Bob Dylan "The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Best Of The Cutting Edge 1965–1966" 2015 (comp)****

A few months ago I went to the movies with my girlfriend and our friend Anastasia to see A Complete Unknown. It was at a cinema I used to go as a kid, ZEA at Pasalimani. How good it is to visit one of the few surviving neighborhood movie theaters in the age of multiplex entertainment! It was just as I remembered it - with a more advanced audio and video system, of course, and minus the psychedelic liquid light projections it used to show during the intermission - it was all that was missing to take you back to the 60's! The movie certainly brought that decade back to life, and featured fantastic music (of course!) and great performances by all the actors, who even sang themselves - now, anyone can imitate Dylan's characteristic singing voice, but Joan Baez must be more difficult, kudos to Monica Barbaro for that! As you may know, the story arc concerns Dylan's coming to New York to conquer the city's folk scene, and culminates with his decision to go electric, betraying all the people who believed in him by following his own muse. I was so familiar with the rock mythology behind it that watching the film was like watching the movie adaptation of a favorite book. Would they be faithful to the story? Which episodes would be included, which would be left out, and which would be invented in order to tie everything together? In the end I left satisfied, and so did the girls, even though they weren't the Dylanophiles that I am.

Soon after I watched the movie, I came across this CD. The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965–1966 focuses in this most prolific and revolutionary stage of Dylan's career, covering an incredibly productive 14 month-period during which the artist recorded 3 electric folk rock masterpieces (Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61, and Blonde On Blonde) and shocked the folk music world with his electric performance on the stage of Newport Festival, which provided one of the centerpieces of the movie. Cutting Edge comes in  three different editions: The standard one (a.k.a. The Best Of The Cutting Edge) is comprised of 2CDs featuring previously unreleased demos, rehearsals, and outtakes from the sessions that produced the aforementioned albums. The Deluxe Edition (6 CDs) also contains many half-finished rehearsals, false starts and whatnot. That much detail may be too overwhelming for most of us, but it allows one to track the development of certain songs in the studio. The Collectors' Edition (18 CDs) contains everything recorded during those sessions plus some hotel room demos - not sure that anyone sane would ever go through all of it. I already own some of Dylan's Bootleg Series, and always marvel at how he keeps changing his songs, trying out different tempos and arrangements; sometimes the finished product bears only passing resemblance to the original demo. And neither does it stay the same after it's committed to vinyl, Dylan keeps trying on different arrangements live. Before buying this compilation I looked it up at the metacritic website to see what reviewers were saying about it, and came across an unbelievable metascore of 99/100. How can any collections of demos and outtakes be so good? I asked myself, so I bought the CD and delved in. Amazingly, it's almost as good as advertised; I mean there's no escaping the fact that, however great these songs are, there are even better versions of them out there, which most of us are very familiar with. CD 1 opens with a barrage of acoustic demos: ballads "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" and "She Belongs to Me" sound as charming as ever, while the delirious "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" works well as a solo acoustic number - the lyrics, at least, are more discernable - and what a surreal, comedic, ride of a song it is! There are two more ballads included here in acoustic demo form, which weren't used by Dylan but given away to ladies with whom he had affairs with: "I'll Keep It with Mine" to Nico, "Farewell Angelina" to Joan Baez. Another unused song is acoustic blues "California" - though some lyrics were recycled for "Outlaw Blues", a storming electric blues version of which is also included on CD 1. It's no surprise that the electric numbers are the best here; after all Dylan had gathered some fantastic musicians, including Michael Bloomfield (a.k.a. the Jewish blues wunderkind from Chicago) on guitar. He puts in some scorching solos on the (also unused at the time) blues "Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence". Dylan actually adlibs in this song "I got this woman in LA/ she