Well Hell's Teeth and Bucket's of Blood! 

BOB DYLAN

'INFIDELS' 

The Complete Sessions

Are you in for a treat?  . . . . . . . this followed a chat with the guys over at Floppy Boot Stomp (well, Jobe) and we flagged the 'Infidels' sessions available at another blog and talked about how much we liked the album and he has really turned up trumps here. 

Now I really like 'Infidels' and yes I bought it as soon as it came out and there is a triumvirate of quite distinct albums (as Dylan so often does) around this time I include 'Empire Burlesque' and 'Knocked Out Loaded' [reference to the New Orleans classic Archibald song 'Junko Partner' which fit right at home with me having loads of version of it by then] Following as they do the relief from the born again period which I struggled with at the time (still do) and these albums mean a great deal to me  but some folk seem to classify them as flawed or second rate which frankly I don't. There are anomalies for sure (what was the thinking behind leaving off the new classic standard Bobby song devoted to 'Blind Willie McTell' ) Nothing if not as mercurial as ever but tracks like 'Brownsville Girl' more than make up for brevity of song selection and the including of Blind Willie in later compilations and official boots restores its place in the canon of Dylan's best songs IMHO

Bob by Lynn Goldsmith 1983

So pin back your lugholes and enjoy this set, they are simply phenomenal and a joy to listen to. 

Bob Dylan - The Complete Infidels Sessions - Floppy Boot Stomp 

plus an additional two disc bonus (you may have to search to find them but pm me if you struggle)

That's nine discs in all! . . . . count 'em!

There's a handy guide to the recordings here:

Searching For A Gem - Infidels

From the legendary Power Station outtakes and rehearsals around early 1983 various incarnations of this material exist most on a couple of CDs at a time with a variety of names but this has to be the most comprehensive and best quality version of this extraordinary moment in Bobby's recording hostly IMHO. It isn't even mentioned on Bobs Boots but those guys seem to have largely given up now

Bob by Lynn Goldsmith 1983

RS One last question. I think a lot of people take you for a pretty gloomy character these days, just judging by your photos. Why reinforce that image by calling this latest album Infidels? 

BD Well, there were other titles for it. I wanted to call it Surviving in a Ruthless World. But someone pointed out to me that the last bunch of albums I'd made all started with the letter s. So I said, "Well, I don't wanna get bogged down in the letter s." And then Infidels came into my head one day. I don't know what it means, or anything."From Rolling Stone Issue 424 — June 21, 1984

Enjoy! . . . .  I did and STILL AM!

Bobby in New York - Lynn Goldsmith 1983