| Columbia Studio A, New York, New York, 13 January 1965 | |
| 1.1. | I'll Keep It With Mine (CO 85271-1; mono mix) (0:33/3:48/0:00) |
| 1.2. | It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (CO 85272; mono mix) (0:00/3:38/0:00) |
| 1.3. | Subterranean Homesick Blues (CO 85275-1; mono mix) (0:11/2:44/0:00) |
| 1.4. | Farewell, Angelina (CO 85278; mono mix) (0:00/5:25/0:00) |
| 1.5. | You Don't Have To Do That (CO 85280; mono mix) (0:03/0:53/0:00) |
| 1.6. | She Belongs To Me (CO 85274; mono mix) (0:00/3:08/0:00) |
| 1.7. | Love Minus Zero/No Limit (CO 85270; mono mix) (0:00/3:48/0:00) |
| Columbia Studio A, New York, New York, 15 January 1965 | |
| 1.8. | If You Gotta Go, Go Now (CO 85291-4; original mono mix) (0:00/2:33/0:00) |
| 1.9. | If You Gotta Go, Go Now (CO 85291-4; mono acetate mix) (0:00/2:32/0:00) |
| 1.10. | If You Gotta Go, Go Now (CO 85291-3; mono mix) (0:04/2:58/0:00) |
| 1.11. | If You Gotta Go, Go Now (CO 85291-3; stereo mix) (0:00/2:53/0:00) |
| Columbia Music Row Studios, Nashville, Tennessee, 15 February 1966 | |
| 1.12. | Keep It With Mine (instrumental) (NCO 83185; stereo acetate mix) (0:00/3:12/0:00) |
| A.B.C.-TV studios, New York, New York, 17 February 1965: The Les Crane Show | |
| 1.13. | It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (0:56/4:09/0:14) |
| 1.14. | interview (18:33) |
| 1.15. | It's Alright, Ma (0:16/6:56/0:28) |
| Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, 27 March 1965 | |
| 2.1. | To Ramona (0:13/4:14/0:18) |
| 2.2. | Gates Of Eden (0:18/7:09/0:18) |
| 2.3. | If You Gotta, Go Now (0:01/2:08/0:33) |
| 2.4. | It's Alright, Ma (0:18/7:30/0:31) |
| 2.5. | Love Minus Zero/No Limit (0:24/4:00/0:12) |
| 2.6. | Mr. Tambourine Man (0:00/5:23/0:05) |
| 2.7. | Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (0:12/3:20/0:07) |
| 2.8. | With God On Our Side (incomplete recording) (0:00/1:25/0:00) |
| 2.9. | She Belongs To Me (0:08/3:33/0:05) |
| 2.10. | It Ain't Me, Babe (incomplete recording) (0:10/1:14/0:00) |
| 2.11. | The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (incomplete recording) (0:17/0:18/0:00) |
| 2.12. | All I Really Want To Do (0:15/2:19/0:09) |
| 2.13. | It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (0:47/4:37/0:10) |
| Oval City Hall, Sheffield, England, 30 April 1965 | |
| 3.1 | The Times They Are A-Changin' (0:00/3:02/0:01) |
| 3.2 | To Ramona (0:09/4:28/0:00) |
| 3.3 | Gates Of Eden (0:31/7:12/0:01) |
| 3.4 | If You Gotta Go, Go Now (incomplete recording) (0:00/2:15/0:00) |
| 3.5 | It's All Right, Ma (0:21/8:15/0:00) |
| 3.6 | Love Minus Zero/No Limit (incomplete recording) (0:27/2:25/0:00) |
| London Airport, 26 April 1965 | |
| 3.7 | Snippets from press conference (0:15) |
| Savoy Hotel, London, 27 April 1965 | |
| 3.8 | Snippets from press conference (2:44) |
| Oval City Hall, Sheffield, England, 30 April 1965 | |
| 3.9 | Snippet from interview with Jenny DeYong and Peter Roche for the paper "Darts", Sheffield University (0:47) |
| Savoy Hotel, London, 6 May 1965 | |
| 3.10 | Snippet from Horace Judson interview for "Time Magazine" (6:23) |
| Oval City Hall, Sheffield, England, 30 April 1965 | |
| 3.11 | The Times They Are A-Changin' (edited) (0:06/0:38/0:28) |
| 3.12 | To Ramona (incomplete recording) (0:02/1:13/0:00) |
| De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England, 2 May 1965 | |
| 3.13 | The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (incomplete recording) (0:05/3:06/0:00) |
| Savoy Hotel, London, England, 3 or 4 May 1965 | |
| 3.14 | Lost Highway (Background vocal: Joan Baez) (0:00/1:38/0:00) |
| 3.15 | I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (incomplete performance or recording) (0:01/0:23/0:00) |
| hotel, Newcastle, England, 6 May 1965 | |
| 3.16 | Little Things (incomplete recording) (1:38) |
| Newcastle City Hall, Newcastle, England, 6 May 1965 | |
| 3.17 | Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (incomplete recording) (1:08) |
| 3.18 | Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (incomplete recording) (0:00/3:29/0:02) |
| Savoy Hotel, London, England, 6 May 1965 | |
| 3.19 | It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (0:00/2:00/0:01) |
| Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 9 May 1965 | |
| 3.20 | piano/harmonica (backstage) (0:51) |
