Ten of Swords

Things Twice
Ten of Swords is a ten-album set of Dylan material from 1961-1966.
Released in the summer of 1985, shortly before the release
of Biograph later that autumn, several rock journalists
declared Ten of Swords to be the more important release.

Below are a 1986 Rolling Stone article which prompted a hostile
reaction from Columbia, an excerpt from Clinton Heylin's book "Bootleg",
the track list and recording information and CDs on which
the Ten of Swords material may be found, among other things.

Originally compiled: May 11, 1997
Last revised: July 16, 1997

Rolling Stone
#471, April 10, 1986

Bootleg Bob Dylan Set Creates a Stir; CBS Not Amused

Following the success of Biograph, an illegal boxed set of Bob Dylan recordings has begun to turn up in record stores around the country, creating quite a stir among Dylan fans. The ten-record bootleg set, called Ten of Swords after a card in the tarot deck, contains material Dylan recorded between 1961 and 1966. Selling for as much as eighty dollars, Ten of Swords is a ascinating--and for collectors, indispensable--companion to the seven official Dylan albums released during that same time period.

The collection's 134 tracks (118 different songs, more than eight hours of material) include numerous gems. A few highlights: the entire 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert [now known to be 17 May 1966 Manchester], one of Dylan's greatest performances; revealing outtakes from the seminal Bring It All Back Home and Highway 61 sessions; and a nearly eight-minute poem, "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie," from a concert at Carnegie Hall.

Equally important, the pressings are of good quality, with, for the most part, little surface noise. The recordings have been professionally packaged in chronological order, and the box includes a well-written sixteen-page booklet providing detailed notes on the material.

As might be expected, Columbia, Dylan's label, is not too pleased about the appearance of Ten of Swords. "We put on warning not only the people who have put this project together, but retailers, who can be made to pay a severe penalty for carrying this album," said CBS spokesman Robert Altshuler. "We're pursuing the perpetrators of this crime, and we'll track them down and drag them into court."

Dylan himself, in the liner notes to Biograph, said: "The bootleg records, those are outrageous.... You're sitting and strumming in a motel, you don't think anybody's there...and then it appears on a bootleg record. With a cover that's got a picture of you that was taken from underneath your bed and it's got a strip-tease title and it costs thirty dollars. Amazing. Then you wonder why most artists feel so paranoid."


Subject: Ten of Swords
From: Ray Schweighardt (rainman@CYBERNEX.NET)
Date: 1996/04/23

		*	*	*
My review, for what it's worth -- TEN OF SWORDS is the "Citizen Kane" of bootlegs. It revolutionized the way they are put together, and it showed immense respect to the people who purchase them. Of course 95% (if not 100%) of the set has been surpassed by CD releases (though not all in one place).

rainman
-------
"Yes there's something you can send back to me,
Spanish boots."



Subject: TEN OF SWORDS
From: ccruzan@aol.com (CCruzan)
Date: 1996/03/26

For what its worth a copy sold in Atlanta last year for $300.00 USD

Chuck Cruzan


The following excerpt is from Clinton Heylin's "Bootleg: The Secret History of the Other Recording Industry" (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994). "Richard" is the name of the bootlegger reasonsible for Ten of Swords.

Richard's most famous collection generated the sort of controversy that nearly put him in the clink. CBS had been planning a five-album boxed-set of Dylan's work since 1983 but had twice shelved the project when, in the spring of 1985, Richard decided to do his own boxed-set. Richard preferred his Dylan vintage, which meant 1961-6, and he devised a ten-album set that incorporated all the circulating studio outtakes for Mr. D's pre-accident bootleg sources - the Minneapolis Hotel tape, the second Gaslight tape and Albert Hall '66 - all in one lavish boxed-set. Taking his liner notes from Paul Cable's book on Dylan's unreleased recordings, Richard put out the set dubbed Ten of Swords, at the end of the summer, on Tarantula Records. The reaction to what was - save for the exemplary quality of his source tapes and the conceptual integrity of the set - really a rather humdrum release, particularly when compared with some of the Dylan releases then coming out of Europe, was nothing short of astonishing.

