A Bob Dylan bootleg tape has been shared on social media, where listeners caught a song he “didn’t feel like recording”.
The now-legendary track, It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) is one of Dylan’s most well-known tracks and The Cutting Edge bootleg series entry shared several previous takes, alternates and false starts. On the first take of the song, listed on Volume 12 of the series as It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) (Take 1, False Start), Dylan can be heard complaining about both It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) and another song, Gates of Eden.
Dylan can be heard complaining about Gates of Eden before saying he would play It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) before moving on to the previously mentioned track. According to painter and Dylan fan @nightly_moth on Twitter, Dylan nailed both songs in each take to follow.
They wrote: “Bob Dylan. 15 January, 1965. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)—take 1. ‘I really don’t feel like doing this song, man. I have to do it though. It’s such a long song’ — He then does the whole song in the next take, followed by Gates of Eden in one take. Bringing It All Back Home.”
Fans of Dylan praised the songwriter for his efforts in the studio. One wrote: “Funny to think of how he writes a song that ends up being such a pain in his own ass. Like it was assigned to him and he has to complete it like a task. It do be like that sometimes. This is a top 3 Dylan song easy. Glad he got ‘er done.”
Another added: “I sometimes think that this is perhaps his greatest song. Then I listen to Desolation Row, or Idiot Wind, or Only a Pawn, or Stuck Inside of Memphis, or Isis, or Subterranean Homesick Blues, or North Country Blues,or Simple Twist of Fate, or Jokerman, or Tombstone Blues, or…”
Another wrote: “Such genius as this will never be seen again in the next century.” A third called Bringing it All Back Home “one of the best half hours in music history.” Others have taken to calling Dylan, quite rightly, the “greatest of all time”.
The Bootleg Series is a collection of official compilations released by Dylan’s label, with previously unreleased material, alternate takes and versions of established songs from his studio releases compiled.
Changes to his material before release are not uncommon, with Blood on the Tracks going through major changes before its official release, at the suggestion of Dylan’s brother. Unearthed New York Sessions from Dylan proved too “similar” for David Zimmerman, who suggested changing the instrumentals.
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