| 3.21 | The Times They Are A-Changin' (incomplete recording) (0:04/0:33/0:00) |
| Talkin' World War III Blues (edited) (0:00/1:24/0:01) | |
| It's Alright, Ma (incomplete recording) (0:12/0:49/0:00) | |
| Gates Of Eden (incomplete recording) (0:00/1:21/0:00) | |
| Love Minus Zero/No Limit (edited) (0:00/1:35/0:02) | |
| All I Really Want To Do (incomplete recording) (0:00/0:34/0:00) | |
| Levy's Recording Studio, London, England, 12 May 1965 | |
| 3.22 | Miami Sales Convention Speech (0:55) |
| 3.23 | If You Gotta Go, Go Now (0:20/1:25/0:14) |
| Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, 7 May 1965 | |
| 4.1. | The Times They Are A-Changin' (0:03/2:57/0:32) |
| 4.2. | To Ramona (0:01/4:25/0:32) |
| 4.3. | Gates Of Eden (0:06/6:44/0:16) |
| 4.4. | If You Gotta Go, Go Now (0:00/2:25/0:29) |
| 4.5. | It's Alright, Ma (0:07/7:44/0:15) |
| 4.6. | Love Minus Zero/No Limit (0:35/4:10/0:14) |
| 4.7. | Mr. Tambourine Man (0:06/5:55/0:23) |
| 4.8. | Talkin' World War III Blues (incomplete) (0:00/4:01/0:15) |
| 4.9. | Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (0:00/3:30/0:21) |
| 4.10. | With God On Our Side (0:00/4:55/0:19) |
| 4.11. | She Belongs To Me (0:00/3:52/0:17) |
| 4.12. | It Ain't Me, Babe (0:10/3:49/0:20) |
| 4.13. | The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (0:31/5:21/0:49) |
| 4.14. | All I Really Want To Do (0:00/2:45/0:39) |
| 4.15. | It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (0:18/4:50/0:46) |
| Royal Albert Hall, London, England, 9 May 1965 | |
| 5.1. | The Times They Are A-Changin' (incomplete) (0:00/3:03/0:00) |
| 5.2. | To Ramona (0:00/4:29/0:00) |
| 5.3. | Gates Of Eden (0:11/7:02/0:00) |
| 5.4. | If You Gotta Go, Go Now (0:00/2:13/0:00) |
| 5.5. | It's Alright, Ma (incomplete) (0:07/3:00/0:00) |
| 5.6. | Love Minus Zero/No Limit (0:16/3:50/0:00) |
| 5.7. | Mr. Tambourine Man (0:15/6:10/0:01) |
| 5.8. | Talkin' World War III Blues (0:00/4:33/0:00) |
| 5.9. | Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (0:00/3:45/0:00) |
| 5.10. | With God On Our Side (0:10/5:12/0:00) |
| 5.11. | She Belongs To Me (0:45/3:51/0:00) |
| 5.12. | It Ain't Me, Babe (0:09/4:02/0:00) |
| 5.13. | The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (0:30/5:29/0:00) |
| 5.14. | All I Really Want To Do (0:00/2:42/0:00) |
| 5.15. | It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (0:16/5:10/0:04) |
| B.B.C. Television Theatre, London, England, 1 June 1965 | |
| 6.1 | Ballad Of Hollis Brown (0:00/4:48/0:21) |
| 6.2 | Mr. Tambourine Man (0:00/6:09/0:18) |
| 6.3-4 | Gates Of Eden (0:00/7:05/0:02) |
| If You Gotta Go, Go Now (0:00/2:41/0:12) | |
| 6.5 | The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (0:00/6:06/0:13) |
| 6.6 | It Ain't Me, Babe (0:09/3:52/0:06) |
| 6.7 | Love Minus Zero/No Limit (0:00/3:40/0:07) |
| 6.8 | One Too Many Mornings (0:02/4:01/0:16) |
| 6.9 | Boots Of Spanish Leather (0:06/6:25/0:13) |
| 6.10 | It's Alright, Ma (0:30/8:25/0:15) |
| 6.11 | She Belongs To Me (0:08/4:24/0:14) |
| 6.12 | It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (0:03/4:58/0:07) |
| Columbia Studio A, New York, New York, 15 June 1965 | |
| 7.1 | Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence (CO 86444-6; mono mix) (0:04/4:03/0:00) |
| 7.2 | Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence (CO 86444-6; stereo mix) (3:52) |
| 7.3 | Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence (CO 86444-?; stereo acetate mix) (0:00/4:50/0:00) |
| 7.4 | Phantom Engineer (CO 86445-1; mono mix) (0:03/3:30/0:00 |
| 7.5 | Phantom Engineer (CO 86445-1; stereo acetate mix) (0:01/3:28/0:00) |
| 7.6 | Phantom Engineer (CO 86445-1; stereo mix) (3:20) |
| 7.7 | Like A Rolling Stone (CO 86446-2; stereo mix) (1:35) |
| Columbia Studio A, New York, New York, 16 June 1965 | |
| 7.8 | Like A Rolling Stone (CO 86446-4; mono mix) (6:30) |
| Columbia Studio A, New York, New York, 30 July 1965 | |
| 7.9 | Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (CO 86844-?; mono mix) (3:41) |
| 7.10 | Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (CO 86844-?; mono mix) (4:04) |
| Columbia Studio A, New York, New York, 29 July 1965 | |
| 7.11 | Positively 4th Street (CO 86840-?; mono mix) (4:17) |
| 7.12 | It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (CO 86839-?; mono mix) (4:14) |
