Bob Dylan to Release Country-Themed Box Set, ‘Travelin’ Thru, 1967-69,’ Featuring Johnny Cash
By Jem Aswad
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Columbia Records and Sony catalog division Legacy Recordings will release the boxed set “Bob Dylan (featuring Johnny Cash) – Travelin’ Thru, 1967 – 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15” on Nov. 1. The set collects previously unreleased recordings from Dylan’s country-themed albums of the era, focusing on previously unavailable recordings made with and unreleased tracks from the “John Wesley Harding,” “Nashville Skyline” and “Self Portrait” sessions. The set is available in 3CD and 3LP physical configurations and digital equivalent.
The the comparatively brief set following the sprawling 14-CD set “The Rolling Thunder Review: The 1975 Performances,” which accompanied the Martin Scorsese documentary of Dylan’s tour from that year. “The Bootleg Series” began in the 1980s and collects hundreds (perhaps by now more than a thousand) of previously unreleased Dylan recordings.
According to the announcement, Disc One of “Travelin’ Thru” finds Dylan in Columbia’s Studio A in Nashville recording alternate versions of compositions written for “John Wesley Harding” (October 17 and November 6, 1967) and “Nashville Skyline” (February 13-14, 1969) while introducing a new song, “Western Road.”
Discs Two and Three of Travelin’ Thru are centered around Dylan’s collaborations with Cash, including the legendary Columbia Studio A sessions and on-stage performances at the Ryman Auditorium (May 1, 1969) for the recording of the premiere episode of “The Johnny Cash Show” (originally broadcast on ABC-TV on June 7, 1969).
Disc Three closes with tracks recorded on May 17, 1970 with Grammy Award-winning bluegrass banjo legend Earl Scruggs for the PBS television special, “Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends” (originally aired January 1971).
The period captures the second hard pivot of Dylan’s career: Just as he’d turned away from his galvanizing folk recordings of the early ‘60s by adopting a rock format with the “Bringing It All Back Home” and “Blonde on Blonde” albums, here he turned away from that sound by embracing a more laid-back, country-influenced approach.
The tracklist appears in full below.
(featuring Johnny Cash) – Travelin’ Thru, 1967 – 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15
DISC 1
October 17, 1967
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
John Wesley Harding sessions
- Drifter’s Escape – Take 1 (Alternate Version)
- I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine – Take 2 (Alternate Version)
November 6, 1967
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
John Wesley Harding sessions
- All Along the Watchtower – Take 3 (Alternate Version)
- John Wesley Harding – Take 1 (Alternate Version)
- As I Went Out One Morning – Take 1 (Alternate Version)
- I Pity the Poor Immigrant – Take 4 (Alternate Version)
- I Am a Lonesome Hobo – Take 4 (Alternate Version)
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
February 13, 1969
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
Nashville Skyline sessions
- I Threw It All Away – Take 1 (Alternate Version)
Previously released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait
- To Be Alone with You – Take 1 (Alternate Version)
- Lay Lady Lay – Take 2 (Alternate Version)
Previously released as a digital download with iTunes pre-orders of Together Through Life
- One More Night – Take 2 (Alternate Version)
- Western Road – Take 1 (Outtake)
February 14, 1969
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
Nashville Skyline sessions
- Peggy Day – Take 1 (Alternate Version)
- Tell Me That It Isn’t True – Take 2 (Alternate Version)
- Country Pie – Take 2 (Alternate Version)
Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
Kelton D. Herston, Norman Blake, Charlie Daniels, Wayne Moss (10 & 12): guitars
Bob Wilson: piano, organ
Peter Drake: steel guitar (13-15)
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
DISC 2
February 17, 1969
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
The Dylan-Cash Sessions
- I Still Miss Someone – Take 5
Written by Johnny Cash and Roy Cash, Jr.
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right/Understand Your Man – Rehearsal
Written by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash
February 18, 1969
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
The Dylan-Cash Sessions
- One Too Many Mornings – Take 3
- Mountain Dew – Take 1
Written by Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Scott Wiseman
- Mountain Dew – Take 2
Written by Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Scott Wiseman
- I Still Miss Someone – Take 2
Written by Johnny Cash and Roy Cash, Jr.
- Careless Love – Take 1
Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash
- Matchbox – Take 1
Written by Carl Perkins
- That’s All Right, Mama – Take 1
Written by Arthur Crudup
- Mystery Train/This Train Is Bound for Glory – Take 1
Mystery Train written by Junior Parker
This Train Is Bound for Glory written by Woody Guthrie
- Big River – Take 1
Written by Johnny Cash
- Girl from the North Country – Rehearsal
- Girl from the North Country – Take 1
- I Walk the Line – Take 2
Written by Johnny Cash
- Guess Things Happen That Way – Rehearsal
Written by Jack Clement
- Guess Things Happen That Way – Take 3
Written by Jack Clement
- Five Feet High and Rising – Take 1
Written by Johnny Cash
- You Are My Sunshine – Take 1
Written by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell
- Ring of Fire – Take 1
Written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore
DISC 3
February 18, 1969
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
The Dylan-Cash Sessions
- Studio Chatter
- Wanted Man – Take 1
- Amen – Rehearsal
Written by Jester Hairston
- Just a Closer Walk with Thee – Take 1
Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash
- Jimmie Rodgers Medley No. 1 – Take 1
Based on Blue Yodel No. 1 (T for Texas), The Brakeman’s Blues (Yodeling the Blues Away), and Blue Yodel No. 5 (It’s Raining Here) written by Jimmie Rodgers
- Jimmie Rodgers Medley No. 2 – Take 2
Based on Waiting for a Train, The Brakeman’s Blues (Yodeling the Blues Away), and Blue Yodel No. 1 (T For Texas) written by Jimmie Rodgers
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Johnny Cash: vocals, guitar
Carl Perkins: guitar (08,10, 02, 04-06)
Bob Wootton: guitar
Marshall Grant: bass
W.S. Holland: drums
May 1, 1969
Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
Live on The Johnny Cash Show
Originally broadcast on ABC-TV, June 7, 1969
- I Threw It All Away
included on 2010 DVD The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show: 1969-1971
- Living the Blues
- Girl from the North Country
included on 2010 DVD The Best of the Johnny Cash TV Show: 1969-1971
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Johnny Cash: vocals, guitar (09)
Norman Blake and Charlie Daniels: guitars
Peter Drake: steel guitar
Bob Wilson: piano
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
May 3, 1969
Columbia Studio A, Nashville, TN
Self Portrait sessions
- Ring of Fire (Outtake)
Written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore
- Folsom Prison Blues (Outtake)
Written by Johnny Cash
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Fred F. Carter, Norman Blake: guitars
Charlie Daniels: guitar (11), bass (10)
Bob Wilson: piano
Peter Drake: steel guitar
Charlie McCoy: harmonica (10), bass (11)
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
Delores Edgin and Dottie Dillard: background vocals
May 17, 1970
The Home of Thomas B. Allen, Carmel, New York
With Earl Scruggs
- Earl Scruggs Interview
- East Virginia Blues
Written by A.P. Carter
Included in 1971 documentary Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends
- To Be Alone with You
- Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan
- Nashville Skyline Rag
Previously released on the album Earl Scruggs Performing with His Family and Friends
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Earl Scruggs: banjo
Randy Scruggs: acoustic guitar
Gary Scruggs: electric bass
