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Bob Dylan - Minnesota Party Tape (1961)

Track listing:
  1. Railroad Bill 4:11
  2. Will The Circle Be Unbroken 1:02
  3. Man Of Constant Sorrow 3:12
  4. Pretty Polly 5:32
  5. Railroad Boy 2:44
  6. James Alley Blues 3:28
  7. Bonnie, Why'd You Cut My Hair 1:28
  8. This Land Is Your Land 3:49
  9. Two Trains Running 3:07
  10. Wild Mountain Thyme 2:44
  11. Howdido 1:47
  12. Car Car 2:05
  13. Don't You Push Me Down 1:58
  14. Come See 2:09
  15. I Want It Now 3:00
  16. San Francisco Bay Blues 2:05
  17. Pastures Of Plenty 4:38
  18. Devilish Mary 1:39
  19. Ramblin' Round 4:07
  20. Death Don't Have No Mercy 2:17
  21. It's Hard To Be Blind
  22. This Train Is Bound For Glory 2:53
  23. Harmonica Solo 3:54
  24. Talkin' Fish Blues 6:03

Notes

Minnesota Party Tape (Beecher Tape) - May 1961
Though not as famous as the Hotel Tape, This recording from Bonnie Beecher's apartment predates that one by half a year. Dylan's progress was explosive during this time, and half a year was a lifetime. The tape is nowhere near the league of the later recording, partly because of the low quality of the original recording, and partly due to a remarkably uninspired performance. One of the first times that a young Bob would hear himself on tape; nerves, inexperience, and limited repertoire would result in, at best, this mediocre offering. The tape is significant, however, not only for its historical importance, but also as a standard by which to compare the December tape. The cover photo is from CBS archives, and pictures Dylan in Columbia Studios, NY 1962 during the recording of his second LP.
This triple-CD bootleg should rate even higher than it does, and would but for the relatively low quality of the source tapes. There may be no way around it—these were crude acoustic recordings to begin with (and some of the listed dates and supposed location may be suspect), and it might be impossible to clean them up. On the other hand, this is Bob Dylan at his Woody Guthrie-est, performing a couple of dozen songs by the folk-legend including one of the greatest performances of his career, his version of Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty," a dark, brooding, sad rendition that plumbs depths that Guthrie himself likely felt but never reached—the problem is, there's a low-frequency hum on it, all manner of other shortcomings (including some distortion on the louder moments) on the master for the CD (and possibly in the original tape) as well. There's a lot of other repertory here, including traditional numbers like "Gospel Plough," "Long John," "Pretty Polly," and pieces written by Rev. Gary Davis ("It's Hard To Be Blind") and even Lord Buckley ("Blackcross"). Ideally, a legitimate release of this material, from a cleaner master, would slot right in alongside Dylan's underrated first album, and probably supplant it.