Description
Trouble No More: The Bootleg Series Vol. 13, 1979-1981 is a CD Box by the American singer and songwriter Bob Dylan, released on Columbia Records/Legacy in November 2017.
This release of the Bootleg Series focuses on Dylan’s so-called “gospel years,” during which time he crafted some of his most enduring songs in praise of a higher power. The Deluxe Edition features nine discs – 8 CDs and 1 DVD – and premieres 100 previously unreleased tracks, including 14 previously unreleased songs.
It was July 1979. I was 17. I had been a follower of Jesus for about two months. I was sitting in the grass in the Toronto sun waiting for my cousin Deborah, who was at swimming lessons, and reading Rolling Stone. That was when I read that Bob Dylan had discovered Jesus too and was working on an album about our mutual faith.
I wasn’t a Bob Dylan fan. The cool kids at school were. I was a Beatles fan but Dylan’s wordy eccentric drawl hadn’t yet seeped into my soul. A few months later I borrowed a friend’s Slow Train Coming and I was hooked. It might be said that Jesus and a little Mark Knopfler guitar converted me to Bob Dylan.
1979 through 1981 became Bob Dylan’s born again years. In the summer of 1980 I sat and typed out every word of the Saved record. I was a naive new believer and Dylan gave it rock star cred but also a voice. These songs expressed the faith that I was discovering. It was simple, effervescent, evangelical, a little judgemental and far too saturated in Hal Lindsay’s crazy theology of the Second Coming.
Along with Dylan himself I outgrew that spiritual youthful exuberance. As my faith matured I wanted faith to see into all of life just as Dylan wanted faith to be a line or two in songs with wider reach. Infidels and Oh Mercy became my favourite Dylan albums. Apart from «I Believe In You», «Pressing On» and «Every Grain of Sand» I left the Gospel years on the shelf.
In recent years as Dylan has released his Bootleg Series of live concerts and out takes I have always hoped that one of the Series would cover that 1979-81 period. At last, it is here; Volume 13; Trouble No More.
In the end though, this box set was too good to miss. It was either download or box. Dylan’s Gospel years only lasted three years, and three records, but it was a prolific period for Dylan and there are unreleased tracks aplenty here. Then there are the out takes. Beyond that what Dylan was doing live is fascinating and musically satisfying.
Having spent a few weeks now, saturating myself in the Trouble No More, reading Clinton Heylin’s book Trouble In Mind out just a week or two earlier (no coincidence there!), I have come to reassess the period in Dylan’s career. This was an intense time of fertile creativity. It threw up a unique stand off between the commitment that Dylan had to his fledgeling faith and the opposition from fans and bad reviews from the press.
The lyrics are not Dylan’s most poetic. By 1981 those mysterious wordy allusions and metaphors returned in songs like «Caribbean Wind» and «The Grooms Still Waiting At The Altar» but in general the born again years seem lyrically a little clumsy and simplistic.
Yet, that might have been a lazy criticism. I remember what it was like going through the same initial energy of conversion at that time. Dylan has had an enlightenment beyond his hallucinatory drug experiences of the 60s. He is literally full of it. He is full of new beliefs, new Biblical passages and new enthusiastic rebirth. When we are listening to these songs we need to see how Dylan is using his wordy genius to pile into a few minutes all his new learning and texts, in ways that he hopes will have a conversion experience on his listeners.
It makes for some wonderful music. His band at this time cooks. Spooner Oldham on keyboards, Fred Tackett, who I think is the stand out player, on guitars and then a rhythm section of Tim Drummond and Jim Keltner. Add five of the most wonderful female singers and these songs have a fluid gospel sound that is in itself a genre adding collection in the Dylan career catalogue.
Yes, Dylan can come across a tad judgemental and way too influenced by Hal Lindsay’s theologically askew book, Late Great Planet Earth, that still seems to be dogging Dylan’s theology 40 years later, but Trouble No More has given us more positive contributions like «Blessed Is The Name» and «I Will Love Him» that might be Bob trying to emulate the spiritual feel of his mate George Harrison’s «My Sweet Lord» et al.
Other songs like «Pressing On», «Slow Train», «Gotta Serve Somebody», «Every Gran of Sand» are excellent and are here in various guises. «When He Returns» brings out some of Dylan’s best and most personal vocals ever. I challenge you to listen to «Ain’t Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody» without singing along. The inclusion of the London Earls Court concert of 1981, when he brought back the old songs too, is illuminating. «Forever Young» really is a prayer in this set list, «Blowing In The Wind» as a Gospel song is delicious, while «Knocking On Heaven’s Door» finds a perfect setting, with those vocalists sounding like angels welcoming you home.
