Bob Dylan - Broadside - Broadside Show And Sessions (1962 - 1963)

In late 1962 and early 1963, Dylan recorded 14 songs for Broadside, the folk magazine that printed many of his early compositions and also recorded numerous folk singers, putting out some of the tapes on official albums. Indeed, half a dozen of these songs actually came out on the compilation albums Broadside Ballads, Vol. 1 and Broadside Reunion, with Dylan using the pseudonym Blind Boy Grunt to avoid contractual problems, although those anthologies are hard to find now.

This bootleg gathers all 14 of the performances, adding three numbers (and some chat) from a May 1962 radio show for WBAI in New York. The show was never broadcast, but, to add to the discographical tangle, two of the songs ("Emmett Till" and "Ballad of Donald White") were officially released on Broadside Reunion, although these weren't actually cut for Broadside. Taken together, the cuts on this CD catch Dylan in his hardcore folky phase, at a time when the songs were just beginning to pour from his pen like sugar through an hourglass. It's not the easiest listen, however, because the fidelity is very uneven, varying from acceptable major-label studio quality to ragged and, well, bootleg-ish, in the bad sense of that term. In addition, the performances are not always optimum, sometimes breaking down or stumbling; for Dylan and others, it should be remembered, the Broadside sessions were often used as a way of getting a composition down on tape in any form for reference, and not as a commercial or polished rendition. Also, the songwriting itself varies widely in quality, from "Blowin' in the Wind" (the sole unreleased performance from the WBAI session) to some of his least impressive topical numbers, like "Talkin' Devil." This material is mostly of interest for several compositions that did not make it onto his official releases in any form, like "Train a-Travelin'," "Cuban Missile Crisis," and "I'd Hate to Be You on That Dreadful Day," although none of these are memorable; there are also unreleased versions of some of his most obscure numbers, like "Walkin' Down the Line," "Playboys and Playgirls," and "Paths of Victory."

Capping the disc is a poor-fidelity version of "Only a Pawn in Their Game" sung by Dylan at the 1963 Washington Civil Rights March. If for some reason this CD was the only rare and unreleased Dylan from the early '60s available, it would be of immense historical interest. As it is, it's only of historical interest for committed Dylan scholars, particularly as there are far superior bootlegs of unreleased material from this same period available, such as The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan Outtakes and the 1961 tapes he made in an apartment in Minneapolis.      - allmusic.com

Tracklist

1	Ballad Of Donald White
2	The Death Of Emmett Till
3	Blowin' In The Wind
4	I'd Hate To Be You On That Dreadful Day
5	Oxford Town
6	Paths Of Victory
7	Walkin' Down The Line
8	Playboys And Playgirls
9	Talkin' Devil
10	Farewell
11	Masters Of War
12	Let Me Die In My Footsteps
13	Only A Hobo
14	John Brown
15	I Shall Be Free
16	Train A-Travelin'
17	Cuban Missile Crisis
18	Only A Pawn In Their Game
19	Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

Bob Dylan - Broadside - Broadside Show And Sessions (1962 - 1963)
(192 kbps, cover art included)