The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 is a box set by Bob Dylan issued on Columbia Records. It is the first installment in the Dylan bootleg series, comprising material spanning the first three decades of his career, from 1961 to 1989. It has been certified with a gold record by the RIAA as of August 1997, and peaked at on the Billboard 200 and in the UK.
Background
Dylan has been subject to bootleg recordings throughout his career; the first bootleg of the rock era, Great White Wonder, consisted of pirate recordings drawn from various sources. With the approach of Dylan's 30-year mark in the record industry, Columbia Records initiated the proper release of material that had circulated regularly on Dylan bootlegs, starting with this box set in 1991 to satisfy demand for Dylan's unissued material.
Content
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 contains rarities and unreleased works from the sessions for 1962's eponymous debut Bob Dylan to 1989's Oh Mercy. Of the 58 total tracks, 45 are session outtakes from recording sessions for Dylan studio albums. Of the remaining 13 tracks, one is an outtake from the session for the "George Jackson" single of 1971, two are further releases from the Basement Tape sessions of 1967, five are live recordings, and five are demo records, three of latter being later duplicated on of the series. The material is spread across three compact discs, five vinyl records, or three cassette tapes. In the case of the compact disc and cassette versions, each individual disc or cassette is labeled in the set as a distinct volume. Subsequent albums in the Bootleg Series were standardized to a double-disc volume in their primary non-limited edition format, excepting for , and all continue the compact disc volume numbering. Unlike ensuing installments in the series, none of Volumes 1–3 are available individually in physical form. A remastered version in smaller packaging was issued on August 19, 1997, on Legacy Recordings, the reissue imprint of Sony Records.
Reception
Reviews of this set were generally positive, with exceptions. Robert Christgau gives it only cursory assessment on his website. In his 2006 Bob Dylan Encyclopedia, author Michael Gray states that "most artists couldn't muster a single outtake to hold alongside any of this; Dylan can provide 58 recordings almost every one of which is of numinous excellence." As of February 2020, a dozen further installments in this series have been released.
Track listing
All songs written by Bob Dylan, except where noted; all arrangements by Bob Dylan.