All in all. Wow! Self Portrait, another seeming blip in Dylan’s career, was completely reassessed by Volume 10 in this series. Volume 13 is again reassessment time. 1979 to 1981 were vital years in Bob Dylan’s art. He might have left the lyrical style and evangelistic fervour behind as his faith deepened and widened but this box set cannot be ignored. I think even atheists could enjoy it… and of course… for those with ears to hear…! [Steve Stockman, Soul Surmise, November 2017]
In 1978 Bob Dylan converted to Christianity, was discipled by a Vineyard church and soon his new faith revealed itself in his songwriting. From 1979-1981 he released three albums, ‘Slow Train Coming’, ‘Saved’ and ‘Shot Of Love’, that are considered his “gospel period” and finally the ‘Bootleg Series’ brings to the surface rare tracks and live recordings made around the times of these albums in a lavish nine-disc package. People forget that this was one of the major artists of the era suddenly writing some of the most significant Christian songs ever recorded and nearly 40 years later, the power of Dylan’s songs have lost none of their spiritual impact. So what you get here are studio outtakes from his gospel albums and a selection of live versions of songs that are familiar and unreleased songs which were part of his gospel sets. With eight discs of music, there are multiple versions of some of these songs and it’s interesting to see how songs develop in a live setting. Dylan’s songwriting in this era created some beautiful gospel music, especially on the tracks put to vinyl on ‘Saved’ and although a lot of fans struggled with the spiritual content, this set demonstrated that Dylan never sang with as much conviction ever again. The ninth disc in this collection is a DVD combining some live performances from the 1980 tour with sermons performed by actor Michael Shannon, scripted from ideas suggested by Dylan himself. The boxed set includes extensive sleeve notes and photographs and the result is an immersive experience though the price of over £100 will ensure it is only Dylan connoisseurs/completists who will investigate this fascinating raid of the archives. [Mike Rimmer, Cross Rhythms, December 2017]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/trouble-no-more-the-bootleg-series-vol-13-1979-1981/1285636369)
CD Box tracklist:
Disc One: Live
01. Slow Train (Nov. 16, 1979)
02. Gotta Serve Somebody (Nov. 15, 1979)
03. I Believe in You (May 16, 1980)
04. When You Gonna Wake Up? (July 9, 1981)
05. When He Returns (Dec. 5, 1979)
06. Man Gave Names to All the Animals (Jan. 16, 1980)
07. Precious Angel (Nov. 16, 1979)
08. Covenant Woman (Nov. 20, 1979)
09. Gonna Change My Way of Thinking (Jan. 31, 1980)
10. Do Right to Me Baby (Do Unto Others) (Jan. 28, 1980)
11. Solid Rock (Nov. 27, 1979)
12. What Can I Do for You? (Nov. 27, 1979)
13. Saved (Jan. 12, 1980)
14. In the Garden (Jan. 27, 1980)
Disc Two: Live
01. Slow Train (June 29, 1981)
02. Ain’t Gonna Go to Hell for Anybody (Unreleased song – Apr. 24, 1980)
03. Gotta Serve Somebody (July 15, 1981)
04. Ain’t No Man Righteous, No Not One (Unreleased song – Nov. 16, 1979)
05. Saving Grace (Nov. 6, 1979)
06. Blessed Is the Name (Unreleased song – Nov. 20, 1979)
07. Solid Rock (Oct. 23, 1981)
08. Are You Ready? (Apr. 30, 1980)
09. Pressing On (Nov. 6, 1979)
10. Shot of Love (July 25, 1981)
11. Dead Man, Dead Man (June 21, 1981)
12. Watered-Down Love (June 12, 1981)
13. In the Summertime (Oct. 21, 1981)
14. The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar (Nov. 13, 1980)
15. Caribbean Wind (Nov. 12, 1980)
16. Every Grain of Sand (Nov. 21, 1981)
Disc Three: Rare and Unreleased
01. Slow Train (Soundcheck – Oct. 5, 1978)
02. Do Right to Me Baby (Do Unto Others) (Soundcheck – Dec. 7, 1978)
03. Help Me Understand (Unreleased song – Oct. 5, 1978)
04. Gonna Change My Way of Thinking (Rehearsal – Oct. 2, 1979)
