Bob Dylan fans are set for a treat this autumn with the release of Tell Tale Signs – a multi-disc compilation album consisting of alternative takes, previously unreleased studio recordings, demos, live tracks and rarities from 1989 to 2006.
Tell Tale Signs is the long-rumoured eighth volume in Dylan’s Bootleg Series. It will feature unreleased recordings from his studio albums from the last two decades – including 1989’s Oh Mercy, World Gone Wrong (1993), Time Out of Mind (1997) and Modern Times (2006).
Also included are tracks which were specially recorded for film soundtracks such as Lucky You (‘Huck’s Tune’) and Gods & Generals (‘Cross the Green Mountain’). There’s also a track from an album that Dylan started recording with David Bromberg in 1992, but which was never finished or released. Another rare gem is Dylan’s duet with Ralph Stanley on the song ‘The Lonesome River’.
Tell Tale Signs: Rare And Unreleased 1989-2006 will be available in both a 2CD and 3CD format. The 2CD, 27-song edition will feature a booklet of rare photographs, liner notes and recording credits. The 3CD set is understood to be a deluxe limited edition that will include a 12-track bonus disc and a hardcover book of photographs of all of the singles Dylan has released throughout his career.
Tell Tale Signs is also expected to be released as a limited edition four-LP set which will be pressed on 180 gram vinyl and will include all of the elements of the 2CD set.
Fans who visit Dylan’s web site (www.bobdylan.com) will be able to obtain a free download of ‘Dreamin’ of You’, a Daniel Lanois-produced track which is featured on Tell Tale Signs. The previously unreleased song was recorded during Dylan’s sessions for his album Time Out of Mind.
The full track-listing for Tell Tale Signs is:
Disc 1:
’Mississippi’ (unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
’Most of the Time’ (alternate version, Oh Mercy)
’Dignity’ (piano demo, Oh Mercy)
’Someday Baby’ (alternate version, Modern Times)
’Red River Shore’ (unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
’Tell ‘Ole Bill’ (alternate version, North Country soundtrack)
’Born in Time’ (unreleased, Oh Mercy)
’Can’t Wait’ (alternate version, Time Out of Mind)
’Everything is Broken’ (alternate version, Oh Mercy)
’Dreamin’ of You’ (unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
’Huck’s Tune’ (from Lucky You soundtrack)
’Marching to the City’ (unreleased, Time Out of Mind)
’High Water (For Charley Patton)’ (Live, Niagara, 2003).
Disc 2:
’Mississippi’ (unreleased version #2, Time Out of Mind)
’32-20 Blues’ (unreleased, World Gone Wrong)
’Series of Dreams’ (unreleased, Oh Mercy)
’God Knows’ (unreleased, Oh Mercy)
’Can’t Escape From You’ (unreleased, December 2005)
’Dignity’ (unreleased, Oh Mercy)
’Ring Them Bells’ (Live at the Supper Club, 1993)
’Cocaine Blue’ (Live, Vienna, Va., 1997)
’Ain’t Talkin’’ (alternate version, Modern Times)
’The Girl On The Greenbriar Shore’ (Live, 1992)
’Lonesome Day Blues’ (Live, Sunrise, Fla., 2002)
’Miss the Mississippi’ (unreleased, 1992)
’The Lonesome River’ (With Ralph Stanley, from Clinch Mountain Country)
’Cross The Green Mountain’ (From Gods and Generals soundtrack).
Disc 3:
’Duncan And Brady’ (unreleased, 1992)
’Cold Irons Bound’ (Live, Bonnaroo, June 2004)
’Mississippi’ (unreleased version #3, Time Out of Mind)
’Most Of The Time’ (alternate version #2, Oh Mercy)
’Ring Them Bells’ (alternate version, Oh Mercy)
’Things Have Changed’ (Live, Portland, Oregon, 2000)
’Red River Shore’ (unreleased version #2, Time Out of Mind)
’Born In Time’ (unreleased version #2, Oh Mercy)
’Tryin’ To Get To Heaven’ (Live, London, 2000)
’Marchin’ To The City’ (unreleased version #2, Time Out of Mind)
’Can’t Wait’ (alternate version #2, Time Out of Mind)
’Mary And The Soldier’ (unreleased, World Gone Wrong).
Sh-Boom! Magazine 