| 7.13 | Tombstone Blues (CO 86838-?; mono mix) (6:14) |
| Columbia Studio A, New York, New York, 30 July 1965 | |
| 7.14 | From A Buick 6 (3:06) |
| 7.15 | From A Buick 6 (3:04) |
| 7.16 | From A Buick 6 (3:12) |
| Columbia Studio A, New York, New York, 2 August 1965 | |
| 8.1 | Desolation Row (CO 86845-1; mono mix) (11:57) |
| 8.2 | Queen Jane Approximately (CO 86848-7; mono mix) (5:30) |
| 8.3 | Highway 61 Revisited (CO 86846-5; mono mix) (3:38) |
| 8.4 | Ballad Of A Thin Man (CO 86849-3; mono mix) (6:05) |
| 8.5 | Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (CO 86847-5; mono mix) (5:36) |
| Newport Folk Festival, Newport, Rhode Island, 24 July 1965 | |
| 8.6 | All I Really Want To Do (0:19/2:18/0:04) |
| Newport Folk Festival, Newport, Rhode Island, 25 July 1965 | |
| 8.7 | Maggie's Farm (1:22/5:17/0:08) |
| 8.8 | Like A Rolling Stone (0:41/6:11/0:13) |
| 8.9 | Phantom Engineer (0:29/3:38/2:46) |
| 8.10 | It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (1:39/5:12/1:57) |
| 8.11 | Mr. Tambourine Man (0:38/6:01/0:18) |
| Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, New York, New York, 28 August 1965 | |
| 9.1 | introduction (3:59) |
| 9.2 | She Belongs To Me (0:05/4:01/0:15) |
| 9.3 | To Ramona (0:12/4:19/0:19) |
| 9.4 | Gates Of Eden (0:04/6:30/0:14) |
| 9.5 | Love Minus Zero/No Limit (0:13/4:05/0:29) |
| 9.6 | Desolation Row (0:08/9:42/0:32) |
| 9.7 | It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (0:00/5:02/5:36) |
| 9.8 | Mr. Tambourine Man (0:01/5:44/0:10) |
| 9.9 | intermission comments (1:18) |
| 9.10 | Tombstone Blues (0:03/5:37/0:26) |
| 9.11 | I Don't Believe You (0:00/4:35/0:48) |
| 9.12 | From A Buick 6 (0:01/3:15/0:27) |
| 9.13 | Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (0:00/5:20/0:13) |
| 10.1 | Maggie's Farm (0:02/4:43/2:08) |
| 10.2 | It Ain't Me, Babe (0:00/4:37/1:20) |
| 10.3 | Ballad Of A Thin Man (0:00/5:59/0:07) |
| 10.4 | Like A Rolling Stone (0:07/6:03/0:22) |
| Columbia Studios, New York, New York, 5 October 1965 | |
| 10.5 | Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (incomplete performance) (CO 87184-?; mono mix) (0:02/0:53/0:00) |
| 10.6 | Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (CO 87184-?; mono mix) (3:30) |
| 10.7 | Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (CO 87184-?; stereo acetate mix) (3:36) |
| Columbia Studios, New York, New York, 20 October 1965 | |
| 10.8 | I Wanna Be Your Lover (CO 87185-?; mono mix) (3:30) |
| 10.9 | I Wanna Be Your Lover (CO 87185-6; mono mix) (3:25) |
| Columbia Studios, New York, New York, 5 October 1965 | |
| 10.10 | Jet Pilot (CO 87186; stereo mix) (0:01/1:29/0:01) |
| 10.11 | Medicine Sunday (CO 87183-?; mono mix) (1:00) |
| Columbia Studios, New York, New York, 27 January 1966 | |
| 10.12 | Number One (instrumental) (CO 89218; mono mix) (0:03/4:02/0:00) |
| Columbia Studios, New York, New York, 30 November 1965 | |
| 10.13 | Freeze Out (CO 88581-7; stereo acetate mix) (8:29) |
| Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan, 24 October 1965 | |
| 11.1 | Allen Stone interview for WATM Radio, Detroit (19:09) |
| Columbia Office, New York, October or November 1965 | |
| 11.2-12.1 | Nat Hentoff interview for Playboy magazine (121:54) |
| KQED TV Studios, San Francisco, California, 3 December 1965 | |
| 13.1 | San Francisco Press Conference (51:54) |
| Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, California, 4 December 1965 | |
| 13.2 | Tombstone Blues (incomplete recording) (0:00/4:48/0:06) |
| 13.3 | I Don't Believe You (skipping recording) (0:01/5:03/0:11) |
| 13.4 | Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (0:09/3:47/0:08) |
| 14.1 | Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (0:00/5:31/0:10) |
| 14.2 | Long Distance Operator (0:06/3:42/0:16) |
| 14.3 | It Ain't Me, Babe (0:01/5:32/0:14) |
| 14.4 | Ballad Of A Thin Man (0:00/5:31/0:38) |
| 14.5 | Positively 4th Street (0:04/4:31/0:08) |
| 14.6 | Like A Rolling Stone (0:00/6:01/0:03) |
| Columbia Records Press Room, Los Angeles, California, 17 December 1965 | |
| 14.7 | Los Angeless Press Conference (33:41) |
If you see in the track list something like (a:aa/b:bb/c:cc), then b:bb is the duration of the actual song, and a:aa and c:cc indicate how much time of the track is due to introductions, tunings etc.
