THE MINNESOTA TAPES
Wanted Man WMM 033/034/035 [T-318]
(1) Minnesota Party Tape (Minneapolis, MN); May 24, 1961
(2) Minnesota Hotel Tape (Minneapolis, MN); December 22, 1961
Tracklist: (1) Ramblin' Round, Death Don't Have No Mercy, It's Hard
To Be Blind, This Train Is Bound For Glory, Harp Blues, Talking
Fish Blues, Pastures Of Plenty, Railroad Bill, Will The Circle Be
Unbroken, Man Of Constant Sorrow, Pretty Polly, Railroad Boy, James
Alley Blues, Why'd You Cut My Hair?, This Land Is Your Land, Still
A Fool, Wild Mountain Thyme, Howdido, Car Car, Don't You Push Me
Down, Come See, I Want It Now, San Francisco Bay Blues, A Long Time
A Growin', Devilish Mary
(2)
NOTE: The track sequence for this set is sometimes incorrectly reported because the layout of the back cover slip makes it easy to confuse discs 2 and 3. Improved variants of this sets (and of the component recordings) circulate freely on CDR as fan projects.
AMG: Bob Dylan at his most Woody Guthrie-esque, performing
a couple of dozen songs by the folk-legend, as well as many
traditional numbers. But there's no getting around the relatively
low sound quality of the crude source tapes in many places.
rmd: The May tape is historically interesting, but the
performances and the sound quality are disappointing. The December
tape, however, is essential and constantly rewarding. It is the
best recording we have of the young folksinger Bob Dylan, before he
began writing his own songs. It's much, much better than the first
album. The packaging is mediocre at best.
Wanted Man WMM 033/034/035 [T-318]