Richard:

I never really liked Dylan bootlegs, and I hardly owned any. I always thought they were a hodgepodge, I didn't like the way they mixed up eras ... I wanted to do it chronologically. I stole that stuff from Paul Cable's book ... I re-edited his stuff. I tried to put in bits of humour here and there, 'cos I thought that he was incredibly dry, but basically said what he said ... I knew about [CBS's] Biograph [set] and I thought it was never gonna come out. That's what the word was. [But] there is virtually nothing on Biograph that's on Ten of Swords and in the few cases where it is, Columbia edited their tapes ... they edited it unnecessarily for that album, so the real company botched it up ... When Ten of Swords was done I had six done in one place and four done in another, to split the work and try to get it all done at once. Otherwise it would've taken longer to get made.

It was fortunate for Richard that the problems of putting together the set required the services of two plants. When Biograph was finally released in the autumn of 1985, several journalists seized upon Ten of Swords as the more important release. When Cameron Crowe, who had actually been responsible for the booklet that accompanied the Biograph set, gave Ten of Swords a rave write-up, along with Rolling Stone and an entire clan of sixties-relic rock journalists, Columbia reacted with ill-considered venom.

Temporarily withdrawing its advertising from Rolling Stone, Columbia claimed the magazine was endorsing an illegal product. The LA Times proceeded to remind Columbia of a 1969 press release from the time of the appearance of the Great White Wonder. According to Columbia, Great White Wonder was "an abuse of the integrity of a great artist ... crassly depriving [Bob Dylan] of the opportunity to perfect his performances to the point where he believes in their integrity and validity." Six years later, Columbia released The Basement Tapes officially, presumably no longer of the opinion that it was "an abuse of the integrity of a great artist." Ten of Swords also serve to highlight that the seventeen unreleased cuts on CBS's $50 boxed-set were another form of extortion from an official record company. CBS decided they were going to nail the bastard bootlegger who had sent such yolk in their direction.

Richard:

[Ten of Swords] was scary, because Walter Yentnikoff seemed so sure that Columbia would track down the perpetrator/s and they nearly pulled all their advertising from Rolling Stone and they had that battle going on. That was funny, 'cos I hate Rolling Stone and I was glad that they were being hassled by something I had done ... but I was scared because the heat was on ... friends of mine sent really huge newspaper articles from all over the country, half-page article and stuff. That thing got really famous and I goes, "This is good and this is bad," and it sold out really fast for a ten-record set that was really expensive ... [But] there was no way I was ever going to make it again, even though there was a huge demand.

Thankfully, it never occurred to the FBI that the set might have been pressed at two or more plants, or that its impressive packaging might provide them with their best lead. When they did the rounds of usual suspects, they predictably came up blank.

"Eric Bristow":

I went into my pressing plant right after Ten of Swords, and the guy who owned the pressing plant called me into his office, which was unusual. I was a bit worried, 'cos I used to just deal with the foreman ... and he says, "Have we got any Bob Dylan here?" and I went "Yeahhh ...?" and he goes, "Its not a ten-record set, is it?" "No..." and he goes, "Oh..." So I say, "Why?" and he says, "Because we had some FBI guys in here asking about a thing called Ten of Swords ..." I said, "It wasn't me ..." He says, "Do you know who did it?" I said, "Yeah." "Did he do it here?" "He might have!"

Deke [a collector]:
The really funny thing about that whole affair is the box itself. It can only be made by one company in the whole United States - a place that manufactures boxes for kid's toys.