05. Gotta Serve Somebody (Outtake – May 4, 1979)
06. When He Returns (Outtake – May 4, 1979)
07. Ain’t No Man Righteous, No Not One (Unreleased song – May 1, 1979)
08. Trouble in Mind (Outtake – April 30, 1979)
09. Ye Shall Be Changed (Outtake – May 2, 1979)
10. Covenant Woman (Outtake – February 11, 1980)
11. Stand by Faith (Unreleased song – Sept. 26, 1979)
12. I Will Love Him (Unreleased song -Apr. 19, 1980)
13. Jesus Is the One (Unreleased song – Jul. 17, 1981)
14. City of Gold (Unreleased song – Nov. 22, 1980)
15. Thief on the Cross (Unreleased song – Nov. 10, 1981)
16. Pressing On (Outtake – Feb. 13, 1980)
Disc Four: Rare and Unreleased
01. Slow Train (Rehearsal – Oct. 2, 1979)
02. Gotta Serve Somebody (Rehearsal – Oct. 9, 1979)
03. Making a Liar Out of Me (Unreleased song – Sept. 26, 1980)
04. Yonder Comes Sin (Unreleased song – Oct. 1, 1980)
05. Radio Spot January 1980, Portland, OR show
06. Cover Down, Pray Through (Unreleased song – May 1, 1980)
07. Rise Again (Unreleased song – Oct. 16, 1980)
08. Ain’t Gonna Go to Hell for Anybody (Unreleased song – Dec. 2, 1980)
09. The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar (Outtake – May 1, 1981)
10. Caribbean Wind (Rehearsal – Sept. 23, 1980)
11. You Changed My Life (Outtake – April 23, 1981)
12. Shot of Love (Outtake – March 25, 1981)
13. Watered-Down Love (Outtake – May 15, 1981)
14. Dead Man, Dead Man (Outtake – April 24, 1981)
15. Every Grain of Sand (Rehearsal – Sept. 26, 1980)
Disc Five: Live in Toronto 1980
01. Gotta Serve Somebody (April 18, 1980)
02. I Believe In You (April 18, 1980)
03. Covenant Woman (April 19, 1980)
04. When You Gonna Wake Up? (April 18, 1980)
05. When He Returns (April 20, 1980)
06. Ain’t Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody (Unreleased song – April 18, 1980)
07. Cover Down, Pray Through (Unreleased song – April 19, 1980)
08. Man Gave Names To All The Animals (April 19, 1980)
09. Precious Angel (April 19, 1980)
Disc Six: Live in Toronto 1980
01. Slow Train (April 18, 1980)
02. Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others) (April 20, 1980)
03. Solid Rock (April 20, 1980)
04. Saving Grace (April 18, 1980)
05. What Can I Do For You? (April 19, 1980)
06. In The Garden (April 20, 1980)
07. Band Introductions (April 19, 1980)
08. Are You Ready? (April 19, 1980)
09. Pressing On (April 18, 1980)0
Disc Seven: Live in Earl’s Court, London – June 27, 1981
01. Gotta Serve Somebody
02. I Believe In You
03. Like A Rolling Stone
04. Man Gave Names To All The Animals
05. Maggie’s Farm
06. I Don’t Believe You
07. Dead Man, Dead Man
08. Girl From The North Country
09. Ballad Of A Thin Man
Disc Eight: Live in Earl’s Court – London – June 27, 1981
01. Slow Train
02. Let’s Begin
03. Lenny Bruce
04. Mr. Tambourine Man 5. Solid Rock
06. Just Like A Woman
07. Watered-Down Love
08. Forever Young
09. When You Gonna Wake Up
10. In The Garden
11. Band Introductions
12. Blowin’ In The Wind
13. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
14. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
Disc Nine: Bonus DVD
Trouble No More – A Musical Film
DVD EXTRAS:
– Shot of Love
– Cover Down, Pray Through
– Jesus Met the Woman at the Well (Alternate version)
– Ain’t Gonna Go to Hell for Anybody (Complete version)
– Precious Angel (Complete version)
– Slow Train (Complete version)
Note: EXCLUSIVE BONUS 2-CD SET OF THE FULL LIVE SHOW FROM SAN DIEGO, 1979 WHEN YOU PRE-ORDER THE DELUXE 9 DISC BOX SET FROM BOBDYLAN.COM
8CD/1DVD Deluxe Edition box set
Premieres 100 previously unreleased live and studio recordings including 14 unreleased songs
Exclusive DVD of “Trouble No More: A Musical Film,” a new feature-length film incorporating never-before-seen footage from Dylan’s legendary 1980 tours
120 page photo book
Extensive liner note
Release date: 3rd November 2017
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