This is a set of 14 CDs, which come in 9 shrink-wrapped jewel boxes in a cardboard box. The cardboard box is 32 cm by 32 cm, like the boxes in which the official CD sets "Biograph" and "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3" were originally released, but it is thicker (4.5 cm) than those. The jewel boxes have the normal dimensions. The first 4 contain 1 CD, the last 5 contain 2. The jewel boxes are named vol. one, vol. two and so on, so vol. one to vol. four contain disc 1 to disc 4, while vol. five contains disc 5 and 6, vol. six disc 7 and 8, and so on.
On the CDs is printed "made in italy (p) 6/1995".
The cardboard box also contains a 28 cm by 28 cm booklet of 36
pages, cover counted. This booklet contains track lists,
photos, quotes from Dylan and others, and an overview of Dylan
events of 1965. The track lists mention dates, venues, mixes
(mono, stereo, from acetate), musicians and producers, but no
durations. The track lists are also on the inlays and the
backs of the jewel boxes. On the back of the jewel boxes the
information on the mixes, musicians and producers is omitted.
The booklet is printed in color, but the photos are all in
black and white. The manufacturers seem to have tried to make
something nice, and therefore I find it strange that some of
the texts in this booklet fall partly outside of it, that the
track numbers of tracks 10-13 of disc 9 are given as J, K, L
and M, and that "cd fourtheen" is spelled the way I quote it
here.
I expect from a booklet like this that it provides more
information on the music that is on the CDs, like the booklet
of "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3". It looks more impressive
than it is.
The first 5 tracks of disc 1 are from the "Bringing It All Back Home" session of 13 January 1965, according to both the CD documentation and Heylin. 3 of these tracks are officially released: "I'll Keep It With Mine" on "Biograph", "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Farewell, Angelina" on "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3". "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Farewell, Angelina" have the best sound quality of the 5 and are apparently copied from the official release. The sound quality of "I'll Keep It With Mine" is less. It also runs a little slower than on "Biograph". It begins with some studio chat, omitted on Biograph, in which Dylan titles it "Bank Account Blues". "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is an earlier take than the one on "Bringing It All Back Home". It has the worst sound quality of the 5. A lot of hiss. Still acceptable though.
Tracks 6 and 7 of disc 1 are according to Heylin from the same "Bringing It All Back Home" session as tracks 1-5, that of 13 January 1965, but according to the CD documentation from the one of 15 January. The sound quality is worse than tracks 1-5. They have an irritating hum. If you can accept that, then the sound is acceptable. "She Belongs To Me" ends with a fade out. "Love Minus Zero" runs to the end of the performance and just before the track ends you can hear Dylan starting to say something.
Tracks 8-11 of disc 1 are from the "Bringing It All Back Home" session of 15 January 1965, according to both Heylin and the CD documentation. Track 11 is "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", apparently copied from "The Bootleg Series - Volumes 1-3". Track 10 is a mono mix of the same performance and has a count in at the beginning, that is lacking on track 11. The sound is too sharp, but listenable. Track 8 is a different take of this song, which differs not much. The sound hasn't the sharpness problem of track 10, but still isn't very good. Acceptable though. Track 9 is the same performance. This seems to be a different mix than track 8, though I can't tell what the difference is. The sound quality, that is different: much worse than track 8: it sounds like it has multiple layers of hiss and other noise. This seems to be the performance that was released on single in the Benelux only. Although I'm living there, I don't have that single and can't tell whether it has the same performance in one of these two mixes on it.
