Bob Dylan
Early Years Vol. I
source: Minnesota Party Tape

Lineage: Cd-R(x) > wav (eac secure mode) > flac (flac 1.1.2 – align on SB) > wav (tlh w/flac 1.2.1b) > dff > wav (adobe audition 1.5/fix) > flac (TLH w/flac 1.2.1b – align on SB – level 8 – verify on)

Luisbp51 (Hungercity June 30, 2013)

Tracks:

01. Railroad Bill (Traditional)
02. Will The Circle Be Unbroken (A P Carter)
03. Man Of Constant Sorrow (Traditional)
04. Pretty Polly (Traditional)
05. Railroad Boy (Traditional)
06. James Alley Blues (Richard Brown)
07. Bonnie, Why’d You Cut My Hair (Traditional)
08. This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie)
09. Two Trains Running (McKinley Morganfield)
10. Wild Mountain Thyme (Traditional)
11. Howdido (Woody Guthrie)
12. Car Car (Woody Guthrie)
13. Don’t You Push Me Down (Woody Guthrie)
14. Come See (Woody Guthrie)
15. I Want It Now (Woody Guthrie)
16. San Francisco Bay Blues (Jesse Fuller)
17. A Long Time Growing (Traditional)
18. Devilish Mary (Bess Lomax)
19. Ramblin’ Round (Woody Guthrie)
20. Death Don’t Have No Mercy (Rev. Gary Davis)
21. It’s Hard To Be Blind (Adapted*)
22. This Train Is Bound For Glory (Big Bill Broonzy)
23. Harmonica Solo
24. Talkin’ Fish Blues (Woody Guthrie)
25. Pastures Of Plenty (Woody Guthrie)

*Adapted from the traditional “It’s Hard To Be Poor” and Rev. Gary Davis’ “There Was A Time When I Was Blind”

The original package for this Winged Wheel release is a two color cardboard gatefold pack. The photo is of a couple years later than the recorded material… at NYC’s CBS Studio A. A paper insert lists full song details. The silk screened silver disc is a wonderful reproduction of a vinyl LP. The retouched (r) back cover is a bobsboots creation that contains an additional spine on the left side to simulate a jewel case insert.

Information:
Source / Venue:
Minnesota Party Tape (Beecher Tape) – May 1961
Manufacturer / Catalog No.
Winged Wheel / WW-9425
Released: 1995

Other releases of Minnesota Party Tape II:

Gleason Home Tape
The Minnesota Tapes
Quality: 5-6 stars
Bob’s Boots ref # BB-e01

Review from someone:
Though not as famous as the Hotel Tape, This recording from Bonnie Beecher’s apartment predates that one by half a year. Dylan’s progress was explosive during this time, and half a year was a lifetime. The tape is nowhere near the league of the later recording, partly because of the low quality of the original recording, and partly due to a remarkably uninspired performance. One of the first times that a young Bob would hear himself on tape; nerves, inexperience, and limited repertoire would result in, at best, this mediocre offering. The tape is significant, however, not only for its historical importance, but also as a standard by which to compare the December tape. The cover photo is from CBS archives, and pictures Dylan in Columbia Studios, NY 1962 during the recording of his second LP.
� 2001 CD Pinkerton bobsboots.com

Bob Dylan
The Home Of Eve And Mac McKenzie
New York City, NY
The McKenzie Tapes

unknown [unbooted] generation > ? > CD [trade] > EAC > WAV > Soundforge 6.0 > CD Wave > FLAC
plus: master tapes [unbooted] > ? > “The Genuine Bootleg Series Vol.3” > ? > CD [trade] > WAV > Soundforge 6.0 > CD Wave > FLAC

CD 1

First McKenzie Tape [40:47.35]
November 23, 1961 [Thanksgiving] and possibly
December 4, 1961

01 Tuning [cuts @ 00:53] [00:58.10] %
02 Hard Times In New York Town [00:25.65] %
03 Wayfaring Stranger [00:43.61] %
04 (It Makes) A Long Time Man Feel Bad [00:32.59]
05 (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle [02:59.69] %
06 Worried Blues [00:51.42] %
07 Baby Of Mine (?) [00:56.57] %
08 Instrumental [00:23.24] %
09 Baby, Let Me Follow You Down [02:14.06] %
10 Fixin’ To Die [01:59.55]
11 San Francisco Bay Blues [cuts @ 01:19] [01:49.69]
12 You’re No Good [01:21.06]
13 House Of The Risin’ Sun [06:30.02] %
14 Instrumental [01:46.39]
15 This Land Is Your Land [00:58.64]

16 Come All Ye Fair And Tender Ladies [02:04.44]
17 Katy Cline [02:09.19]
18 Bells Of Rhymney [03:03.59]
19 Instrumental Blues [01:07.06] %
20 Unknown [00:32.53] %
21 Highway 51 [04:14.21] %
22 This Land Is Your Land [cuts @ 00:03] [03:03.30]

CD 2

Second McKenzie Tape [46:55.43]
September 1962 and
April 18, 1963 [formerly dated April 12, 1963]

01 Instrumental [01:20.73]
02 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean [00:51.01]
03 Doodles & Conversation [cuts @ 00:57 & 02:12] [02:17.08] %
04 Ballad Of Donald White [06:01.14]
05 A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall [06:51.30] %
06 Instrumental [01:39.48]
07 James Alley Blues [02:48.36]
08 I Rode Out One Morning [02:32.45] %

