Home > New Release > Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 - Rare And Unreleased 1989-2006

Performer: Bob Dylan
Artist: Ralph Stanley
Engineer: Chris Shaw; Greg Calbi; Malcolm Burn; Mark Howard; Micajah Ryan
Producer: Daniel Lanois; David Bromberg; Jack Frost; Jeff Rosen; Jeff Rosen (Compilation)
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harp, harmonica, piano, organ); Ralph Stanley (vocals, guitar, banjo); Donnie Heron (guitar, steel guitar); Daniel Lanois (guitar, dobro, organ); Glen Lowe, Dave Bromberg, Robert Britt, Tom Morrongiello, David Bromberg, Denny Freeman, Duke Robillard, Freddie Koella, Freddy Koella, James Shelton, John Jackson, Larry Campbell, Mason Ruffner, Ralph Stanley II, Stu Kimball, Brian Stoltz, Charlie Sexton (guitar); Cindy Cashdollar (slide guitar, dobro); Bucky Baxter (electric slide guitar, steel guitar, pedal steel guitar); Steve Sparkman (banjo); Jeff Wisor, Dick Fegy (mandolin, fiddle); John Rigsby (mandolin); Elena Fremerman (violin); James Price (fiddle); Augie Meyers (accordion, organ); John Firmin (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Peter Ecklund (trumpet); Curtis Linberg (trombone); Tony Mangurian (piano, drums, percussion); Jim Dickinson, Benmont Tench (organ); Christopher Cameron (keyboard, keyboards); Robert Amiot, Tony Hall, Tony Garnier (bass instrument, bass guitar); Jack Cooke (upright bass); Winston Johnson, David Kemper, Winston Watson (drums, percussion); Jim Keltner, Willie Green, Richard Crooks , George Receli, Brian Blade (drums); Malcolm Burn (tambourine); Cyril Neville, Daryl Johnson (percussion). Audio Mixers: Chris Shaw; Malcolm Burn; Mark Wilder. Recording information: Sterling Sound, NY (2008). This eighth chapter in Dylan's epic Bootleg Series covers the era bookended by 1989's OH MERCY and 2006's MODERN TIMES. As the only installment with its own unique title, TELL TALE SIGNS acts in some ways as its own original record and the fourth salvo in the renaissance kicked off by 1997's TIME OUT OF MIND. A deeply satisfying two-disc set, TELL TALE SIGNS argues emphatically that these albums were no fluke, but rooted in a significantly broader, deeper wellspring of creativity. Unconcerned with the contemporary zeitgeist, Dylan synthesizes old forms--from rockabilly to jump blues; from Jimmie Rodgers-esque parlor balladry to country gospel--into his millieu with extraordinary ease, and rides various ace line-ups (which feature such stalwarts as guitarist/fiddler Larry Campbell, guitarist Charlie Sexton, and organist Augie Meyers) into an isolated dreamland soaked with spring reverb and pulsating tremolo. The stranger in these songs may be familiar, but now his visions thrum with nostalgia and regret. The highlights are many. A devastating acoustic demo of the OH MERCY stand-out "Most of the Time" rescues the song from Daniel Lanois's overweaning production on the original. "Red River Shore" and "Marchin' to the City"--cut from the final sequence of TIME OUT OF MIND--smolder. Two vastly different alternate versions of both the OH MERCY-era single "Dignity" and LOVE AND THEFT's "Mississippi" reveal the degree to which Dylan plumbs a song's performative possibilities. Still restless, still aching, still remarkable, TELL TALE SIGNS is yet another revelation in a career already crowded with them.

Rolling Stone (p.76) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "TELL TALE SIGNS makes plain that Dylan knows the caprices of the world he lives in, now more than ever. Just as important, this collection bears witness to Dylan's reclamation of voice and perspective." Entertainment Weekly (p.70) - "[T]he generally superb TELL TALE SIGNS repurposes known material in simple, languid, semi-acoustic settings that hark back to '70s classics like BLOOD ON THE TRACKS." -- Grade: A Mojo (Publisher) (p.122) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Dylan's second album with Lanois, TIME OUT OF MIND, is represented by a nice, slow blues alternative take of 'Can't Wait' and four songs that didn't make the final cut....Top prizes go to gutbucket 'Lonesome Day Blues' and harmony-laden 'Cocaine Blues'..."

Bob Dylan began as a Woody Guthrie acolyte, imitating the dust-bowl balladeer as faithfully as a baby boomer from Hibbing, Minnesota, could. It wasn't long before he found his own voice, spearheading the early-1960s folk revival as well as the singer-songwriter movement, and introducing poetry into pop music. Through countless changes in sound, image, and even religion, he retained his unique artistic vision even when his popularity occasionally waned. By the 21st century, he was enjoying an upsurge of critical and popular interest based on a series of powerful late-career albums that crystallized his aesthetics and unique world view.

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