Track 12 of disc 1 is according to the CD documentation from the "Bringing It All Back Home" session of 15 January 1965 and titled "I'll Keep It With Mine", but according to Heylin from the "Blonde On Blonde" session of 15 February 1966 and titled "Keep It With Mine". Heylin says that it has been long misattributed by collectors to the "Bringing It All Back Home" sessions and that it sure doesn't sound like "I'll Keep It With Mine" to him. To me neither. But John Howells says (rec.music.dylan, 3 September 1998): "Heylin is wrong on this. It is obviously the same song. Heylin doesn't think so because musically it doesn't resemble the most famous version that we know from Biograph, but if you compare it to many other versions, including one of Bob's own early demos and also his full band version on Bootleg Series, you will hear that it is the same song with a different arrangement and feel. Also useful to compare Nico's version and the one by Fairport Convention, both of which appear to be based on Bob's lesser known demo from 1964." Anyway, it's a nice instrumental in reasonable sound quality.
The last 3 tracks of disc 1 comprise Dylan's TV appearance at the Les Crane Show. Dylan does two songs and in between he chats with host Les Crane and some other guests. The sound quality is good. There is a hum, but this isn't noticeable during the songs. Bruce Langhorne accompanies Dylan on electric guitar. Paul Cable is in his book "Bob Dylan - His Unreleased Works" very negative on these performances. He says that "It's Alright, Ma" sounds as though Dylan and Langhorne are each playing songs and that Langhorne on "Baby Blue" tries to play something totally different than he does on the album version and from time to time gives up and reverts to the album arrangement. I don't notice these things. But what do I know of music?
Tracks 1-7 of disc 7 are from the "Highway 61 Revisited" session of 15 June 1965 according to both the CD documentation and Heylin.
Track 2 is "Sitting On A Barbed Wire Fence" in stereo, apparently copied from "The Bootleg Series - Volumes 1-3". Track 1 is the same take, but in mono. It isn't faded out, but runs to the end, so is a little longer. It also has a count-in at the beginning, lacking on track 2. The bad news on this track is that it has a heavy hum through it, which strangely enough disappears at the moments that the band stops playing.
Track 3 is the same song, but another take. No hum, fortunately. Sound quality is not as good as on track 2, but very good nonetheless. The bad news on this track is that the band has been mixed to the background. That is unfortunate, for otherwise I think I would prefer this track over track 2.
Track 6 is "It Takes A Lot To Laugh" in stereo, apparently copied from "The Bootleg Series - Volumes 1-3". This song was called "Phantom Engineer" in those days. Track 4 is the same take, but in mono. It isn't faded out, but runs to the end, so is a little longer. It also has a count-in at the beginning. It has a hum, but a modest one, not such a heavy one as on track 1. Track 5 is the same take again, but this time a different stereo mix, in which the vocals are moved to the front and the instruments to the back. Has part of the count- in of track 4 and runs to the end too, but still times a little shorter, so apparently the speed of track 4 is a little slower.
Track 7 is the take of "Like A Rolling Stone" that is on "The Bootleg Series - Volumes 1-3" and is apparently copied from that set.
Track 8 is a mono mix of the take of "Like A Rolling Stone" that's on "Highway 61 Revisited". It is not faded out but runs to the end. According to the CD documentation this take was recorded on 15 June 1965, but according to Heylin on 16 June. Heylin's information is verified by the "Highway 61 Interactive" CD-ROM.
Tracks 9-10 are according to the CD documentation from the "Highway 61 Revisited" session of 16 June 1965, but according to Heylin from the one of 30 July.
Track 9 is a mono mix of the take of "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window" that was accidentally released on single in place of "Positively 4th Street". I don't know whether this is the same mix that was on that single. It's faded out at the end.
Track 10 is a mono mix of another take of this song. It's not faded out, but stops abruptly.
Tracks 11-13 are according to both the CD documentation and Heylin from the "Highway 61 Revisited" session of 29 July 1965.
I was completely baffled the first time I heard "Positively 4th Street", but I have always felt sorry that it is faded out so soon after the last verse. Take 11 is a mono mix of the take that was used for the single and it is not faded out. Past the point where the single ends it runs a little longer and then stops abruptly. It's an ugly ending, but I ain't complaining none: I'm glad I can now decide for myself where to fade it out.
Track 12 is a mono mix of the take of "It Takes A Lot To Laugh" that was used for "Highway 61 Revisited". It is faded out a little later than on that album.
Track 13 is a mono mix of the take of "Tombstone Blues" that was used for "Highway 61 Revisited". It isn't faded out, but runs to the end.
Tracks 14-16 are according to both the CD documentation and Heylin from the "Highway 61 Revisited" session of 30 July 1965.
Track 14 is a mono mix of the take of "From A Buick 6" that was used for "Highway 61 Revisited".
Track 15 is a mono acetate mix of another take of this song. This must be the take was put on the Japanese release of "Highway 61 Revisited" and accidentally on some American releases. Track 16 is a stereo mix of the same take.