makes the sweat run down my brow/ she's good alright, but she ain't as good/ as this guitar player I've got right now" "Subterranean Homesick Blues", "On the Road Again", "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" are presented in rough-and-ready intense garage rock versions, while "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" (featuring backing vocalist Angeline Butler) has a New Orleans jazz groove that makes it sound like a prequel of The Basement Tapes. This, too, didn't appear in any of Dylan's albums, but it charted in the UK when it was covered by Manfred Mann, and again by Fairport Convention. A charming rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man" is unfortunately incomplete - if it was finished, it could have surpassed the final album version. The most interesting moment of the CD is listening to back-to-back versions of "Like a Rolling Stone": Take 5 is typical harmonica-heavy Dylan folk rock, while take 11 is transformed by the introduction of Al Kooper's organ. Al recounts the story in the liner notes: he took his guitar along and invited himself to the recording sessions, hoping to play on the album. When he heard Bloomfield plug in and play, he realized he didn't have a chance himself, so he sat on the sidelines watching the proceedings. At some point, organist Paul Griffin left his place and moved to piano. Kooper had played keyboards before but he wasn't an organist - he didn't even know how to turn on a B-3 Hammond, but the other guy had left it on, so he sat in his place and, out of nowhere, came up with this fantastic melody. Dylan loved it, and changed the song structure to bring the organ to the fore; from that moment on, Kooper stopped being a guitarist and made a career for himself as an organist instead. I was delighted to see that little episode make the cut and get included in the movie. Disc 1 closes with 11-minute epic "Desolation Row". Once again, the sparse instrumentation allows one to focus more on the lyrics. And again, what a lyric - I mean, "they're selling postcards of the hanging" what kind of pop song starts off like that? CD 2 is, if anything, even better than the first. We get, slightly different, full band versions of classic Dylan tracks which mostly appeared on Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde On Blonde, often backed by The Hawks, soon to become known as The Band. On each track, the band sound spontaneous but tight - even the first takes included here sound like the songs had been well rehearsed beforehand. CD2 doesn't feature many solo demos or abandoned songs - with the exception of "Lunatic Princess" and the fantastic "She's Your Lover Now", both of which are cut short. The latter remains a band favorite although there has never been a full band version of it; the only finished take is a solo piano demo available only in the Collector's Edition of The Cutting Edge. Up-tempo versions of "I Want You" and "Just Like A Woman" are interesting to hear; pity that the latter flounders toward the end. All in all, what a great outpouring of songs, all created in such a short period of time. Listening to these songs again, I appreciate the garage rock intensity of the electric numbers, even though none of them trump the overtly familiar album/single versions; but above all I'm impressed by the quality of the lyrics. All the surrealistic imagery and the ingenious wordplay; no-one else wrote like that at the time, at least not in the world of popular music. Was it Nobel Prize-worthy? Irrelevant! None of it was written with literary prizes in mind, but it sure makes a solid case for young Dylan as a rare songwriting genius. At the film, when everyone is awed by his songs, their reaction seems exaggerated to convince us of the hero's brilliance. I think that's because we grew up with his songs, so we're taking them for granted. But imagine hearing them for the first time, coming out from the mouth of such a young person! Or listening to Jimi Hendrix for the first time, producing all those strange sounds with his guitar, or hearing the incredible sound mélange that was Sergeant Pepper - those were the days, bring me more sixties biopics please! I hear they'll be making four different Beatles films, one from the perspective of each member, now those I want to see! And you know Dylan will be making a cameo to introduce the Fab Four to marijuana - wouldn't it be fun if they cast Chalamet for the role? It'd be like one of those Marvel films where Daredevil makes an appearance at a court room scene of an Avengers movie, in his alter-ego as blind lawyer Matt Murdoch of course. And where's that Arthur Lee biopic I've been waiting for? How can a story like his not move Hollywood filmmakers?

