The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 released: March 26, 1991 BUY

Released in 1991, this three disc set was a revelation. Although fans had known for years that there was plenty of unreleased Dylan material in the Columbia Records vaults, a fair amount of which had dribbled out on unauthorized or “bootleg” versions, this compilation still inspired a kind of awe. It is hard to think of even a handful of performers of this or any era whose unissued work could fill three discs worth of material as good as this. Spanning almost all of Dylan’s career to that point, from Minneapolis to <i>Oh Mercy, The Bootleg Series Volume 1 – 3 presents surprise after surprise – new versions of familiar material, previously unknown repertoire, live performances, studio alternates. Every listener will find his or her own favorites, although any list of highlights would have to include the wry, Guthrie-like “Hard Times In New York Town,” the subtle and poetic “Walls of Red Wing” (about a Minnesota reformatory), “Mama You Been On My Mind,” the unfinished 1966 masterpiece “She’s Your Lover Now” the great Infidels outtakes “Blind Willie McTell” and, especially, the searing, nightmarish “Foot Of Pride. Hard Times in New York Town | listen | He Was a Friend of Mine | listen | Man on the Street | listen | No More Auction Block | listen | House Carpenter | listen | Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues | listen | Let Me Die in My Footsteps | listen | Rambling, Gambling Willie | listen | Talkin Hava Negeilah Blues | listen | Quit Your Low Down Ways | listen | Worried Blues | listen | Kingsport Town | listen | Walkin' Down the Line | listen | Walls of Red Wing | listen | Paths of Victory | listen | Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues | listen | Who Killed Davey Moore? | listen | Only a Hobo | listen | Moonshiner | listen | When the Ship Comes In | listen | The Times They Are A-Changin' | listen | Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie | listen | Seven Curses | listen | Eternal Circle | listen | Suze (The Cough Song) | listen | Mama, You Been on My Mind | listen | Farewell Angelina | listen | Subterranean Homesick Blues | listen | If You Gotta Go, Go Now | listen | Sitting on a Barbed-Wire Fence | listen | Like a Rolling Stone | listen | It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry | listen | I'll Keep It with Mine | listen | She's Your Lover Now | listen | I Shall Be Released | listen | Santa Fe | listen | If Not for You | listen | Wallflower | listen | Nobody 'Cept You | listen | Tangled Up in Blue | listen | Call Letter Blues | listen | Idiot Wind | listen | If You See Her, Say Hello | listen | Golden Loom | listen | Catfish | listen | Seven Days | listen | Ye Shall Be Changed | listen | Every Grain of Sand | listen | You Changed My Life | listen | Need a Woman | listen | Angelina | listen | Someone's Got a Hold of My Heart | listen | Tell Me | listen | Lord Protect My Child | listen | Foot of Pride | listen | Blind Willie McTell | listen | When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky | listen | Series of Dreams | listen |