Bob Dylan – The 50th Anniversary Collection 1969 Review

For fans of Nashville Skyline, this out-of-copyright Bob Dylan collection is a must-listen. The return to countrified sound for Dylan marked a turning point in his career. The 1970s, or at least the start to them, are clunky at best. The 50th Anniversary Collection 1969 observes a period of brief and sudden creativity for Dylan. From recording little, if anything, in the year before, to the double album spillover of Self Portrait to follow. Nashville Skyline is a hopeful moment, and The 50th Anniversary Collection 1969 adds a little extra context to this period. Five versions of To Be Alone With You, a song Dylan still plays on the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, is a definitive introduction to these extra pieces. Why they were not an extra disc on the Travelin’ Thru bootleg release is neither here nor there. Here they are. 

Brief snippets, slight differences, and then the final version. That is what you get from the first five tracks of this compilation. To Be Alone With You has a new thrill to it on this version, a delightful piano addition, some more focus on the guitar work and an overwhelming percussion. It sounds as though Dylan is fighting through the instrumentals, which pause, let him gasp for air, and continue on. Rehearsals and early takes are the usual additions here, and for the seasoned listener those differences in tone, how the song develops, will be a real treat. To Be Alone With You is not the only song receiving this treatment. One Too Many Mornings and I Still Miss Someone dominate the latter half of the first disc. Johnny Cash features on more than a few of these recordings, the rehearsal for One Too Many Mornings is a delightful addition, a nice switch-up for those who have made the Hard Rain live version a staple of their playlist.  

Sweet surprises are found at the end of the disc, too. Cash and Dylan performing Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right and Understand Your Man at the same time. An experiment, but one with brilliant results thanks to the same tempo, the acoustic fundamentals, of each song and artist. It makes for a suitable final song for the first CD, with the Nashville Skyline sessions captured here predominantly dependent on Cash’s involvement on the second CD. Pieces like I Still Miss Someone Take 1 & 3 and Matchbox Take 2 are Cash-led pieces. His voice stands out more than Dylan’s does. Dylan was trying something new with his voice and while it works for the finished Nashville Skyline project, it has him playing second fiddle to the big dog on the Big River I Walk the Line and Ring of Fire. 

On those Cash covers, Dylan sounds like he would be adrift if it were not for the Man in Black. I Walk the Line is only featured once, and it is likely because Dylan cannot find an octave suitable for the song. Delightful covers towards the end of CD 2 makes this well worth listening to. Running, Take a Message to Mary, and Blue Moon is quite the triple bill to blur in with those Cash collaborations. The 50th Anniversary Collection 1969 should have been an additional piece to the Travelin’ Thru bootleg. It is hard not to come to that conclusion after listening to both. These tapes and collaborations with Cash inform the very purpose of their collaborations, the appeal they still hold as a back-and-forth duo. The 50th Anniversary Collection 1969 is a necessary listen for those who were not quite satisfied with Travelin’ Thru.