Bob Dylan
1961-1962 Early Dylan
(Remastered)
Original Info
Bob Dylan – Early Dylan 61/62 Compilation (dylantree.com)
45 .shn’s, 2 .md5’s
Master SHNs > yEnc PowerPost Build 3 > a.b.m.shn
Posted in yEnc to alt.binaries.music.shn by c.l in May 2002
This set donated by Phil Monnier is an outstanding early Dylan (61/62) compilation. This set includes tracks from
The Oscar Brand interview (10-29-61), Carnegie Chapter Hall (11-04-61), Bonnie Beacher’s Apartment (12-22-61),
and the Leeds Demo (Feb. 62). The 11-04-61 and 12-22-61 shows are serious improvements from what most Dylan traders
have access to. Phil speculates that only a handful of traders around the world have these shows in this quality.
It is an unbelievable set. Another dylantree essential!
From Phil…
“The main purpose of this cd compilation is to give Dylan newbies excellent sounding early soundboard material.
Both 12-22-61 and 11-04-61 are tremendous upgrades to anything that has been released on boot over the years.”
This set isn’t just for newbies! The 12/22 and 11/04 sets are an incredible improvement.
Remaster Additional Info.
This is a gorgeous remastering of the Dylantree Early Dylan set. As you may know, the dylantree version was flawed with “digital fuzz” in many places, particularly on the Beacher tapes sections. The fuzz is gone on the bprm. Other annoying extraneous noises have been removed, as well as overlong dead spaces between tracks. No EQ changes have been made to the original sound of the recordings. Levels have been normalized to match up the varying sources. The overall effect is to turn the Dylantree product into a two disc WOW! rather than a choppy collection of moldy old stuff. It’s never sounded better. Steve Wilkison has done a wonderful job with this set. I consider it well worth getting, even if you have the original dylantree set. Here is an additional comment from Steve: “I spent the better part of two days remastering the “Early Dylan” set because it literally contained well over 1,000 separate digital glitches.” Turly a labor of love
.
This set includes:
Setlist
Disc One
10-29-1961
WNYC Radio
Oscar Brand Interview (basically an advertisment for the 11-4-61 show)
New York, N.Y.
Low generation remastered
- Interview > Sally Girl
- Interview > The Girl I Left Behind
11-04-1961
Carnegie Chapter Hall
New York, N.Y.
1st generation remastered
- Pretty Peggy-O
- Banter > In The Pines
- Gospel Plow
- Banter >1913 Massacre
- Backwater Blues
- Banter > A Long Time A Growin’
- Fixin’ To Die
- Brief snippet of chatter (cuts out)
12-22-1961
Bonnie Beacher’s Apartment
Minneapolis, MN
1st generation reel remastered
- (cuts in) Candy Man
- Baby Please Don’t Go
- Hard Times in New York
- Stealin’
- Po’ Lazurus
- I Ain’t Got No Home
- It’s Hard To Be Blind
- Dink’s Song
- Man Of Constant Sorrow
- East Orange NJ
Disc Two
CONTINUED from Disc One
12-22-1961
Bonnie Beacher’s Apartment
Minneapolis, MN
1st generation reel remastered
- Naomi Wise
- Wade In The Water
- I Was Young When I Left Home
- In The Evening
- Baby Let Me Follow You Down
- Sally Girl
- Gospel Plow
- Long John
- Cocaine
- VD Blues
- VD Waltz
- VD City
- VD Gunner’s Blues
- See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
- Ramblin’ Around
- Black Cross
February-xx-1962
Leeds Music
Demos
New York, NY
- He Was A Friend Of Mine
- Man On The Street
- Hard Times In New York Town
- Poor Boy Blues
- Ballad For A Friend
- Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie
- Man On The Street
- Talking Bear Mountain
- Standing On The Highway
Additional Analysis Info.
Some notes comparing the sets that comprise these two discs with the previously circulating versions. Special thanks for Mick for taking the time to analyze & compare this stuff ’cause I could never have done this.
c.l
I’ve compared the tracks from this new compilation to existing circulating versions. In addition to listening tests, all tracks were loaded into Cool Edit Pro so I could have a look at them and to do a spectrum analysis.
The Leeds Demos are the only tracks that are not an improvement. They appear to be a direct copy from the “In The Pines” CD.
For starters, the frequency response of all three of the other recordings extends to 22 kHz.
The Oscar Brand tracks on the previous “I Was So Much Younger Then” compilation have a frequency response that drops off the chart at about 16 kHz. Although the aural difference isn’t dramatic, the new version
sounds more natural and open. It’s also a hoot to hear Dylan tell Oscar Brand with a straight face that he learned his songs from traveling with carnivals when he was between 13 and 19 years old.
The only complete version of Carnegie Chapter Hall that I had for this comparison was a 192kbps MP3 that I believe was taken from the “Acoustic Troubadour” boot. Frequency response dies on that one at 9.5 kHz. The
new one, supposedly from a first generation tape copy, is a significant improvement, again sounding much more natural. This is definitely the version to own. Interestingly, both versions experience distortion on the louder guitar parts, so I guess the original recording levels were just set a little too hot.
The other recording on this set is the December 22, 1961 tape recorded at Bonnie Beacher’s apartment. This is more commonly known as the Minnesota Hotel Tape. The best previously circulating version was on the Wanted Man release, “The Minnesota Tapes”. To the naked ear, both versions sound pretty close, although the volume of the newer version is lower. It wasn’t until I loaded them both into Cool Edit Pro that I saw the differences. Although the frequency response of both versions extends to 22 kHz, the new version has a slightly better response in the
high end. To be honest, it kind of looks like someone boosted the frequency above 14 kHz, but there is a more open sound to my ears. It’s not a huge difference, but noticeable if you are listening for it. For the purists, however, this new version is the one to get. In a wave editor, you can see that the Wanted Man version has been slightly
compressed. Specifically, hard limiting has been applied to smooth out the levels. That’s common mastering practice and on this type of recording would be highly recommended. The limiting was done judiciously and does not alter the sound. Still, for the purist wanting to get as close to the original as possible, this new one is it.
Any way you look at it, this new compilation is a “must have” for lovers of this material. The sound quality is on par with the “Gaslight Tapes 1962” release which upgraded the Oct. ’62 Gaslight tape. Additionally, if you also have “Echo’s Album” with its superior version of the 5/2/63 show from The Bear in Chicago, then the “In The Pines” CD is now irrelevant and outdated.
Mick McLaughlin (aka Unicorn)
Notes from happy jack 11-10-2010
updated info. text (i combined all important parts of info. files into one)
all original info files included (4 total)
checked the md5s for disk 1 & 2 (which are included and passed)
added art work
enjoy this great sound quality of music and history of early Bob Dylan
Thanks to the person and people involved
Do NOT Sell !!!!
happy jack