***** for Bob Dylan's 115th Dream Solo Acoustic, Subterranean Homesick Blues Take 1, Outlaw Blues Take 2, On the Road Again Take 4, If You Gotta Go Go Now Take 2, It Takes a Lot to Laugh It Takes a Train to Cry Take 8, Like a Rolling Stone Take 11, Visions of Johanna Take 5, She's Your Lover Now Take 6, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again Take 13, Tombstone Blues Take 1, Positively 4th Street Take 5, Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? Take 1, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues Take 3, Highway 61 Revisited Take 3, Queen Jane Approximately Take 5

**** for Love Minus Zero/No Limit" Take 2, I'll Keep It with Mine Take 1, She Belongs to MenTake 1, Farewell, Angelina Take 1, California Take 1, Mr. Tambourine Man Take 3, Like a Rolling Stone Take 5, Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence Take 2, Medicine Sunday Take 1, Desolation Row Take 2, Desolation Row Take 1, Lunatic Princess Take 1, Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat Take 8, One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) Take 19, Absolutely Sweet Marie Take 1, Just Like a Woman Take 4, Alternate Take, Pledging My Time Take 1, I Want You Take 4

*** for You Don't Have to Do That Take 1, Highway 61 Revisited Take 7 (False Start)

 

The Who with Orchestra "Live At Wembley" 2022 (rec.2019)***

The first time I saw The Who live was in Amsterdam during their Quadrophenia and More Tour (2013). It was a rewarding experience; Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were in good form despite their age,  and the rest of the band supporting them ably - especially Pino Palladino on bass and "Ringo's son" Zak Starkey on bass. The visuals were also excellent, but I remember thinking that it took a very proficient and well-rehearsed 10-piece band to produce a result that only came somewhat close to the original 4 members. Later, a DVD, recorded at Wembley Stadium during that tour, came out as Quadrophenia Live in London. I didn't buy it, despite the fact that it could have served as a nice souvenir of the concert. I figured that any time I want to listen to Quadrophenia start to finish, I can play the studio version. And if I want to listen to The Who live, I have the expanded Live At Leeds and The Kids Are Alright. Why, then, did I buy Live At The Wembley recorded at the same location as Quadrophenia Live, and even reprising half of that album, only 6 years later? Well, of course it's the orchestra thing. How much does it add to the original songs? First thing first: Metallica S&M, this isn't. Where, on that album, rock band and orchestra combined to produce intensely heavy music in an epic scale, here the orchestra just plays a supportive role, not unlike the expanded 10-piece band I remember from the Quadrophenia concert in Amsterdam. Townshend and Daltrey are in similarly good form - better than what can be reasonably be expected, given their age. When they are not accompanied by the orchestra, as in "Substitute" and "The Seeker", they sound like an older, slightly blunted, version of themselves. The acoustic version of "Won't Get Fooled Again" is different enough to previous ones to be of interest, but frankly rather weak. It was interesting to hear the orchestra replace the synths on tracks like "Baba O’Riley" and "Eminence Front" resulting in a more organic sound. Often it adds some welcome bombast, as in the fanfares of "Pinball Wizard" or melodrama, as in "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Love Reign O'er Me". Lesser known tracks like "Imagine A Man" (1975) and "Hero Ground Zero" (2019) gain from new orchestrations; new blues track "Ball And Chain" (2019) isn't up to the same level as the classics, but it's good to have a live version of it. An acoustic rendition of "Tea and Theater" from 2006's Endless Wire (recorded during a different concert, too) makes for a puzzling inclusion, and rather anti-climactic closer. This set was also released on triple vinyl, but my own version is the 2CD and Blu-Ray set. The Blu Ray offers Stereo, DTS 5.1, and Dolby Atmos audio, but no video! All you get on your screen are some photos! That was an unwelcome surprise, for sure! Since it's not made specifically clear on the package that this is an audio-only BluRay, I -and almost everybody else who purchased it- naturally assumed we were getting a video recording of the concert with surround sound. I mean, it's not some ancient archive recording. It's a huge production at Wembley stadium in 2019! Many buyers felt cheated. After all, to be honest the PCM 5.1 sound (I can't judge the Dolby Atmos sound channel, since I don't have the appropriate equipment to listen to it on) isn't all that revelatory - slightly bigger and more vivid, especially in the orchestral parts, but I'm guessing that, had they known that there was no visual content in the BluRay, many buyers would have gone for the vinyl version instead. The official response to complaints was that "the Wembley concert wasn’t filmed for DVD or Blu-ray. The only filming was choosing  for the live back screens at the show." So the cameras were transmitting while a director chose which camera feed to project on the back screen. Although the primary material wasn't recorded, apparently we still have the visuals as they were projected on the back screen. Well, some of those visuals are available for free on youtube; they look quite good and complement the sound on those youtube videos perfectly! It's a pity they didn't also make them available to paying customers, to watch on their TV while listening to that nice crisp digital sound on BluRay, instead of watching a stupid slideshow. Anyway, purely music-wise, this is The Who (or, more correctly, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend) in respectably good form, playing some of their most famous and beloved songs. True, these "live with orchestra" versions can't compare to the studio ones, or with live recordings by the original band in their prime. It would be unreasonable from us to expect that. But they are just different enough for fans to want to listen to. If you are fans, if you already own their classic studio albums and some essential live Who from their 60's and 70's, and you are still not satiated, you may want to get this one, too. It certainly makes for a fun listen, and the orchestra adds a welcome new dimension. Too bad for the missed opportunity; some nice visual content might have elevated this to a 4* set. 

