The latest chapter in Columbia/Legacy’s highly acclaimed Bob Dylan Bootleg Series takes a fresh look at Time Out of Mind, Dylan’s mid-career masterpiece, celebrating the album and its enduring impact 25 years after its original release on September 30, 1997. Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 follows the evolution of songs written for the album, from intimate early incarnations in the previously unreleased 1996 Teatro sessions featuring Dylan (vocals, guitar, and piano), Daniel Lanois (guitar and organ), Tony Garnier (bass) and Tony Mangurian (drums and percussion) through incandescent live renditions (also previously unreleased) showcasing Dylan and his touring ensemble channeling the songs on-stage from 1998-2001.
In early 1996, Dylan (whose last album of originals had been 1990’s Under the Red Sky) began writing a group of new songs and, in August-October that year, went into Teatro studio in Oxnard with Daniel Lanois (who’d produced 1989’s Oh Mercy) to record demos for a potential album. Recording for Time Out of Mind took off in earnest in January 1997, when Dylan moved the sessions to Criteria Studio in Miami and the studio ensemble was expanded to encompass a mix of all-star session players and members of Dylan’s touring band including Bucky Baxter (acoustic guitar, pedal steel), Duke Robillard (guitar, electric Gibson L-5), Robert Britt (Martin acoustic, Fender Stratocaster), Cindy Cashdollar (slide guitar), Tony Garnier (bass guitar, upright bass), Augie Meyers (Vox organ combo, Hammond B3 organ, accordion), Jim Dickinson (keyboards, Wurlitzer electric piano, pump organ), and drummers Jim Keltner, Brian Blade, and David Kemper.
The end result, Time Out of Mind, became a new pillar in the Bob Dylan album pantheon, its songs–“Love Sick,” “Cold Irons Bound,” “Can’t Wait,” “Not Dark Yet”–becoming concert staples and fan favorites with one composition, “Make You Feel My Love,” achieving rare status as a new contemporary standard in the Great American Songbook, a tune covered by hundreds of artists including Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Neil Diamond, and Adele. Time Out of Mind won the 1998 Grammy awards for Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Folk Album while “Cold Irons Bound” took home the trophy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.
Disc One of Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 premieres 2022 mixes, by Michael H. Brauer at Brauer Sound Studios, of the eleven original recordings on Time Out of Mind. In his liner notes for the set, Steven Hyden writes, “The album itself has been remixed to sound more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room, without the effects and processing that Lanois applied later. It’s not meant to replace the Time Out of Mind that won all of those Grammys a quarter-century ago; it’s a reimagining, an alternate view of a great work of art. If the original album remains mythic and enigmatic, this Time Out of Mind puts you in close proximity to the players.” The Time Out of Mind (2022 Remix) disc will be available in immersive audio, a first for a Bob Dylan recording.
Discs Two and Three of Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 are comprised of rare outtakes and alternate versions of songs written for Time Out of Mind including four original Dylan compositions–“Dreamin’ of You,” “Red River Shore,” “Mississippi” (later re-recorded for “Love & Theft” in 2001) and “Marchin’ to the City”–not included on the canonical 1997 tracklist. A fifth unreleased performance, Dylan’s interpretation of “The Water is Wide,” a traditional folk song of Scottish origin (and spiritual precursor of “Highlands,” Time Out of Mind‘s epic closer) opens Disc Two.
Disc Four of Bob Dylan – Fragments presents songs from Time Out of Mind in a series of spectacular live performances from 1998-2001 featuring Dylan and his touring ensemble: Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, and slide guitar), Bucky Baxter (pedal steel and slide guitar, 1998-1999), Charlie Sexton (guitar, 2000-2001), Tony Garnier (bass) and David Kemper (drums). All tracks on Disc Four are previously unavailable with the exception of “Make You Feel My Love” (May 21, 1998, Los Angeles), previously released on the “Things Have Changed” maxi-single.
As a bonus for fans, Disc Five brings together studio recordings of the four Dylan songs omitted from the original Time Out of Mind track list as well as exemplary live performances of “Cold Irons Bound” and “Tryin’ To Get To Heaven.” The twelve tracks on Disc Five were previously available on Columbia/Legacy’s The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006.
All songs on Bob Dylan – Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 are written by Bob Dylan, except “The Water is Wide” traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan. The original Time Out of Mind sessions were produced by Daniel Lanois…in association with Jack Frost Productions.
Link to official press release
The new edition of Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series, Fragments – Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol. 17 is released as a 5-CD deluxe box set as well as a standard 2-CD or 4-LP version. It contains in the standard version the album Time Out Of Mind in a 2022 remix and twelve selected outtakes and alternative versions
Volume 17 of the acclaimed Dylan series takes a fresh look at the masterpiece Time Out Of Mind 25 years after its initial release and traces its creation. Beginning with previously unreleased song versions from the 1996 Teatro sessions featuring Dylan (vocals, guitar, piano), Daniel Lanois (guitar, organ), Tony Garnier (bass) and Tony Mangurian (drums, percussion) and ending with (also unreleased) live recordings from 1998-2001
In early 1996, Dylan, who had not released an album of original compositions since the 1990 LP Under The Red Sky, began working on new songs. From August to October, he went to Teatro Studio in Oxnard/CA with Daniel Lanois, who had produced his 1989 album Oh Mercy, to record demos for a possible new LP
When the songs took shape in January of the following year, they moved to Criteria Studio in Miami, FL. The studio lineup was increased, and an illustrious mix of session musicians and members of Dylan’s touring band found themselves in Florida: Bucky Baxter (acoustic guitar, pedal steel), Duke Robillard (electric guitar/Gibson L-5), Robert Britt (Martin acoustic guitar, Fender Stratocaster), Cindy Cashdollar (slide guitar), Tony Garnier (bass, Upright bass), Augie Meyers (Vox organ, Hammond B3, accordion), Jim Dickinson (keyboards, Wurlitzer electric piano, pump organ) and drummers Jim Keltner, Brian Blade and David Kemper.
The album Time Out Of Mind, which eventually emerged from these sessions, advanced to become a Dylan classic. Songs like “Love Sick,” “Can’t Wait” and “Not Dark Yet” became fan favorites. With “Make You Feel My Love,” Dylan even managed the feat of adding a new contemporary standard to the Great American Songbook. Countless artists, including Billy Joel, Neil Diamond or Adele, have covered this song. At the 1998 Grammy Awards, Time Out Of Mind won in the categories of “Album of the Year” and “Best Contemporary Folk Album.” Dylan also took the trophy in the “Best Male Rock Vocal Performance” category for “Cold Irons Bound.”