Reborn In Time: Unreleased Recordings, 1989-1994

Volume 1
Political World - Outtake - Oh Mercy Sessions - 1989
2X2 - Outtake - Under The Red Sky Sessions - 1990
Everything Is Broken - Outtake - MTV Unplugged Sessions - 1994
Polly Vaughn - Unreleased - Bromberg Sessions - 1992
I Want You - Outtake - MTV Unplugged Sessions - 1994
God Knows - Outtake - Oh Mercy Sessions - 1989
Tomorrow Night - Live - The Rhythm, Country & Blues Concert - 1994
Lawdy Miss Clawdy - Unreleased - Studio Session - 1994
Unbelievable - Outtake - Under The Red Sky Sessions - 1990
Born In Time - Outtake - Oh Mercy Sessions - 1989
Love Minus Zero/No Limit - Rehearsal - MTV Unplugged Sessions - 1994
Under The Red Sky - Outtake - Under The Red Sky Sessions - 1990
Kaatskill Serenade - Unreleased - Bromberg Sessions - 1992
Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright - Outtake - MTV Unplugged Sessions - 1994
Hard Times - Live - Willie Nelson’s Big 6-0 - 1993

Volume 2
Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You - Outtake - MTV Unplugged Sessions - 1994
Anyway You Want Me - Unreleased - Studio Session - 1994
Dignity - Outtake - Oh Mercy Sessions - 1989
Born In Time - Outtake - Under The Red Sky Sessions - 1990
Money Honey - Unreleased - Studio Session - 1994
Most Of The Time - Outtake - Oh Mercy Sessions - 1989
TV Talkin' Song - Outtake - Under The Red Sky Sessions - 1990
Hazel - Outtake - MTV Unplugged Sessions - 1994
Handy Dandy - Outtake - Under The Red Sky Sessions - 1990
Sloppy Drunk - Unreleased - Bromberg Sessions - 1992
Blue-Eyed Jane - Unreleased - Jimmie Rodgers Tribute Sessions - 1994
Wiggle Wiggle - Outtake - Under The Red Sky Sessions - 1990
Shooting Star - Outtake - Oh Mercy Sessions - 1989
Absolutely Sweet Marie - Outtake - MTV Unplugged Sessions - 1994
Ring Them Bells - Live - The Great Music Experience - 1994

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Bob Dylan kicked off the Never-Ending Tour with a show in Concord on June 7, 1988. Given the performer’s renewed sense of purpose after several years in the wilderness, fans must have been eager to hear what he might create when he got off the road and back into the studio. On September 12, 1989 they’d find out - with the aid of producer Daniel Lanois, Bob Dylan had found his way down to New Orleans and recorded a swampy, electric set of new compositions called Oh Mercy. The following years were less successful, as we’d receive a nursery rhyme-inspired song cycle called Under the Red Sky in 1990 and an inconsistent interpretation of past classics with MTV Unplugged in 1994. But this is only part of the story.

Behind the scenes and mostly off-stage, Bob Dylan was creating myriad works that would never see the light of day. Many of these are documented on The Bootleg Series Volume 8: Tell Tale Signs, but many others remained in the vault. Mercifully, quite a few of the recordings from these years have surfaced unofficially via bootleg tapes. I’ve compiled the cleanest versions of these recordings - using CaptainAcid’s Oh Mercy and Under the Red Sky outtake remasters as well as McG’s brilliant sonic improvements on 1992’s Bromberg Session recordings - into Reborn In Time.

The Oh Mercy tracks sounds here are overall pretty similar to those on Tell Tale Signs, presenting a slightly different look at songs like “God Knows,” “Born In Time,” and “Dignity,” but there are two exceptions: “Political World” and “Shooting Star” both include numerous lyrics omitted from the version on the final album. 1990 is where the most interesting outtakes start to appear, as the outtakes from this year are stripped of the celebrity overdubs that crowd Under the Red Sky. “TV Talkin’ Song” fares best, offering an alternate narrative with numerous lyrical variations and a menacing vocal take, while others like “Handy Dandy” and “Unbelievable” call to mind producer Don Was’ recollection that he and the musicians were trying to create a new Highway 61 Revisited.

1992 saw Dylan abandon a collaboration with songwriter David Bromberg at Chicago’s Acme Studios in favor of traditional songs recorded on acoustic guitar in his garage. The latter was ultimately published as Good As I Been To You in November 1992, while the former has only been officially acknowledged through the inclusion of two tracks - “Miss the Mississippi” and “Duncan and Brady” - on Tell Tale Signs. The three remaining circulating songs from these sessions are included here and are among the most interesting work that the singer produced in the 1990s. It’s a shame we haven’t heard more, but Dylan seems to have been thoroughly disappointed with the results.

In 1994, a duet with Emmylou Harris on Jimmie Rodgers’ “My Blue-Eyed Jane,” was recorded during the sessions that produced “Boogie Woogie Country Girl,” Dylan’s contribution to Till The Night Is Gone: A Tribute To Doc Pomus; this track wouldn’t be entirely abandoned, however, as it later resurfaced with a new vocal overdub on The Songs Of Jimmie Rodgers - A Tribute in 1997. An afternoon spent at Sony Music Studios in New York between touring legs in September 1994 would similarly result in three Elvis covers - “Anyway You Want Me,” “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” and “Money Honey” - never published on an official album.

Finally, Dylan’s appearance on the MTV Unplugged television show also left behind more than a few discarded gems. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” is presented with the jaunty arrangement that would characterize its appearance throughout the 1990s and 2000s, “Hazel” is played for the first time since 1976 and the last time until 2004, and “Everything Is Broken” represents the only time this song has been performed on acoustic instruments. “I Want You” is the standout, slowed down to a crawl that recalls its 1978 arrangement, while a rehearsal of “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” impresses with the interplay between Bob Dylan’s voice and Bucky Baxter’s steel guitar.

In the midst of these studio sessions and a heavy touring schedule, Dylan also found time to appear at several one-off events. I’ve documented the best of those here, including an accordion-heavy acoustic performance of Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times,” a duet with Trisha Yearwood at the Rhythm, Country & Blues Concert, and a performance of “Ring Them Bells” backed by Michael Kamen and the Tokyo New Philharmonic Orchestra at The Great Music Experience in 1994. I wanted to include the “Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” that was also played in Nara with orchestral backing, but it was actually released by Sony as the b-side to “Dignity (MTV Unplugged)” in 1995! This extraordinary performance is worth tracking down if you can.

I hope you enjoy this new, more finely-tuned collection of (mostly) studio tracks from 1989 to 1994. It replaces Series of Dreams and Ring Them Bells - two previous Thousand Highways releases - since those included quite a few live tracks that either have been or will be presented more holistically elsewhere in the Thousand Highways Collection. Hopefully we’ll get to hear even more lost recordings from this era someday.

Until next time, keep yourself healthy and listen to some good tunes!

Cheers,
CS

PS: I discovered a typo in the notes after initial publication, so new versions of the files have been uploaded to Mediafire as of August 1, 2023.