09 Instrumental [02:08.38]
10 Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (instrumental) [00:54.38]
11 Instrumental [02:33.38]
12 Long Time Gone [06:17.11]
13 Only A Hobo [cuts @ 02:01] [04:00.39]
14 House Of The Risin’ Sun [03:54.28]
15 Instrumental [01:53.32]
16 Cocaine Blues (instrumental) [00:51.14]

Bonus Tracks, taken from “The Genuine Bootleg Series, Vol.3”, known as “The Smith Tapes” [17:12.15]

GBS_01 Hard Times In New York Town [01:50.41] [longer version of d1t02, previously uncirculated]
GBS_02 The Death Of Emmett Till [04:11.20] [previously uncirculated, dated January 29, 1962]
GBS_03 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean [01:01.20] [same as d2t02]
GBS_04 Ballad Of Donald White [04:16.57] [same as d2t04]
GBS_05 I Rode Out One Morning [02:43.40] [same as d2t08]
GBS_06 House Of The Risin’ Sun [03:08.62] [same as d2t14]

Notes on the transfer and quality –
*I did not try to ‘improve’ the sound of these low-fidelity home recordings in any way from the CD of the ‘unedited’ version of the tapes.
*What I did do was trying to adjust the pitch, which is hard to do when the solo performer re-tunes his guitar all the time …
*I performed some minor edits in spots where there seemed to be an unnecessary cut in the original transfer to re-create the seamless flow.
*I re-tracked the whole thing, trying to reflect, but not necessarily sticking to, the existing tracklistings.
*”The low-quality tape was made surreptitiously in the early 70s and the original is of course not much better than the bootlegs”.
*The version of the McKenzie Tapes found on “I Was Young When I Left Home” is edited and missing several minutes. The sound may
be a bit easier on the ear. I have no idea what ‘enhancement’ was applied, but the tracks definitely have been processed in some way.
*The difference in quality between this tape and the six tracks from “The Smith Tapes” [Smith was an alias to hide the identity of the
McKenzies when the tapes first circulated, in the early 70s] is painfully big. It is almost incredible how good these sound,
additionally the original tapes seem to be in stereo. Let’s hope that we ALL get to hear the complete thing !!

Notes on the recording dates –
=First McKenzie Tape=
*tracks 01-15 – The November 23, 1961 date (Thanksgiving) has been confirmed,
amongst others by Eve McKenzie (The Telegraph #36, p.29-40).
*tracks 16-22 – The December 4, 1961 date was established by Michael Krogsgaard, though,
according to Clinton Heylin, A Life In Stolen Moments, p.24, “there is no evidence such a seesion took place”.
*GBS_01 and GBS_02 are dated January 29, 1962 in the sleeve notes of “The Genuine Bootleg Series, Vol.3″.
That date is backed by Heylin, A Life In Stolen Moments, p.26, nontheless ‘Hard Times In New York Town’ is
almost certainly the version that already circulated as fragment, dated November 23, 1961 !
*It could well be that both segments were recorded on that Thanksgiving dinner, surely the mood near the end of the first part
hints at the more collaborative efforts of part two. It’s not unlikely that ‘This Land Is Your Land’ was performed twice. Who knows …
*’The Death Of Emmett Till’ was clearly not written by November 1961, but rather in January 1962, so the January 29 date
seems as good as any other. If so, no other recordings from that date seem to circulate right now.

=Second McKenzie Tape=
*commonly, tracks 01-07 are dated September 1962 and the remainder April 12, 1963 (or April 18, see below) with ‘I Rode Out One Morning’
attributed to the second part. I do think, however, that ‘I Rode Out One Morning’ belongs to the first segment because to my ears,
01:55 to 02:10 of d2t03 has Dylan toying with the picking of the same song without adding vocals. I think it’s highly unlikely that the only two
existing fragments of the song were recorded months apart, both at the McKenzie’s home.
*It has long been assumed that the second part of the tape was recorded in the afternoon of April 12, 1963, just a couple of hours before his
important solo appearance in New York’s Town Hall. This seems to be highly unlikely, also in light of Columbia’s files, which mention
a 4:00 pm soundcheck at Town Hall. Indeed, Heylin (p.43) now gives April 18, 1963 as the probable date. Alas, no evidence is provided
with this information.

Notes on the musical content –
*some of the tracks named ‘instrumental’ are in fact doodles and endless tunings. Additionally, d2t10 and d2t16 are merely sketches of
‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ and ‘Cocaine Blues’, respectively.
*Bj¯rner names d2t15 ‘Two Trains Runnin”, Dundas d2t15 ‘Still A Fool’ and d2t16 ‘Worried Blues’. I can’t hear any of this but I might me wrong.
*GBS_01 ‘Hard Times In New York Town’ is almost certainly the version that already circulated as fragment d1t02
*Until now, all reference books mention two versions of both ‘Katy Cline’ and ‘Bells Of Rhymney’ at the start of the second part
of the first tape. But a close listen revealed that these version are just fragments of the longer tracks d1t17 and d1t18. I think that ‘Katy Cline’
(Dundas) fits that track better than ‘Roll In My Sweet Baby’s Arms’ (Bj¯rner, Krogsgaard).
*d2t07 is sometimes referred to as ‘Times Ain’t What They Used To Be’ by Clarence ‘Tom’ Ashley. In fact, that is the first line of ‘James Alley
Blues’… Either way, this seems to have been an inspiration for his own ‘Mixed-Up Confusion’.