I'm sure I'm not the only one who is pumped about the upcoming Bob Dylan Bootleg Series release. This one, Tell Tale Signs, will be volume 8 and is a two cd compilation of rare and unreleased tracks from 1989-2006. There's even gonna be a super special Dylanphile edition that contains 13 extra tracks, a 7" single and a book about Dylan's singles from all over the world. Crazy! 

Anyway, thanks to my sweet friend Greg, my attention has been turned to one of the tracks from this upcoming release, an alternate version of the song "Mississippi" from Love and Theft. This song was originally recorded in an entirely different version for Time Out of Mind, but was cut from that album and eventually redone again for Love and Theft. Time Out of Mind is my favorite of Dylan's more recent albums, and it's kinda known to have been trimmed of what many claimed were its best tracks.

This unreleased version of "Mississippi" makes the song totally new again. It's incredible: stark and straightforward, making an already great song even better. This version gives the track and especially its hard-edged lyrics a rough majesty that was missing from the ultra-smooth Nashville-ized album version. It will be exciting to hear even more of these tracks on this new release in a few weeks! Tell Tale Signs comes out Oct 7 and in the meantime I'll be pulling out my more recently released Dylan albums and giving 'em a whirl in preparation.