as I do listening. That said, Tangled Up In Blue is a great song and so informed by his his wicked humor. "And later on as the crowd thinned out — I's just about to do the same," classic!

40 year old Dylan songs? No Dylan fan can be into nostalgia that much.

I listened to 10 of these tracks on the npr.org website and t was really interesting. I was especially blown away by "Up to Me" which I believe is the same melody and chord progression as "Shelter from the Storm" with totally different words and an entirely different story. I am in awe of Dylan's ability to do that. I the end though, I agree with the author of this piece. He chose the right songs for the final album -- only I might have chosen the song "Call Letter Blues" instead of "Meet Me In The Morning" .. Then again if I had been listening to "Call Letter Blues" every few weeks for 30 plus years and heard "Meet Me In The Morning" for the first time this week, I might have reversed that decision! In any case, while Blood on the Tracks is one of my favorite albums of all time and I might be interested enough to buy the one CD alternate take, there is not enough time left in my life to listen to all 80 plus songs on the deluxe set.

one of the best Dylan albums ever...no, wait -- simply one of the best albums ever, period.

I'm a 55 year old recent convert to Dylan. For the past few years I've used my Apple Music subscription to delve into a lot of his music. It takes a lot of listening. I'm looking forward to this albums full release on AM. Funny, I was playing You're a Big Girl Now for my daughter yesterday and just listened to the demo of this song from anthology, beautiful.

I’ve heard a few bootleg versions of Tangled Up In Blue, (a great tune) some of which have better lyrics than the original. But that’s Bobby D...never standing still. Also, it was good to see Dylan photo of him playing Mandolin, which I learned in my 50´s, after taking up guitar in high school. I’ve always played Dylan tunes, on both instruments.

Leo Kottke tells a truly wonderful tale of heading in to the Studio (Sound 80?) in Mpls. a few days before he was to begin recording. He listened to some recording, then was asked by a guy sauntering down the hall what he (Kottke) thought about the music...."so I told him what I thought!" But listen to Kottke himself, a brilliant musician and hilarious raconteur, tell the story... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2KoIWEAdaM

This album devastated, and inspired me. Blood on the Tracks is masterpiece of poetry and ballad showing me places in my heart that prior had no words. I agree with the author regarding the Minneapolis recordings, probably because they were made in MN with local musicians. The NY recordings are a gift. Great article, thanks for the photos too. More please! I need to think about other things than the fall of the republic. Where are our ballads for that?

After almost 45 years it is still in heavy rotation on my playlist and Tangled Up In Blue remains my go-to answer whenever the what-is-the-best-song-ever game gets played. Mr. Pareles calls Blood on the Tracks "one of Dylan’s masterpieces." I call it one of modern music's masterpieces. "And every one of them words rang true / And glowed like burnin’ coal / Pourin’ off of every page / Like it was written in my soul".

With the exception of the first 2 of his 3 'Christian' LPs, BOTT stands as Bob's most deeply personal musical testament. He would never again write in the first person--or if he did, it was in such obscure terms so that no one could associate the lyrics with the author. Like all great artists--and their greatest works of art--Bob leaves everything he had at that moment on the tracks of this album..it's no coincidence the LP was called 'Blood On The Tracks'. But he was so much younger then...

Dylan was always reinventing himself and his music, which was part of his magic. But his Bootleg series isn't worth the money spent. The music generally gets boring after the first couple of songs, unlike the recordings ultimately released. It seems that the corporate Dylan is simply releasing the Bootleg series for the sake of making another buck. While we can't necessarily blame him for doing so it compromises his legacy. The corporate masters should have named the series The Worst of Bob Dylan.

My favorite Dylan album. If anyone knows of a better example of music and lyrics that express the emotions of love and love lost please let us know. From Buckets of Rain to Idiot Wind and so many other songs Dylan demonstrates why he won the Nobel for literature.

One of my favorite Dylan albums is "Blood on the Tracks." But my favorite version of "Idiot Wind" is on Bob's live album "Hard Rain." It's brilliant.

Thanks again, Bob!

Dylan tried hard to shed his association with flyover land except when it was to his commercial benefit. Thus hiring a couple of excellent Minneapolis jazz musicians including bassist Billy Peterson and never crediting them is par for the course. Minneapolis native Peter Osturushko also played mandolin on the Minneapolis versions. Dylan's career and the vast fortune the industry has made off his music and aura is lucky the Minneapolis music scene was there for them.

Incomplete in that most writing about this album circles back again and again to the pain it expresses, leaving out the magnificent musical side of it, except in passing references to the various personnel. No doubt the musical expression was born of pain, but triumphs over it in a full-bodied flowering of melody and harmony that is what finally makes this album a masterpiece. Of course, the music cannot really be described in words, but it can at least be given its due.

Mr. Pareles writes:Dylan was right the first time about his decision to re-record half of “Blood on the Tracks.” But years later, it’s fascinating and illuminating to hear what might have been. I mastered both versions of Blood On The Tracks when I was an engineer at Columbia Records. The first is a complete album with flow and pace. The second is a collection of songs. And they are very different listening experiences.