                                 ZIMMERMAN
                               TEN OF SWORDS
                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                            Tarantula CL 16319  
===========================================================================
Side 1:  Minnesota Hotel Tapes                                      (25:16)
1.   Candy Man                                             12/22/61  (3:06)
2.   Baby, Please Don't Go                                 12/22/61  (4:15)
3.   Hard Times in New York Town                           12/22/61  (2:17)
4.   Stealin'                                              12/22/61  (2:13)
5.   Poor Lazarus                                          12/22/61  (3:24)
6.   I Ain't Got No Home                                   12/22/61  (2:07)
7.   It's Hard to Be Blind                                 12/22/61  (3:01)
8.   Dink's Song                                           12/22/61  (4:49)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 2:  Minnesota Hotel Tapes                                      (25:19)
9.   Wade in the Water                                     12/22/61  (2:58)
10.  In the Evening When the Sun Goes Do                   12/22/61  (3:47)
11.  Baby, Let Me Follow You Down                          12/22/61  (2:59)
12.  Sally Girl                                            12/22/61  (1:42)
13.  Gospel Plow                                           12/22/61  (1:29)
14.  Man of Constant Sorrow                                12/22/61  (3:30)
15.  Naomi Wise                                            12/22/61  (3:03)
16.  I Was Young When I Left Home                          12/22/61  (5:51)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 3:  Minnesota Hotel Tapes                                      (25:43)
17.  Cocaine                                               12/22/61  (2:17)
18.  Ramblin' Round                                        12/22/61  (3:20)
19.  VD Blues                                              12/22/61  (1:57)
20.  VD Waltz                                              12/22/61  (0:52)
21.  VD City                                               12/22/61  (1:48)
22.  VD Gunner's Blues (Landlady)                          12/22/61  (2:37)
23.  Black Cross                                           12/22/61  (4:56)
24.  Long John                                             12/22/61  (6:21)
25.  The Story of East Orange New Jersey                   12/22/61  (1:32)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 4:  BOB DYLAN sessions                                         (25:45)
26.  Sally Girl                                            04/25/62  (2:22)
27.  Baby Please Don't Go                                  04/25/62  (2:03)
28.  Milk Cow Calf's Blues/Good Morning Blues              04/25/62  (2:42)
29.  Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues           04/25/62  (3:52)
30.  I Heard That Lonesome Whistle                         04/24/62  (2:07)
31.  Talkin' Hava Negeila Blues                            04/25/62  (0:50)
32.  Worried Blues                                         07/09/62  (2:37)
33.  Wichita (Going to Louisiana)                          04/25/62  (3:06)
34.  Going to New Orleans                                  04/25/62  (3:14)
35.  Quit Your Lowdown Ways                Whitmark Demos  Dec 1962  (2:46)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 5:  Leeds Music Demos                                          (23:30)
36.  He was a Friend of Mine                               Jan 1962  (4:00)
37.  Man on the Street [false start]                       Jan 1962  (1:07)
38.  Hard Times in New York Town                           Jan 1962  (1:53)
39.  Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues           Jan 1962  (3:35)
40.  Standing on the Highway                               Jan 1962  (2:30)
41.  Poor Boy Blues                                        Jan 1962  (2:55)
[The box back and  the record label for side 5 do not list this track,
however there are 9 bands on the vinyl!  Page 5 of the booklet reads:
"NOTE: the box cover and record label copy mistakenly lists only 8
songs on this side, omitting "Poor Boy Blues"."]

