Bob Dylan: Springtime in New York, review: good times (almost) never seemed so good

The 1980s are not exactly considered Bob Dylan’s golden period, least of all by the musician himself. “I felt done for, an empty burned-out wreck,” he wrote in his 2004 memoir, Chronicles. “My own songs had become strangers to me.”

Coming out of a proselytizing Born Again Christian phase that had alienated many of his original fans, Dylan was searching for a new sound to connect with the MTV generation. Sporting outsize shoulder padded jackets and skinny ties, the great troubadour was persuaded to try layered, digitized and radically overdubbed recording techniques antithetical to his usual quickfire studio approach, with mixed results. Dylan found the process “tedious” and admitted “I didn’t like the current sounds – mine or anyone else’s.”

Nevertheless, during this period, Dylan released the masterful Infidels (1983) and composed many songs of dazzling brilliance, including the epic Blind Willie McTell. The latter offers a sorrowful journey through America’s racist history that Dylan bafflingly put away and didn’t release until the first of his official Bootleg series (Volumes 1-3) in 1991.

The 16th volume of outtakes is subtitled Springtime in New York 1980-1985, implying that this period of doubt and experimentation sowed the seeds for Dylan’s resurgent nineties comeback. The box set contains 5CDs featuring 57 rare and previously unreleased recordings, including a desolate full band version of Blind Willie. We have reached the stage of the Bootleg series where we are being offered alternate takes of rejected songs, which might make things confusing for even the most dedicated Dylanologist.

The biggest service it offers Dylan fans is stripping away Arthur Baker’s trendy production excesses from 1985’s Empire Burlesque. Dylan stirs up a mighty roar on When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky backed by members of the E Street Band, mercifully free of the crashing Lynn drums, synthesized strings and excessive digital reverb on Baker’s bizarre disco arrangement. I’m still not convinced Dylan’s mirrorball folly would qualify as a masterpiece, but what fool made the decision to drop the snappy Ronnie Wood version of Clean Cut Kid, slashing Heartbreakers spin on Seeing the Real You at Last and moving epic New Danville Girl (later released as Brownsville Girl) from the official Empire track list? “Lots of songs got away from me,” Dylan admitted. “They were better before they were tampered with. Of course, it was me tampering with them.”

The Bootleg series aims to rewrite pop history by suggesting Dylan’s official 39 studio albums are mere snapshots in the artist’s creative continuum. What Volume 16 really demonstrates is that Dylan has a certain rock and folk comfort zone, and it was a mistake to ever push himself out of it. The most surprising treat is the sound of Dylan in fine voice warming up with cover versions of old favourites, including a soulful take of The Temptations’ I Wish It Would Rain, a steamy run through Elvis Presley’s Mystery Train with Ringo Starr on drums, and a slowed-down and heartfelt version of Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline. I wouldn’t go as far as to suggest that good times never seemed so good, but Springtime in New York reminds us that Dylan’s worst period is still more interesting than most artist’s purple patches.

Bob Dylan: Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series Vol.16 1980-1985 is out now on Columbia

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