Bob Dylan
Dylan raw and unadorned in the ’80s.
DYLAN’S BOOTLEG Series consistently proves that he’s his own best producer. Left to his devices with a batch of killer players, The Bard creates a rootsy rock’n’roll that equals punk for pure rawness. Roughly covering Shot
Of Love to Empire Burlesque, this 5-CD set lets us revel in his creative process, its cut gems often shelved. Infamously, there’s the electric take of Blind Willie McTell, about the evil that humans do. Then there’s rehearsal covers like Dave Mason’s hit We Just Disagree where he strips off pop sheen to unearth emotional cores. Dylan’s lesser known It’s Too Late is an angry story song about “secret things [that] might open some doors”. Throughout, Dylan sings with a heft that later diminished for a time, meeting the intensity of the musicians’ sound and fury, signifying music rarely matched.