Wednesday 20 March 2013

WEDNESDAY CLUB - Bob Dylan - I'll Keep it with Mine

'Today we have 'Dont Look Back' and the 'Great White Wonder' 



BOB DYLAN - I'll Keep it with Mine (1964)

It was 1970, I was living in a shared flat in East Kilbride, I had just been  transferred from Inverness to a new Central Tax Centre. One of my flat mates was Stan, we shared the common interest of music and we were both great Dylan fans.

Stan said he did not need Dylan anymore, but I was still obsessed. As Stan was a bit older than me, I thought that could be the reason?.  One day we read in one of the musicals papers either NME or Melody Maker that 'Don't Look Back' was going to be played in Glasgow,  for one night only. We had often talked about the day when we would be able to see this fabled film of Dylan's 1965 UK tour. We now had the chance, we could not contain our total excitement. It was if we were heading towards some religious happening.

The queue for the film was filled with like minded souls, all heading in a trance to see their hero. When we eventually got into the cinema they were playing some Dylan stuff we had never heard  before.

'God no! it must me the legendary Great White Wonder Bootleg album.'

This was indeed too much for us and the rest of the adoring fans who sat in awed silence. The film was  stunning, a brilliant insight where Dylan was at in 1965. If only there were a few more complete songs it would have been perfect.

On the way out the organisers were selling some merchandise, mainly pics and posters of the event. I got talking to one of the guys and asked where could we get a copy of the GWW. After some time of Dylan discussion and pleading, more pleading and even more pleading, he said he had a few copies and he would let us have one for a very reasonable price. He said we were even more obsessed than even he was. Stan to, had regained his mojo for Dylan.

We could not believe what we were holding, it was, as if we had been handed some stardust and we were covered in a halo of light.  I do believe we would have refused a million pounds at that moment, rather than part with that prized album. You have to remember there was no Internet, no access to the very few bootlegs around. This was as good as it could possibly get for us young Dylan fans..

The album was fabulous and it was the first time I had heard Dylan singing I'll Keep it with Mine. A song worthy of any Dylan album and still one of my favourite Dylan tracks.  I later found out that the album was in fact GWW 2 and had a better range of tracks and the quality was better than the original GWW.

Before I moved to London, Stan and I played a game of cards to see who would keep the album. Stan won!

Would you believe it, I was holding aces and eights!

Thanks to the Swede for the nudge!


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WEDNESDAY CLUB - Bob Dylan - I'll Keep it with Mine
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15 comments

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Anonymous
20 March 2013 at 07:54

Great story. Whilst it is wonderful to have access to just about everything these days, I do feel we've lost some of the magic of finding obscure gems on bootlegs. The excitement isn't the same, is it? 'I'll Keep It With Mine' is easily in my top five Dylan songs. Beautiful. This is my favourite version.

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20 March 2013 at 08:35

Really glad that I nudged that one out of you Old Pa. Brilliant. I wasn't ready for the twist in the tale though! You lost the album in a card game??? OMG! (as the young folks say!) Did you retain visiting rights?

I hear what Singing Bear is saying, anticipation and patience have all but disappeared from the music buying process, legit and otherwise. Nowadays if I'm introduced to something amazing, I can simply open a new tab and am able to listen to and instantly download an entire back catalogue if I choose. There's no more walking to the record store, taking a punt and ordering an LP you've only heard one song from or read a review of, then waiting a week to ten days (always the default when ordering a record!)to see if you've gambled wisely.

Also, I well remember the first time I heard the fast version of 'Visions of Johanna' and solo piano version of 'She's Your Lover Now'...on the same LP!! They were so amazing I needed to sit down for 10 minutes to gather my thoughts. Take that 10 minute recovery period now and you could probably locate and download enough rare stuff to compile your own volume of the Bootleg Series!

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20 March 2013 at 09:31

I wholeheartedly agree SB, the thrill has gone......somewhat.

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20 March 2013 at 09:42

What a fantastic story!!! It's a great insight of what it was like searching for music until just recently, probably in the last 12 years. As the Swede says, it was a punt. You hear one song, you've probably waited all day with a cassette in the tape player to record it from the radio. It's the excitement of getting, holding, reading the sleeve notes and you listen to album warts and all. It saddens me a bit that I haven't bought a CD in years but it's all for convenience sake now (as I always seem to be rushing around) which is why a subscribe to Spotify. I have listened to more music than probably ever before as a result but the thrill has indeed gone.

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20 March 2013 at 09:44

No I lie, I bought A Tribe Called Quest's 1st album last year because I walked into my local record shop just after 'record shop day' and felt guilty.

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20 March 2013 at 11:06

Thank you all...we all seem to be in agreement that we miss these golden days when buying an album meant so much. Holding that new album was almost an extension of yourself. I miss these times.

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hans altena
20 March 2013 at 17:41

Oh you sad people (I wanted to say fools, but I respect you too much for the love of Dylan you expose) but the lot of you brought it on yourself when you let the industry turn you onto that blasted flat medium called CD and then even made things worse when you let yourself be enticed by the easy listening of the tone deaf, represented by the MP3 files, which is killing the artists cause they get hardly any money while you rob their jewels. Happily some of the young folks I know at school where I work are buying vinyl albums again and have regained that sacred awe when finding good music!

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hans altena
20 March 2013 at 17:43

Oh you sad people (I wanted to say fools, but I respect you too much for the love of Dylan you expose) but the lot of you brought it on yourself when you let the industry turn you onto that blasted flat medium called CD and then even made things worse when you let yourself be enticed by the easy listening of the tone deaf, represented by the MP3 files, which is killing the artists cause they get hardly any money while you rob their jewels. Happily some of the young folks I know at school where I work are buying vinyl albums again and have regained that sacred awe when finding good music!

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20 March 2013 at 17:49

Hans 'that sacred awe' I like that Hans....I am happy being sad 'tho, many thanks for your comments

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20 March 2013 at 20:00

I think you are maybe right there Hans. I sometimes feel I single handidly brought down the HMV empire. Bring back the Gramophone I say!

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Anonymous
21 March 2013 at 07:35

Hans: From now on I shall only ever listen to music sung in a field by a jolly ploughboy.

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21 March 2013 at 09:49

Hans/Jolly Ploughboy - really it is the fault of the Artists and Record Companies themselves for not releaseing Rare and Unreased stuff that there is clearly a demand for. If they did like (Dylsn's Official Bootleg Series) it would be a win win situation.

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C
23 March 2013 at 19:14

Great story Old Pa! And this from someone who doesn't listen to Dylan - yeah I know, feel free to virtually slap my wrists (but I did enjoy Don't Look Now! I'm a sucker for a good music documentary.)
Sounds like a fair way to work out the ownership of a prized album but I bet the adrenaline of the game nearly killed you...!
Interesting comments - I gather too that vinyl is back, a small label I know of (who put out punk obscurities) doesn't even bother with CD any more, all their releases are 12" vinyl albums!

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C
23 March 2013 at 19:15

D'oh - I mean Don't Look Back!

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24 March 2013 at 09:56

Don't worry 'C' I am used to it, Old Ma hates Dylan with a vengence...I once managed to slip a Dylan track 'Belle Isle' on a Tape I made for her...I managed to slip one thru the net...oh did I love it!

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