REVIEW: Bob Dylan – Through The Open Window – The Bootleg Series Vol. 18 1956-1963

Volume 18 of Bob Dylan’s ongoing Bootleg Series was recently released via Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings and it is titled, Through The Open Window and focuses on Dylan’s early years of 1956-1963.  The massive 8CD Deluxe set includes 139 tracks, highlighted by 48 previously unreleased performances and 38 rare songs along with a hardcover book including 100 rare photos and extensive liner notes from Sean Wilentz.  Also available are 2CD and 4LP editions that feature 42 selected tracks.

Out of all of the volumes of the Bootleg Series, Through The Open Window may be the most intimate and insightful with its collection of informal recordings from parties, coffee houses and smaller pre-fame nightclub shows that shed light on Dylan’s maturation process; beginning with recordings from the late 50’s in Minnesota prior to his arrival in New York City and ending with his breakout performance at Carnegie Hall in 1963.     

Today, I will be reviewing the 4LP edition which is housed in a hardcover slipcase and features a 24-page booklet with load of photos and a shorter but no less informative liner notes from Wilentz.   

The first LP opens with a short and very raw recording of Bob performing a rollicking piano-led cover of “Let The Good Time Roll” in a record store in Minnesota on Christmas Eve on 1956.   The last three tracks on the first side are outtakes and rehearsals taken from the Bob Dylan sessions in 1961, highlighted by a previously unreleased cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Ramblin’ Round”.  Side B is devoted to five tracks recorded on December 22, 1961 at the Minnesota home of Bonnie Beecher, with the first being a hilarious story told about an adventure in New Jersey and ending with a cover of Reverend Gary Davis’s “Cocaine”.  Though 2 of the tracks included – the great “Dink’s Song” and “I Was Young When I Left Home” – were previously issued on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 – No Direction Home: The Soundtrack – the aforementioned story and other 2 tracks complete the package.   

The second LP opens with two tracks that were recorded in 1962 at the NYC night club Gerdes Folk City with the standout track, “Talkin’ New York” - a “talking blues” style song, which is one of my favorite Dylan styles.  Also included is a lively rendition of “Corrina, Corrina” that was previously only available on the rare The Copyright Collections release.  Another standout is a twangy cover of “(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle” made famous by Hank Williams; an outtake from the Freewheelin’ album sessions.  Side D is highlighted by “The Ballad Of The Gliding Swan” which was recorded on a BBC-TV broadcast from January of 1963. 

The third LP is highlighted by a haunting cover of “House Of The Rising Sun” taken from and informal recording in 1963 as well previously unissued alternate takes of fan favorites - “Masters Of War”, “Girl From The North Country” and “Boots Of Spanish Leather” - from the sessions for The Times They Are A-Changin’.  The standout track from LP3 is a striking performance of “The Lonesome Hattie Carroll”, recorded at a party at Ben Shapiro’s home in Los Angeles in 1963, complete with its hurried, sped-up tempo.  The fourth and final LP features 8 tracks recorded during his legendary performance in 1963 at NYC’s Carnegie Hall, highlighted by “Blowin’ In The Wind”, “North Country Blues”, “Who Killed Davey Moore” and “Talkin’ World War III Blues”.   

The recordings captured on Through The Open Window provide the listener an unique opportunity to place themselves in close proximity to Bob Dylan, during intimate performances at record shops, friend’s homes and jam sessions as the 85 year old living legend was coming into his own as a both a performer and songwriter. 

For more info: www.bobdylan.com

Stream “Ramblin’ Round – Take 2” taken from, The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through The Open Window, 1956-1963 here: