This never-ending supply of Bob Dylan bootlegs will, unfortunately, run dry soon. It does not matter how endless it seems, eventually we will hit a limit, hear everything there is to be heard. But we are a ways off this problem, and Positively 4th Street: Non-Album Tracks, is one of the best unofficial compilations you can get your hands on. Gun down the track towards quality recordings which never saw the light of day until The Bootleg Series, official releases from the Dylan camp. For those who wanted another slice of his acoustic charm, before that cursed electric racket revolutionised and reformed his sound, this compilation is a prime cut. Some of the very best songs to be included on The Bootleg Series, added to a piece which brings into focus the quality blur of harmonica and acoustic guitar.
It is a double blow, a body shot and uppercut of great quality, and Positively 4th Street is a glittering showcase of those fine moments. A short and wonderfully sweet song opens the compilation, Farewell, Angelina, and from there we get a tremendous scope for how much Dylan could do with, in comparison to his works to come, so little. Brief follow-up You Don’t Have to Do That has an erratic-sounding Dylan lose interest as soon as he starts, ending the song all too soon as he switches to piano. What does that version sound like? Who knows. It does not feature. Instead, it is on to If You Gotta Go, Go Now, a charming, soft blues version which rivals that of the Manfred Mann cover. Listen closely and you can hear Joan Baez, a brilliant, softer vocal flourish which blends into the electric riffs and harmonica swing style. Plenty of Baez to follow, too, with Positively 4th Street dependent on those collaborations.
A bulk of these collaborative efforts are either cut studio renditions, half-performed songs with too much background noise or too little lyrical purpose. Blues Stay Away from Me and Lost Highway are unfortunately brief, though offer a flicker of Dylan as a folk artist, first and foremost. Like boating without the sails, Dylan is adrift in these performances. A major part of Positively 4th Street is hearing how Dylan begins clawing for electric instrumentals not as a rebellious choice as was heard in the goes electric period, but as an extreme in rekindling his interest in music-making. The rolling stone mention on Lost Highway, the Leon Payne song, is a neat suggestion of what was to come with Like a Rolling Stone.
Dylan sifts through his influences and listening choices of the time on Positively 4th Street, and that is the key reason to listen. It hears a mind troubled by changes, but also embracing the volatility and the new sound electric would bring. You can hear it on later pieces like I Wanna Be Your Lover and Jet Pilot, two tremendous songs which make Positively 4th Street a must-listen on their own. Two incredible performances which feel like early bolts of instrumental joy for Dylan. What these early tracks offer, be it a cover or original, is a sense of what Dylan would do. An example of the duet skills Baez and Dylan would rely on, and the agonising process of finding songs they could both sing. Complimentary to their voice, so many of these songs may be, it is hearing those duds and few pieces which are short-changed which amplifies the quality of their all-time best, like the Rolling Thunder Revue and It Ain’t Me, Babe.
