The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9. The Witmark Demos 1962-1964 (2010)


 

Disc One
  1. Man on the Street
  2. Hard Times in New York Town
  3. Poor Boy Blues
  4. Ballad for a Friend
  5. Rambling, Gambling Willie
  6. Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre 
     Blues
  7. Standing on the Highway
  8. Man on the Street
  9. Blowin' in the Wind
  10.Long Ago Far Away
  11.A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
  12.Tomorrow is a Long Time
  13.The Death of Emmett Till
  14.Let Me Die in My Footsteps
  15.Ballad of Hollis Brown
  16.Quit Your Low Down Ways
  17.Baby, I'm in the Mood For You
  18.Bound To Lose, Bound To Win
  19.All Over You
  20.I'd Hate To Be You On That Dreadful Day
  21.Long Time Gone
  22.Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues
  23.Masters of War
  24.Oxford Town
  25.Farewell
  
Disc Two
  1. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
  2. Walkin' Down the Line
  3. I Shall Be Free
  4. Bob Dylan's Blues
  5. Bob Dylan's Dream
  6. Boots of Spanish Leather
  7. Walls of Red Wing
  8. Girl From the North Country
  9. Seven Curses
  10.Hero Blues
  11.Whatcha Gonna Do?
  12.Gypsy Lou
  13.Ain't Gonna Grieve
  14.John Brown
  15.Only a Hobo
  16.When the Ship Comes In
  17.The Times They Are A-Changin'
  18.Paths of Victory
  19.Guess I'm Doing Fine
  20.Baby Let Me Follow You Down
  21.Mama, You Been On My Mind
  22.Mr. Tambourine Man
  23.I'll Keep It With Mine

 

This is not a record to be played lightly or in the background—it demands your attention. In the same way that The Beatles’ Anthology project invited fans to look under the hood of their mythos, The Witmark Demos offers a fascinating, if raw, glimpse into the early studio life of Bob Dylan—not as a performer, but as a songwriter-for-hire. Recorded between 1962 and 1964, these tracks were never intended for the public. They were working materials for Witmark & Sons, Dylan’s publishing house, designed to sell songs to other artists. That alone grants the collection historical and artistic weight.

What is immediately striking is the unpolished nature of these recordings. These are not rehearsed studio takes; they are sketches—songs in the process of being born. Dylan coughs, fumbles, and occasionally stops mid-song to note that he’ll “finish it later.” Yet for all their imperfection, there’s a rugged strength to these tapes. The arrangements are stark—mostly just Dylan’s voice, guitar, and harmonica—but that sparseness lends them a certain gravity. The sonics are intimate, like sitting in the corner of a dim-lit studio while Dylan uncorks a new idea.

Crucially, every song here is an original. Dylan wasn’t covering other artists—he was pitching his own compositions. This was the period before The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan transformed him from a promising folkie into a generational icon. The demos capture that moment in flux: Dylan as a skilled craftsman, still working within the industry norms of the time, where even brilliant songwriters were expected to hand their work over to others.

But brilliance comes at a cost. A significant portion of this collection is burdened by Dylan’s most weighty political material. These songs—though urgent and sincere—are unrelenting in tone, making the listening experience feel, at times, like a trial of endurance. What the set gains in historical insight, it loses in replay value. These are not tracks to return to for comfort or casual enjoyment.

Still, fans will find gems. There are unreleased songs, alternate versions, and glimpses of Dylan’s lyrical evolution. But listeners hoping for revelatory reworkings of their favorites may be disappointed—many tracks sound nearly identical to their eventual studio releases, while others feel like early drafts, interesting but incomplete.

At over two and a half hours, the set tests one’s patience. It is best consumed in parts rather than as a continuous listen. The sheer volume of material may delight completists but will likely exhaust the average listener.

In short, The Witmark Demos is an essential archival release—a window into the mind of a young Dylan before the myth fully formed. For diehards, it’s indispensable. For casual fans, it’s an intriguing but challenging deep dive into the construction of a legend.

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