Track 1 of disc 8 is according to the CD documentation from the "Highway 61 Revisited" session of 30 July 1965, but according to Heylin from the one of 2 August. It's "Desolation Row". Not the acoustic take that's on "Highway 61 Revisited", but an earlier take with acoustic guitar, electric guitar and bass. It may be inferior to the acoustic take, but it's a phenomenal performance nonetheless, an essential track for a good Dylan collection.
Tracks 2-4 are according to both the CD documentation and Heylin from the "Highway 61 Revisited" session of 2 August 1965. They are mono mixes of the takes "Queen Jane Approximately", "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Ballad Of A Thin Man" used for "Highway 61 Revisited", running a little longer. The latter two run to the end.
Track 5 is according to the CD documentation from the "Highway 61 Revisited" session of 4 August, but according to Heylin from the one of 2 August. It's a mono mix of the take of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" that was used for "Highway 61 Revisited", running a little longer.
The sound quality of tracks 8-16 of disc 7 and 1-5 of disc 8 is far from that of the official releases, but okay. It's on the shrill side, which in particular comes through on the drums.
Tracks 7-11 of disc 8 comprise the complete concert at the Newport Folk Festival on 25 July 1965, which was the first concert at which Dylan played electric. It begins with somebody announcing Bob Dylan. The first words of this announcement are missing. They are, "The person's that coming up now is a person who has in a sense changed". After this announcement Dylan and band enter the stage. They open with "Maggie's Farm" and make it sound a whole lot more "electric" than the version on the earlier that year released album "Bringing It All Back Home". Next they play "Like A Rolling Stone", followed by "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry", which at that time had not yet that title, but "Phantom Engineer", and another, faster arrangement, that of tracks 4-6 of disc 7. After playing these three songs Dylan and band leave the stage and the announcer comes back, saying that Dylan will come back to perform solo. The CD fades out and back in and Dylan indeed comes back and plays "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" and "Mr. Tambourine Man". After starting the latter he asks if anybody has an E harmonica, stops playing and then starts the song again in F. This is a soundboard recording and the quality is very good. The CD index marks are not at the beginnings of the songs proper, but before the tuning etc. that leads up to them. This concert can also be found on the CDs "Live In Newport 1965", "Live In Newport" and "Don't Look Back".
Track 6 is also from the Newport Folk Festival of 1965, but of the previous day and it just one song, a short version of "All I Really Want To Do". Sound quality is not as good as that of the concert of the next day, for it has a modest hum.
Tracks 5-7 of disc 10 are takes of "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window". Track 6 and 7 are different mixes of the take that is on "Biograph". Track 6 is a mono mix and track 7 an stereo acetate mix. Track 5 is another take, an incomplete one. According to the CD documentation these tracks are from the "Blonde On Blonde" session of 20 October 1965, but according to Heylin from that of 5 October. There has been a discussion in the newsgroup rec.music.dylan in July 1997 about the correct date for these recordings in which 30 November was considered a possibility too. Sound is a little distorted on tracks 6 and 7 and a little better on track 5.
Tracks 8-9 are according to both the CD documentation and Heylin from the "Blonde On Blonde" session of 20 October 1965. They are takes of "I Wanna Be Your Lover". Track 9 is a mono mix of the take that's on "Biograph". Track 8 is a mono mix of a different take. Sound quality of track 9 is okay. Track 8 has a considerable amount of hiss and sounds very shrill.
Track 10 is a different stereo mix of the take of "Jet Pilot" that is on "Biograph". It's the complete take, running to the end. On "Biograph" the first 20 seconds are missing and it is faded out long before the end. Sound quality is very good. According to the CD documentation this is from the "Blonde On Blonde" session of 20 October 1965, but according to Heylin from that of 5 October.
Track 11 is a mono mix of a take of "Medicine Sunday", which is "Temporary Like Achilles" in embryo stage. Good sound quality.
Track 12 is a mono mix of "Number One", an instrumental, according to the CD documentation from the "Blonde On Blonde" session of 30 November to 1 December 1965, but according to Heylin from that of 27 January 1966. It sounds like during copying this track on a tape deck the recording level was constantly changed and the noise reduction was constantly turned on and off. This is irritating of course, but it's such a nice instrumental that I make shift with it.
Track 13 is a stereo acetate mix of a take of "Freeze Out", as "Visions Of Johanna" was originally called for some strange reason. According to the CD documentation it's from the "Blonde On Blonde" session of 30 November to 1 December 1965 and this session was held at the Sunset Sound Recording Studio in Hollywood. According to Heylin it was the first complete take of "Visions Of Johanna", it was indeed recorded on 30 November, but the session was held at the Columbia Studios in New York. This is what Paul Williams calls the fast take. Since all 3 known complete takes of this song are phenomenal performances, this one is essential for a good Dylan collection. This track has the hiss from the acetate that was the source for it, but the sound quality is good.
Disc 4 contains a soundboard recording of almost the complete concert of 7 May 1965 at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England. All that is missing is the beginning of "Talkin' World War III Blues", which apparently wasn't recorded. This recording starts with a too low level, but after the first two lines of the opening song the level is turned up and the rest of the concert comes in excellent quality. This is a purely acoustic concert. It can also be found on the CDs "Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears" and "Now's The Time For Your Tears".