**** for Eminence Front, Imagine A Man, Pinball Wizard, Hero Ground Zero, Behind Blue Eyes, 5:15, Love Reign O'er Me,  Baba O’Riley

*** for Who Are You, Join Together, Substitute, The Seeker, Won't Get Fooled Again (Acoustic), Ball And Chain, The Real Me, I’m One, Tea & Theatre (Acoustic)

** for The Punk And The Godfather, Drowned, The Rock

Cindy Blackman Santana "Give The Drummer Some" 2020***

Photos: the Santana band, featuring Cindy Blackman-Santana on drums, at Ziggo Dome Amsterdam, 24-06-2025

As I said previously, we greatly enjoyed the Santana concert at Ziggo Dome a few days back. The guitarist was of course the main draw, but his wife/drummer Cindy Blackman Santana gave an equally admirable performance, including a quite (physically) demanding drum solo, which came more than two hours after the start of the concert. My girlfriend and I were both so impressed we that we decided to buy her CD even though we had no idea what it would sound like - based on what I had read about her, I thought it'd be pure jazz but as it turns out that was only one of the colours she had in her palette.

Talking of Cindy Blackman as being the drummer of Santana band, or the wife of the guitarist, is of course reductive, as she is quite well-known in her own right. I, like most pop and rock fans, first became aware of her as that hot female drummer who appeared in Lenny Kravitz videos but, in reality, when she joined Kravitz's band she was already a well-respected jazz musician whose recordings as band leader went all the way back to 1987. Give The Drummer Some is her 11th solo album - as well as her first since marrying Carlos Santana in 2010. Previously she used to record more often; probably the demanding tour schedule of Santana was too time-consuming, but she used that time well. When she entered the recording studio after a 10-year absense she had 17 songs ready, all but one her own original compositions. I haven't followed her career closely, but this CD seems to be an anomaly: she used to be a straight-up jazz artist, but this one leans more on rock, pop, and R&B. Also, where she previously mostly contained herself to drumming, this time it's her singing that comes to the fore. She possesses a fine soulful voice; not a belter like Aretha, but perfect for the lighter pop-R&B material. Her drumming on this album is, as expected, impeccable - funky on the groovier numbers, strong on the rockers, inventive in the jazzier pieces. Sometimes it's overshadowed by the guitars, which is to be expected when one has Carlos Santana on board - his contributions here are fantastic, often better than on his own recent albums. Another heavyweight guitarist is John McLaughlin (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Miles Davis Band). His solos here, especially on "We Came To Play", are of dizzying speed and complexity. Vernon Reid (Living Colour) is an old associate of Cindy's, and balances rock and jazz very well. A surprising inclusion is that of Kirk Hammett (Metallica). To be fair, after Metallica had Marianne Faithfull guest on one of their songs, made a collaborative album with Lou Reed, and given a concert with a symphony orchestra, one should stop being surprised every time they step out of the Heavy Metal field. I guess they're so good at that one thing they do, you forget they're not one-dimensional. In this case, Hammett puts his heavy riffs and shredding solos in the service of the groove, providing us with the hardest rocking moment of this record. Combine this with jazz instrumentals, R&B dance tracks, funk rockers, and rapping by Santana Band vocalist Andy Vargas, and you've got a lot -maybe too much- diversity. On the whole, this is an uneven album featuring nevertheless great musicianship. A bit poppier than I had hoped, I expected a jazzy affair with the drums more to the fore - despite the consistently strong drumming there are barely any drum solos. I'm thinking that some of these songs would work better incorporated in a Santana album, while the jazz and R&B/dance tracks could form the basis for two different CD's. But it's Cindy's album, maybe she wanted to demonstrate her expertise in different styles at the expense of consistency and flow. The cover art reminds me of Santana's Africa Speaks, not surprising since the two albums belong to the same period, while the CD is hosted in a similarly flimsy cardboard case. Usually while I listen to an album I make a few notes on each track, which I later work into my review. This time, though, I think I can present them as-is, so here's my track-to-track presentation of Give The Drummer Some:

