Bob Dylan: Thin Wild Mercury Music

Variant with matrix SP-105 -631-

  Format: 1CD
  Label: Spank Records
  Cat. nr.: SP 105
  Year of production or release: 1994
  Made in Australia
  Matrix: SP-105 -631-
  Townsend nr.: T-350

Variant with matrix SP-105

  Format: 1CD
  Label: Spank Records
  Cat. nr.: SP 105
  Year of production or release: 1994
  Made in Australia
  Matrix: SP-105
  Townsend nr.: T-350

Track list:

1. If You Gotta Go, Go Now (2:34)

     15 January 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.
     Not the version that is on "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3",
       but a different mix of the version that was released as a
       single in the Benelux in 1967.

2. She Belongs To Me (3:06)

     13 January 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.

3. Visions of Johanna (7:33)

     30 November - 1 December 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New
       York, U.S.A.
     The so-called "slow version", with the words "he examines the
       nightingale's code, still  left on  the fish  truck that  loads"

4. From A Buick Six (3:12)

     30 July 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.
     The alternate version opening with harmonica, released on
       the Japanese version of "Highway 61 Revisited" (CBS/Sony 25
       AP273), on some of the mono (CL-2389) and on  a small  batch
       of stereo (CS-9189) (the pressing has a "-1" at  the end  of
       the matrix number, stamped in the vinyl trailoff). This one
       is in stereo.

5. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (3:39)

     13 January 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.

6. Medicine Sunday (0:58)
7. I Wanna Be Your Lover (3:30)

     5 October 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.

8. Keep It With Mine (3:13)

     15 February 1966, Columbia Studios, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A.
     Instrumental

9. Love Minus Zero/No Limit (3:45)

     14 January 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.

10. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (3:42)

     30 July 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.
     The version that was mistakenly released on single instead of
       "Positively 4th Street". It has the "'um on don't say  he will
       haunt you..."  ending

11. Number One (4:05)

     5 October 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.
     Instrumental

12. She's Your Lover Now (6:28)

     21 January 1966, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.
     The band version that's on "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3"

13. Jet Pilot (1:30)

     5 October 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.

14. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (0:57)

     30 November - 1 December 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New
       York, U.S.A.
     Incomplete take

15. Visions of Johanna (8:29)

     30 November - 1 December 1965, Columbia Studios, New York, New
       York, U.S.A.
     The so-called "fast version", with the words "he   examines   the
       nightingale's code,  still written  on the  fish truck  that
       loads"

16. She's Your Lover Now (8:27)

     21 January 1966, Columbia Studios, New York, New York, U.S.A.
     The piano version

17. Miami Convention Message (0:53)
18. If You Gotta Go, Go Now (1:48)

     12 May 1965, Levy’s Recording Studio, London, England

Total running time: 75:23



This CD contains a collection of outtakes from the albums "Bringing It
All Back Home", "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde On Blonde" and
the recordings that were made at Levy's Recording Studio in London
in 1965. The tracks are in random order.

Crazy Joe rated this CD 5 on a 0 to 5 scale.

The packaging  is quite nice, with a colour cover photograph
of Dylan  circa  1965/66,  dressed  entirely  in  black  and
standing up,  holding an  abstract cross,  against  a  white
background (obviously  from the  same photo  session as  the
photo on  the CD).  The back  of the  sleeve has a black and
white photograph  of Dylan  outdoors in  a winter  landscape
(there is  snow on the ground), wearing what looks to be his
Blonde On  Blonde scarf,  eating with a fork from what looks
like a  bowl of gruel while talking to a woman with her back
to the camera. The back of the CD features a small black and
white picture  of Dylan  in the  studio with a Fender guitar
and wearing  dark glasses. The area of the case behind where
the CD  goes is  also decorated, with a reproduction of what
looks like the picture of Dylan from "Rock Dreams." Finally,
the disc  itself is  embossed  with  a  blue  picture  of  a
laughing (!)  Bob Dylan  singing  into  a  suspended  studio
microphone.

The CD itself of the variant with matrix SP-105 does not have the
picture of  Dylan but  is half silver half blue with printed
letters. The typography of the cover and inserts is somewhat
different, generally plainer.

Full  information   is  provided   regarding  the  date  and
personnel of  each track, not always  correctly,  though.
There is, however, no listing of running time for either the
individual tracks or the entire disc.

The overall  sound quality  is very  high. Only  She's  Your
Lover Now (track 16), which is obviously taken from an acetate
and mixed at a much lower level than the rest of the disc, is
an exception.

The instrumental "Keep It With Mine" (track 8) is in stereo, but
it also has surface crackles indicating that it comes from  an
acetate.

In the same year as this CD was released the CD "The Lonesome
Sparrow Sings", which is very similar. It lacks tracks 8, 10,
11 and 12 (the two instrumentals "Keep It With Mine" and "Number
One", the mistaken single "Can You Please Crawl Out Your
Window" and the band version of "She's Your Lover Now", but
has a few tracks that are not on "Thin Wild Mercury Music".
EDLIS recommends "Thin  Wild  Mercury  Music" over  "The
Lonesome  Sparrow  Sings" ,  but  only  by  a whisker...



> Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
> Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 17:13:20 -0500
> From: Richard Frankel 
> Subject: thin wild mercury music...

>         i was recently in a record store and saw a copy of 'thin wild
> mercury music'.  i had heard of this disc many times before and was
> naturally interested.  the store owner said, however, the disc has many
> sound problems and played it for me to show what he meant.  there was
> some significant distortion on some of the tracks i heard.  he said this
> was not a problem for this single disc, but for all copies of 'thin wild
> mercury music'.  i was wondering if this was so, since i had heard such
> positive things about this disc.