Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol. 16: Springtime in New York Review

Retroactively labelling the slump years of Bob Dylan as some of his most creatively defined is an odd bit of revisionism from The Bootleg Series masterminds. What thought process goes into the showcase of material, old and uncovered, is beyond our grasp. But The Bootleg Series Vol. 16: Springtime in New York, dares to delve into the darkest times for Dylan. He was lumped with the fallout of some poorly received religious efforts. Slow Train Coming has since been salvaged but listeners are still some ways away from finding anything dependable in Empire Burlesque and its like. So comes the trouble of Springtime in New York, a compilation of efforts from a period where Dylan seemed like he had other things on his mind than studio recordings.  

Placidity is the word for Springtime in New York. These Shot of Love slices paired with rehearsals of Need a Woman and Let’s Keep It Between Us are nothing spectacular. Album opener Angelina is the real offender, a plodding and distant piece which has Dylan losing grasp on his religious intertextuality. Alternative takes to Jokerman give a clumsy lack of urgency which was replaced by the time of its Infidels release. Little flickers of quality can be heard on the slower, ballad-like traditions of Blind Willie McTell, but even then, it is frustratingly far from its peak on a fifth take. This is the key to Springtime in New York – a frustrated listen where Dylan is plugging away to create something of new, generation-defining sounds. His Infidels work is neat on release though just one edition of I and I is a striking lack of faith in one of Dylan’s best songs from this half-decade. 

Neighbourhood Bully is key to understanding the problems which plague these sessions. They are stuck riffing on standard rock tones. Simple percussion, similar beats from song to song and little to identify the barnstorming Dylan of old, whose pen has dried up by this point. Neat instrumentals can only salvage a song so much. Too Late (Band Version) is a horror show for Dylan, his vocals strained and coarse. His repetition of “too late” is shocking, yet the abysmal lyrical moments are bookended by decent acoustics and a half-hearted harmonica solo to play it out. Hold out hope though – Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart is a rewarding listen. Some mellow times which linger as home on the range fundamentals on Tell Me do little, but it is the calm before the storm of tiresome Empire Burlesque material. 

The Hawaiian sway of Tight Connection to My Heart filters in a steady and almost uncomfortably plain guitar solo. There is no life to these Empire Burlesque tracks, neither on release nor in early cuts. Believe it or not, the weakest portion of these Springtime in New York tapes appears to be Dylan. Struggling to find his footing, lyrical observations which flutter through without much of a claim to greatness or even cultural sway, the empty shell of the man who brought the likes of Visions of Johanna and Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands to life is stuck in a rut. It was a period of dismay for Dylan though these early takes do enlist a sense of struggling against the current of major musical changes. Changes Dylan was not cut out for, as can be heard here.