1. "Imagine"*** funk rock remake of the classic John Lennon ballad, not entirely convincing but featuring great guitar by Carlos Santana. I don't really care for the vocals on this one, it had me (mistakenly) thinking "This gal is no singer". It's the only cover on this CD, obviously chosen because the message of the song is important to the Santanas.

2. "We Came To Play"**** funk jazz instrumental. Solid drumming but totally overshadowed by John McLaughlin's masterful guitar arpeggios. Settles into a repetitive groove for the last minute.

3 "She’s Got It Going On"**** a funky pop number that reminds you she used to be in Lenny Kravitz's band, also despells previous doubts about her singing abilities.

4 "Miles Away" *** a short atmospheric jazz number with trumpet (inspired by Miles Davis?)

5 "Everybody's Dancin'" **** a self-described "feelgood song". Superb R&B with beautiful guitar fills by Carlos Santana.

6 "Velocity" *** a pure jazz number, great interplay between the drums and electric piano (Neal Evans).

7 "I Need A Drummer" *** upbeat funk rock. The song was inspired by a jam Cindy had with Prince, his influence is all over this one.

8 "Superbad" **** The title isn't the only part of this song that's reminiscent of James Brown. John McLaughlin limits himself to just one shredding solo, this time. Now that I think of it, this sounds a bit like Funkadelic when they had Eddie Hazel on guitar.

9 "You Don’t Wanna Break My Heart" *** a ballad of the Lenny Kravitz school. Carlos' emotive guitar solo elevates this.

10 "Evolution Revolution"**** OK, guitarist Vernon Reid is an obviously good fit, but Metallica's Kirk Hammett? His familiar heavy riffs nevertheless fit this song very well, and give Cindy an excuse to bang the drums even more savagely to match the two guitarists' aural attack.

11 "Change Is In Your Hands"*** another heavy funk rocker with Vernon Reid guesting on lead guitar and Andy Vargas (current Santana Band vocalist) on rap vocal. Uplifting political message.

12 "Dance Party" *** based on an electronic loop, not my kind of thing but interesting thanks to Bill Ortiz's contribution on trumpet.

13 "Fun Party Splash" *** a much better dance party number than the previous one, with a disco beat and energizing guitar by (who else?) Carlos Santana.

14 "Social Justice"*** another "message" song by the politically attuned couple. Carlos Santana and Andy Vargas guest.

15 "Twilight Mask" *** atmospheric instrumental with prominent low bass and Carlos Santana on free jazz improvisations. Goes on for 9 minutes, which is a bit too long.

16 "Mother Earth"*** Cindy hitting pots and trash can lids, basically everything that was around when she got a musical idea she wanted to put down immediately. Sounds way better than my description lets on.

17 "Black Pearl"**** An atmospheric jazz piece with great guitar by Carlos Santana and Vernon Reid.