Bob Dylan – Power, Greed and Corruptible Seed Review

You can find all sorts of oddities from Bob Dylan‘s backlog if you dig deep enough. Whether Power, Greed and Corruptible Seed is a bootleg, a deep cuts compilation, or just a mis-mash of songs, it’s tricky to say. What it does offer is a mess of songs from the Infidels period, where Dylan was joined by Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler on a series of songs which, considering the average output for him in the 1980s, are well above par. Songs featured here, like Blind Willie McTell and Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight, would feature on official releases decades on from their recording. We are lucky to hear them with the quality packaging they are deserving of, but this compilation rips the Infidels work from a few sources. The near half-hour 1983 sessions are dumped in between Sweetheart Like You and a second version of This Was My Love. A gold mine for those who want to learn more about Infidels and the collaborative success between Knopfler and Dylan.  

Infidels fans will love Power, Greed and Corruptible Seed. A compilation of officially released extras, unofficial pieces, and a few Power Station moments. Those sessions would bring a range of materials, some classics like Blind Willie McTell, some rougher tracks like Death is Not the End, all of them truly interesting. Part of the charm with this compilation is the creative process in motion. It’s a niche, sure, but for those who enjoyed The Cutting Edge from The Bootleg Series, then this compilation will be a necessary listen. A twenty-eight-minute rehearsal tape where Dylan and the band try and nail Sweetheart Like You is a brilliant listen. Soft instrumental flourishes and a sense that the group are very close to perfecting the song. Infidels has yet to receive The Bootleg Series treatment, or at least at the time of writing, the archivists are still keeping them under lock and key. We can only hope for an official release. 

Should that day come, there is plenty to choose from. Most of the great moments can be heard on Power, Greed and Corruptible Seed. Pieces like Tell Me are, frankly, remarkable. Some of these efforts would feature on Springtime in New York, like this rendition of a song Dylan has, to this date, never performed live. Some of his best works were never performed live, and this is no great masterpiece. But it is a strong piece from the Infidels recordings, a song arguably good enough to have featured on the album itself. No time for whataboutism, though, it’s here on Power, Greed and Corruptible Seed and can, at the very least, be enjoyed. That’s a crucial factor in all this. Even if the songs are below par, it’s of interest to those homemade historians to hear them.  

Elston Gunn isn’t so much an outtake as it is a copy of Jokerman with a note to Dylan’s little-known alter ego in the title. Bootleg recordings are a no man’s land of material. Step on a dud mine here or there, that’s fine enough, what you have to keep an eye out for is the stray, copyright bullet. These pieces can be pulled at a moment’s notice, should the Dylan team decide it is time for a Bootleg Series inclusion, for instance. Until that day comes, and we may be waiting a long while given the Infidels scraps are here, there, and everywhere, Power, Greed and Corruptible Seed is solid enough. Clean Cut Kid and Foot of Pride are thoroughly worth a listen. They, among all of this, are examples of Dylan songs which would be hits had they released, but were pulled for whatever reason. Who knows? No matter. They’re all here, and in excellent quality.