What's Up with Bob Dylan's Beard?

Mailbag #1: My dream Bootleg Series, Basement Tapes covers, forgotten sidemen

A literal mailbag at the Bob Dylan Center (via NYTimes)

I’m back! As I mentioned to paid subscribers last week, I thought I’d return from paternity leave with our first ever mailbag. Over 60 you submitted questions—thanks!—so there was a lot to choose from. I picked, somewhat at random, six to answer today. That leaves a lot more to get to, so I’ll do a few more installments later this fall.

(If you have a question for a future installment you didn’t ask before, post it in the comments below. These mailbags will be for paid subscribers only, so, if you’ve been sitting on the barbed-wire fence about joining, here’s one more reason.)

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Imagine you receive the sad news that there will only ever be one more Bootleg Series/archival release. Not a decades-long-summation like 1-3 or 8, but an album session or single live show (e.g. Vol 4) or narrow period (e.g. Vol 15 or 16). You get to choose what it is. What do you choose?
—Ben Myring

My dream Bootleg Series has long been a Never Ending Tour survey. This may be pushing your guidelines to their limit—three decades is not a “narrow period”—but it seems like such a logical set, despite Dylan’s camp pouring continual cold water on the idea. (I know, I know, “Never Ending Tour” is not a phrase you guys use. Fine, title it whatever you want.) To really do it right, imagine one disc of highlights per year. Not just the best-known cuts to superfans already, either. I want someone to dive deep into the soundboards in the Dylan Archives to find the hidden gems, the brilliant performances that aren’t well-known because the circulating audience tapes suck.

Come to think of it…can I volunteer for that task?

Taking your framework a bit more strictly, the obvious answer to many of us would be Street-Legal. That’s a perfect scenario where you have a) a cult-favorite album with b) its own unique sound and c) a whole lot of outtakes and demos we know exist, but haven’t ever heard. It seems inevitable, and I hope they include some post-Budokan live shows in there too.

Then again, we don’t know what we don’t know. For instance, what was left on the cutting room floor when Dylan was recording his most recent albums? Is there enough for a Bootleg Series centered around a post-Tell Tale Signs release? Are there a bunch of amazing outtakes from Together Through Life, Tempest, or, most intriguing of all, Rough and Rowdy Ways that we know nothing about? Hopefully one day we can find out.

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On September 8, 1999 Dylan played in Antioch, TN during the tour with Paul Simon. During Dylan’s set, Marty Stuart sat in for the entire show. This is the only time that I can remember Dylan allowing a special guest to play on every song. Is this the only time it’s ever happened?
—Bill Alderson