Notes

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The Home Of Eve And Mac McKenzie
New York City, NY

CD 1

First McKenzie Tape
November 23, 1961 [Thanksgiving] and possibly
December 4, 1961


CD 2

Second McKenzie Tape
September 1962 and
April 18, 1963 [formerly dated April 12, 1963]

CD 3

Bonus Tracks, taken from "The Genuine Bootleg Series, Vol.3", known as "The Smith Tapes"

GBS_01 Hard Times In New York Town [01:50.41] [longer version of d1t02, previously uncirculated]
GBS_02 The Death Of Emmett Till [04:11.20] [previously uncirculated, dated January 29, 1962]
GBS_03 See That My Grave Is Kept Clean [01:01.20] [same as d2t02]
GBS_04 Ballad Of Donald White [04:16.57] [same as d2t04]
GBS_05 I Rode Out One Morning [02:43.40] [same as d2t08]
GBS_06 House Of The Risin' Sun [03:08.62] [same as d2t14]

*The version of the McKenzie Tapes found on "I Was Young When I Left Home" is edited and missing several minutes. The sound may be a bit easier on the ear.

*The difference in quality between this tape and the six tracks from "The Smith Tapes" [Smith was an alias to hide the identity of the McKenzies when the tapes first circulated, in the early 70s] is painfully big. It is almost incredible how good these sound,


Notes on the recording dates -

=First McKenzie Tape=
*tracks 01-15 - The November 23, 1961 date (Thanksgiving) has been confirmed, amongst others by Eve McKenzie (The Telegraph #36, p.29-40).

*tracks 16-22 - The December 4, 1961 date was established by Michael Krogsgaard, though, according to Clinton Heylin, A Life In Stolen Moments, p.24, "there is no evidence such a session took place".

*GBS_01 and GBS_02 are dated January 29, 1962 in the sleeve notes of "The Genuine Bootleg Series, Vol.3". That date is backed by Heylin, A Life In Stolen Moments, p.26, nontheless 'Hard Times In New York Town' is almost certainly the version that already circulated as fragment, dated November 23, 1961 !

*It could well be that both segments were recorded on that Thanksgiving dinner, surely the mood near the end of the first part hints at the more collaborative efforts of part two. It's not unlikely that 'This Land Is Your Land' was performed twice. Who knows ...

*'The Death Of Emmett Till' was clearly not written by November 1961, but rather in January 1962, so the January 29 date seems as good as any other. If so, no other recordings from that date seem to circulate right now.

=Second McKenzie Tape=
*commonly, tracks 01-07 are dated September 1962 and the remainder April 12, 1963 (or April 18, see below) with 'I Rode Out One Morning' attributed to the second part. I do think, however, that 'I Rode Out One Morning' belongs to the first segment because to my ears, 01:55 to 02:10 of d2t03 has Dylan toying with the picking of the same song without adding vocals. Iit's highly unlikely that the only two existing fragments of the song were recorded months apart, both at the McKenzie's home.

*It has long been assumed that the second part of the tape was recorded in the afternoon of April 12, 1963, just a couple of hours before his important solo appearance in New York's Town Hall. This seems to be highly unlikely, also in light of Columbia's files, which mention a 4:00 pm soundcheck at Town Hall. Indeed, Heylin (p.43) now gives April 18, 1963 as the probable date. Alas, no evidence is provided with this information.


Notes on the musical content -

*some of the tracks named 'instrumental' are in fact doodles and endless tunings. Additionally, d2t10 and d2t16 are merely sketches of Don't Think Twice, It's All Right' and 'Cocaine Blues', respectively.

*Bjørner names d2t15 'Two Trains Runnin'', Dundas d2t15 'Still A Fool' and d2t16 'Worried Blues'.

*GBS_01 'Hard Times In New York Town' is almost certainly the version that already circulated as fragment d1t02

*Until now, all reference books mention two versions of both 'Katy Cline' and 'Bells Of Rhymney' at the start of the second part of the first tape. But a close listen revealed that these version are just fragments of the longer tracks d1t17 and d1t18. I think that 'Katy Cline' (Dundas) fits that track better than 'Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms' (Bjørner, Krogsgaard).

*d2t07 is sometimes referred to as 'Times Ain't What They Used To Be' by Clarence 'Tom' Ashley. In fact, that is the first line of 'James Alley Blues'... Either way, this seems to have been an inspiration for his own 'Mixed-Up Confusion'.