Disc 2 contains a recording of the concert of 27 March 1965 at the Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. Dylan plays the same 15 songs he would do at the Manchester concert of 7 May. This however is not a soundboard recording, but an audience recording. The sound is hollow and flutters. The level goes up and down. Audience talk is hearable. "The Times They Are A-Changing" and "Talkin' World War III Blues" are completely missing, while the recording of "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll" is stopped as soon as the taper recognizes the song. Recording of "With God On Our Side" and "It Ain't Me, Babe" is stopped after a little more than a minute. It could be a lot worse though. The words that Dylan sings are clearly hearable and so is what he plays on his guitar and harmonica. Anyway, the value of this recording lies not in the music. For that you'd better listen to the recording of the Manchester concert, where Dylan plays the same songs the same way. It's in the audience. They laugh a lot, not only during an obviously funny song, like "If You Gotta Go, Go Now", but also during songs like "Gates Of Eden", songs of which the words are taken so seriously by many Dylan admirers, including myself. I find it refreshing to hear the audience laugh on this recording about words like "and her silver studded phantom cause the grey flannel dwarf to scream". That Dylan wants them too laugh is clear by the many funny remarks he makes in between songs. The album "Bringing It All Back Home" was released 5 days before this concert and we may assume that not all the members of the audience had heard it already, so that some of the songs were new to them. Indeed, we hear one of them wonder if the songs are on the record. "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" was certainly new to the whole audience, for it hadn't been released. This recording can also be found, with the fragment of "Hattie Carroll" omitted, on the CD "Songs That Made Him Famous".
Disc 5 contains a recording of the concert of 9 May 1965 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Dylan plays the same 15 songs he played at the Santa Monica concert of 27 March and the Manchester concert of 7 May. This is an audience recording of worse quality than that of the Santa Monica concert. Recording of "It's Alright, Ma" stops after 3 minutes. "The Times They Are A-Changin'" starts in the middle of the first verse. The other songs are complete, that is to say the recordings runs to the end and starts before Dylan starts singing, for the sound quality is so bad that it is hard to hear whether a recording of a song starts in the middle of its intro or at the beginning. The sound is hollow and distorted, but the words Dylan sings are hearable, so it still could be worse. Since Dylan plays all these songs in the Manchester concert of 2 days earlier and that concert is on disc 4 in excellent quality, and since this recording misses the value that the audience recording of the Santa Monica concert has as well, I find this disc totally redundant.
Disc 6 contains a recording of the concert that was recorded for British television on 1 June 1965 and later broadcasted split-up in two programmes. The sound is hollow, but otherwise good. Dylan plays 12 songs, 3 of which he did not at the concerts of 27 March, 7 May and 9 May. Especially "One Too Many Mornings" is worth having. This concert is also on the CD "The Circus Is In Town".
Disc 3 begins with a recording of the concert of 30 April 1965 at the Oval City Hall in Sheffield, England. Dylan plays the same 15 songs as in the concerts of 27 March, 7 May and 9 May, but this recording contains only the first 6. "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" starts after the intro, just missing the beginning of the first word Dylan sings. "Love Minus Zero" is faded out after less than 2 and a half minute. This is an audience recording of even worse quality than that of the London concert of 9 May. The words Dylan sings are hearable, but his introduction of "Love Minus Zero" is not.
Later on disc 3 this concert pops up again. First comes "The Times They Are A-Changin'" in glorious stereo. But the end of this songs comes immediately after the first verse, so it must have been edited. This is a soundboard recording on which the guitar and harmonica are much louder than the vocal. After "The Times" this recording runs further. We get to hear Dylan preparing for the next song, "To Ramona". But after the first two lines of this song the recording stops. A brief moment of silence, and then the song continues, but now with disturbances in the sound. After the second verse the song is faded out and there comes no more of it.
Tracks 7-21 of disc 3 appear to be taken from the film "Don't Look Back", but since some of them are in stereo, other sources must have been used as well, unless this film has been rereleased in stereo. The dates and venues given for these tracks in the CD documentation do not all correspond to those given by Olof Björner in his Yearly Chronicles.
Track 13 of disc 3 is "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll" from the concert of 2 May 1965 in Leicester. Excellent sound quality. Unfortunately it breaks off after the third refrain.
Tracks 14 and 15 are from a recording made at the Savoy Hotel in London on 3 or 4 May 1965. Dylan sings "Lost Highway" with Joan Baez providing the background vocal. If there was an intro to this song, it is not included here, for it starts at the first verse. When Dylan wants to end it, someone reminds him there is another verse, and then he sings that, after which he immediately sings another song, "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". It is not clear to me whether the recording ends prematurely or at the end of Dylan's performance.
Track 16 has Dylan singing a song at the piano in a hotel in Newcastle on 6 May 1965. The vocals are in the background, so that the words are indecipherable. The CD documentation has no title for this song, but says only "piano tune". According to Olof's Chronicles this is called "Little Things".
