Since its inception in 1991, The Bootleg Series of Bob Dylan has evolved to the point where each successive release has become distinct and complete unto itself. Yet Vol. 15 is something of an exception to that rule because its contents abuts chronologically with The Complete Basement Tapes and, even more directly, with Another Self-Portrait.
The three-CDs or LPs posit the Nobel Laureate continuing the musicological expeditions of those two aforementioned periods, reacquainting himself with a variety of styles in order to choose the optimum means of expression for himself as a songwriter. The content does not posit him as ‘the voice of a generation’ or the position of cultural bellwether he inhabited the prior decade, so there’s a certain kind of profundity is missing here (unless hearing Bob yodel qualifies: he does so on one of the “Jimmie Rodgers Medley”’s)
The cachet of Travelin’ Thru, 1967 – 1969 lies in part with a single song,”Western Road.” A Nashville Skyline outtake, it is the only version of the song ever sung by Dylan and he does so in the presence of Johnny Cash, a long-time admirer of the Bard from Minnesota. The country music icon was so enamored of another tune the pair performed, “Wanted Man,” that he opened with it a week later at his concert at San Quentin. The aforementioned rarity appears alongside a clutch of alternate taken from earlier sessions for the John Wesley Harding album that, when it appeared in all its spartan glory late in 1967, was so at odds with the psychedelic times.
Those seven tracks here, including “Drifter’s Escape” and “All Along the Watchtower” (both subsequently covered by Jimi Hendrix), belie the impression that the record is of pristine simplicity as the result of one sustained moment of collective inspiration. Likewise, the seemingly assiduous collaborative approach to the sessions that produced Nashville Skyline beg the question of its twenty-seven-minute brevity.
Except perhaps that Dylan, notwithstanding “I Threw It All Away” and “Lay Lady Lay;” was not especially prolific at this time. It is somewhat confounding however that, unlike during the sessions in that same Southern city for Blonde On Blonde, he was not further inspired by the disciplined economy of musicians such as steel guitarist Pete Drake plus the same rhythm section as on his previous record –Charlie McCoy on bass and Kenneth Buttrey on drums.
That said, to rediscover the joy of collaborating with like-minded musicians was clearly a thrust of Bob Dylan’s endeavors as captured and documented on Travelin’ Thru, 1967 – 1969. A comparably convivial atmosphere was one of the main attributes of The Basement Tapes, though perhaps not a consciously deliberate one, and similar thinking no doubt figured in to the man’s convivial collaborations with Johnny Cash in the studio and on the stage of The Man In Black’s television show (at the time of its broadcast filmed at The Ryan in Nashville where Carl Perkins also participated).
As with those sessions, traditional as well as original material figured into the performances with various members of the Earl Scruggs Family and Friends. It’s a special pleasure to hear the likes of “Nashville Skyline Rag,” and “East Virginia Blues,” written by the A.P. Carter, played with such mutual joy and while some of this particular content has been issued in the past, as with the bulk of The Bootleg Series Vol. 15, most of it is previously-released in some manner (its audio as pristine as its predecessors and its annotation just as scrupulous too).
Representing as it does the first forays in what would eventually become Self-Portrait, that factor may be less than the compelling thought that much of what’s contained in Travelin’ Thru, 1967 – 1969 planted the first seeds that led to Dylan’s return to the road, in his 1974 reunion with the Band and, in turn, for the very next year’s Rolling Thunder Revue (documented to great length earlier in 2019 on The 1975 Live Recordings). To be sure, it’s always tempting to overthink whatever Bob does, but the cross-threads of logic within this package are too clear-cut to just ignore and deserve more than simply a second-thought.
2 Responses
You refer to a track called “Western Road” in the third paragraph. There’s no such Dylan track, nor did Cash open with it at San Quentin a week later. The song in question, already up on Bob’s Vevo channel, is called “Wanted Man”.
Apologies, just discovered there is a new track called “Western Road”, had missed that previously, but it was recorded before Johnny Cash arrived on the 17th, and was not performed by Johnny at San Quentin – the Dylan original that Johnny introduced at San Quentin was “Wanted Man”.