Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks (vinyl)

IMHO Blood On The Tracks is where Dylan's mastery of lyrics (vitriolic to say the least), phrasing and arrangements came together perfectly. Side One in particular is stands as one of my favourite sequences of songs by any artist.

The MoFi version (which is good) probably just shades an original CBS pressing - I have three versions from over the years.

I would suggest if you can obtain a very good copy of the original orange label CBS pressing you won't be missing a lot over MoFI.

Bill

LP12/Akito/Rega Carbon; Naim Nait 3, Royd Aria

My wife bought one of the more expensive ones by mistake instead of the MOFI release which is what I wanted given the quality of the other MOFI Dylan stuff. In actual fact she could have bought the MOFI one cheaper!! The quality of the one she bought is appalling - nothing like as good as my original vinyl bought on release in mid 70s. Should really have sent it back but too much going on at the time and never got to do it! Planning to order the MOFI version soon as a good price!

The mobile fidelity Dylan releases are superb and definately the way to go - not cheap per se but on my system it's like Bob is in the room! 

Gary

If I had to choose only one of his 37 studio albums this would be the one. I have the MFSL vinyl and think it is excellent.

My MOFI version arrived today, and well worth the £35. Worth it just to hear the instruments so detailed and defined on You're a big girl now. 

It is one of my faves also, Tangled up in Blue always gets me started on a long Bob session. I put Dylan and The Band in their own section on my collection. His later work Together Through Life and Modern Times are always prominent in my recently used stack.

A few years ago I bought Oh Mercy at Amoeba and really enjoy that also

Mudwolf, thanks for the steer on Together Through Life. I'll check it out. I really like Modern Times, but have found most of his more recent work to leave me cold, culminating in the, for me, merit-bereft Fallen Angels covers album ��.

Agree with consensus on this thread that Blood on the tracks is a real peak for Dylan. 'If you see her say hello' is especially affecting for me. My CD (now ripped) is pretty awful SQ though. If I can add to original OP query and ask if anyone knows of a decent digital version?

Thanks for this steer towards the MOFI label.

I only have 2 Dylan albums on vinyl (Bringing It All Back Home and Blonde On Blonde) - I have all his other albums on CD.

Good job Christmas is coming - think the MOFI Dylan albums will be at the top of my list.

thanks again,

Allan)

I was disappointed in Tempest and when I read reviews of those cover albums I wasn't going to buy in.

I have enough from him for the rest of my life.

I've got them all on original vinyl up to Empire Burlesque in the mid 80's thereafter on cd. I bought them from Self Portrait onwards on the delay of release, Nashville Skyline and earlier were all bought in a burst in 1970 spending all of an aunt's inheritance. At the time my parents deplored the waste of money on somethIng so transitory and Dylan was just a phase I would soon grow out of. Little did I or they know that all these years on I still listen to him more than any other single artist and my stash of LP's are some of my most treasured possessions. And you can't roll cigarettes, as it were, on a nasty plastic cd cover or the streamer's remote control......

John

You'll be in for the 36 CD "Live 1966" box set then or maybe the vinyl double LP set?

Chris

John, rock and roll  ? Now Nobel approved!

kevin J Carden posted:

Agree with consensus on this thread that Blood on the tracks is a real peak for Dylan. 'If you see her say hello' is especially affecting for me. My CD (now ripped) is pretty awful SQ though. If I can add to original OP query and ask if anyone knows of a decent digital version?

Kevin, did you get anywhere finding a good digital version?  I've never really listened to Dylan, but the Nobel prize made me think 'right, time to have a go'.  May as well start with a good one if possible.

Is there a consensus that B on the T is the peak?

Ok, it was a great return to form after the nadir of Self Portrait, patchy and disappointing New Morning and Planet Waves with the great opening kickstart of Tangled Up in Blue but surely nothing beats the extraordinary creative energy in three years from Freewheelin to Blonde on Blonde?

For me the witty 'protest' singer of his early years and the ultimate cool dude of the mid 60's are always more to my taste than his subsequent incarnatIons.

Here's a thought......there is the same span of time between say, Keep the Home Fires Burning in 1916 and Visions of Johanna in 1966 as between then and now.......has music evolved much in the 50 years since then? 

The Beatles may have matched him collectively but as a single transformative artist for more than half a century, Dylan is surely unmatched. And in the fractured world of streaming any music you want as a cheap commodity he is unique and unrepeatable.

John

Dave***t posted:

kevin J Carden posted:

Agree with consensus on this thread that Blood on the tracks is a real peak for Dylan. 'If you see her say hello' is especially affecting for me. My CD (now ripped) is pretty awful SQ though. If I can add to original OP query and ask if anyone knows of a decent digital version?

Kevin, did you get anywhere finding a good digital version?  I've never really listened to Dylan, but the Nobel prize made me think 'right, time to have a go'.  May as well start with a good one if possible.

Dave/Kevin, this is what you need :

Mobile Fidelity CD/SACD hybrid disc. Luvly jubly............. 

Thanks WW . Will seek it out. Presume MoFi needs to be bought direct from them rather than Amazon?

John132, sure, agree that if the early protest type songs, 'poet with a guitar' if you will, are the a Dylan era you treasure most, then BOTT may not be what you really want as it's mostly more low key and introspective. For the former I'd say more Freewheelin, highway 61, blonde on blonde etc are the target.

kevin J Carden posted:

Thanks WW . Will seek it out. Presume MoFi needs to be bought direct from them rather than Amazon?

John132, sure, agree that if the early protest type songs, 'poet with a guitar' if you will, are the a Dylan era you treasure most, then BOTT may not be what you really want as it's mostly more low key and introspective. For the former I'd say more Freewheelin, highway 61, blonde on blonde etc are the target.

 

Kevin, as far as I can see, the price now on Amazon is horrid. 80 odd quid ??? Music Direct website (30 dollars plus shipping) or MOFI's own website may be the best bet,  though delivery would be more expensive than Amazon. Good luck, it is certainly a great disc.