Track 17 is a fragment of a stereo recording in excellent quality of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" from the concert of 6 May 1965 in Newcastle. Track 18 is the same performance of this song, but in mono and considerable less quality. This recording is almost complete. Only part of the intro is missing.
Track 19 is a complete recording of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" at the Savoy Hotel in London. According to the CD documentation this was recorded on 8 May 1965, but according to Olof's Chronocles on 6 May.
Track 20 has Dylan playing something on the piano. Then he plays something on the harmonica, recording of which breaks off. Finally he plays something on the piano again. According to the CD documentation this was played backstage at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 9 May 1965. Olof's Chronicles don't mention this in the contents of "Don't Look Back". This is really nothing more than a person doing a little playing around with a piano and a harmonica. The fact that that person is Bob Dylan doesn't change anything about that.
Track 21 consists of fragments of the concert of 9 May 1965 in London pasted together.
Tracks 7-10 are snippets from interviews in England in 1965. Track 7 has snippets from the press conference at London Airport on 26 April. Track 8 from a press conference that according to the CD documentation took place in the conference room of London Airport on 26 April, but according to Olof's Chronicles at the Savoy Hotel in London on 27 April. Track 9 are snippets from an interview according to the CD documentation held backstage after the concert of 30 April in Sheffield by Jenny DeYong and Peter Roche for the paper "Darts" of Sheffield University, but according to Olof's Chronicles held backstage at the Newcastle City Hall on 6 May. Track 10 are snippets from Horace Judson's interview for "Time Magazine" held in the Savoy Hotel in London according to the CD documentation on 9 May, but according to Olof's Chronicles on 6 May.
Because it all are fragments, I am not enthousiastic about the "Don't Look Back" stuff. The only worthwhile tracks I find the recording of "Lost Highway" and "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and the interview for "Time Magazine".
The last 2 tracks of disc 3 are recordings made at Levy's Recording Studio in London on 12 May 1965. The first track has two takes of the Miami Sales Convention Speech, a trite message in which Dylan says, "Thanks for selling so many of records", and the studio chat around that. The second track has Dylan with band doing a very short "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" and the studio chat around that. It's not much of a performance. Sound quality is good.
Disc 9 and the first 4 tracks of disc 10 comprise the concert of 28 August 1965 in New York. This is an audience recording of terribly quality, for it sounds like the erase head of the recorder wasn't working properly, so that a residue of a previous recording is hearable. It begins with two persons giving speeches. I can hear exactly what they're saying, but as far as I can hear they are telling what a great artist Dylan is and why. Part of the audience seems to agree, for they cheer. Another part seems to disagree, for they boo. Then Dylan plays 7 songs acousticly. Sound quality is bad, but the words Dylan sings are hearable. His comments between songs not though. 6 of these acoustic songs he played also in the concerts of 27 March, 7 and 9 May. The new song is "Desolation Row". The recording of this song is interesting to hear, for a lot of its lines cause the audience to laugh. Then Dylan takes a break and in the meantime somebody comes to speak for the audience again. There are only a few words I can hear. Part of the audience is now booing loudly. Then Dylan comes back to play 8 songs with band. These songs suffer a lot more from the bad sound quality than the acoustic songs, for the sound becomes now some sort of porridge. Part of the audience appreciates the music, but another part doesn't and boos. After "I Don't Believe You" it chants, "We want Dylan." The taper or a man near him finds "Ballad Of A Thin Man" very amusing.
The last 3 tracks of disc 13 and the first 4 of disc 14 comprise a recording of the concert of 4 December 1965 in Berkeley, California. Since the total time is 46:54 this could have been put on one disc. It's an audience recording. It has no residue of a previous recording through it, like the audience recording of the concert of 28 August, and apart from that the sound quality is also better than of that concert, but it is poor. It is just listenable and if you want to hear the great arrangement that "It Ain't Me, Babe" had on this tour, than you have to listen to it. And that goes for if you want to hear live performances of "Positively 4th Street", "Long Distance Operator" and "Tombstone Blues" from this period. A great, great pity there is no soundboard recording from this concert. The acoustic tracks from this concert are all missing. The recording of "I Don't Believe You" skips after the intro to the second line of the first verse. Not all the moments between songs are present. The audience is a lot more appreciative than that of the 28 August concert, for I hear no booing. The taper or a man near him uses several times the word "beautiful". This concert is also on the CD "Long Distance Operator".
The remaining part of this CD set consists of interviews. Disc 11 opens with an interview by Allen Stone, broadcast by WATM Radio, Detroit, and continues with an interview by Nat Hentoff for Playboy, that, according to the CD documentation, was not published. This interview is continued on disc 12, which is completely filled with it. Disc 13 opens with the San Francisco Press Conference of 3 December 1965. Disc 14 closes with the Los Angeles Press Conference of 17 December 1965. All these interviews have subindex marks.