42.  Ballad for a Friend                                   Jan 1962  (2:20)
43.  Man on the Street                                     Jan 1962  (1:27)
44.  Rambling, Gambling Willie                             Jan 1962  (3:30)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 6:  THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN sessions                        (25:08)
45.  Mixed Up Confusion                                    11/00/62  (2:32)
46.  Corrina, Corrina                                      04/25/62  (2:42)
47.  Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues                    *04/25/62  (3:50)
48.  Let Me Die in My Footsteps [takes 1]                 *04/25/62  (4:08)
49.  Baby, I'm in the Mood for You                         07/09/62  (2:56)
50.  Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie                             *04/24/62  (4:15)
51.  The Death of Emmett Till              Whitmark Demos  Dec 1962  (4:28)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side  7: Whitmark Demos                                             (23:56)
52.  Ain't Gonna Grieve                                    Aug 1963  (1:25)
53.  Long Time Gone                                        Mar 1963  (3:45)
54.  Long Ago, Far Away                                    Nov 1962  (2:30)
55.  Hero Blues                                            May 1963  (1:37)
56.  Whatcha Gonna Do?                                     Aug 1963  (3:28)
57.  Gypsy Lou                                             Aug 1963  (3:42)
58.  Guess I'm Doin' Fine                                  Jan 1964  (4:00)
59.  Walkin' Down the Line                                 Mar 1963  (3:19)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side  8: Whitmark Demos                                             (25:00)
60.  All Over You                                          Mar 1963  (3:43)
61.  Bound to Lose, Bound to Win                           Mar 1963  (1:21)
62.  I Shall Be Free                                       Apr 1963  (4:25)
63.  I'd Hate to Be You on That Dreadful Day               Mar 1963  (1:57)
64.  When the Ship Comes In                                Sep 1963  (2:51)
65.  The Times They Are A-Changin'                         Sep 1963  (3:00)
66.  Tomorrow Is a Long Time                               Dec 1962  (3:40)
67.  Farewell                                              Dec 1963  (3:55)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side  9: The Gaslight Tape                                          (23:34)
68.  Ballad of Hollis Brown                                Oct 1962  (5:40)
69.  Kind Hearted Woman Blues                              Oct 1962  (2:30)
70.  See That My Grave Is Kept Clean                       Oct 1962  (3:25)
71.  Black Cross                                           Oct 1962  (4:00)
72.  No More Auction Block                                 Oct 1962  (2:55)
73.  Rocks and Gravel                                      Oct 1962  (5:00)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 10: The Gaslight Tape                                          (23:51)
74.  Barbara Allen                                         Oct 1962  (7:51)
75.  Moonshine Blues                                       Oct 1962  (4:08)
76.  Motherless Children                                   Oct 1962  (3:10)
77.  Handsome Molly                                        Oct 1962  (2:45)
78.  John Brown                                            Oct 1962  (5:55)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 11: The Gaslight Tape                                          (23:51)
79.  Don't Think Twice, It's All Right                     Oct 1962  (3:10)
80.  Ain't No More Cane                                    Oct 1962  (1:58)
81.  Cocaine                                               Oct 1962  (2:55)
82.  The Cuckoo Is a Pretty Bird                           Oct 1962  (2:18)
83.  West Texas                                            Oct 1962  (5:35)
84.  A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall                            Oct 1962  (6:36)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 12:                                                            (22:39)
85.  Ramblin' Down Through the World   New York Town Hall  04/12/63  (2:00)
86.  Who Killed Davey Moore?           New York Town Hall  04/12/63  (3:56)
87.  Hero Blues                        New York Town Hall  04/12/63  (2:51)
88.  Dusty Old Fairgrounds                  Carnegie Hall  10/26/63  (5:31)
89.  Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie         Carnegie Hall  10/26/63  (7:52)
90.  Mr. Tambourine Man                    Whitmark Demos  Jun 1964  (5:45)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 13                                                             (25:08)
91.  Rocks and Gravel               FREEWHEELIN' sessions  04/25/62  (2:20)
92.  Kingsport Town                 FREEWHEELIN' sessions  11/14/62  (3:24)
93.  Whatcha Gonna Do?              FREEWHEELIN' sessions  11/14/62  (3:03)
94.  Moonshiner                        THE TIMES sessions  08/12/63  (5:17)
95.  Suze (The Cough Song)             THE TIMES sessions  10/24/63  (2:07)
96.  Seven Curses                      THE TIMES sessions  08/06/63  (3:52)
97.  Mama, You Been on My Mind [guitar]    Whitmark Demos  Jun 1964  (2:53)
98.  Mama, You Been on My Mind [piano]     Whitmark Demos  Jun 1964  (2:09)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 14                                                             (24:26)
99.  Eternal Circle                    THE TIMES sessions  10/24/63  (3:00)
100. Walls of Red Wing              FREEWHEELIN' sessions  04/23/63  (5:07)
101. Only a Hobo                       THE TIMES sessions  08/12/63  (3:30)
102. Paths of Victory                  THE TIMES sessions  08/12/63  (3:40)
103. Percy's Song                      THE TIMES sessions  10/24/63  (7:03)
104. Farewell                          THE TIMES sessions  08/06/63  (2:09)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 15                                                             (26:27)
105. Lay Down Your Weary Tune          THE TIMES sessions  10/24/63  (4:45)
106. Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag 1     THE TIMES sessions  10/24/63  (1:04)
107. I'll Keep It with Mine            BACK HOME sessions  01/24/65  (4:21)
108. Denise                         ANOTHER SIDE sessions  06/09/64  (3:04)
109. That's All Right Mama/Sally    FREEWHEELIN' sessions  10/26/62  (3:12)
110. East Laredo Blues 1               THE TIMES sessions  10/23/63  (3:17)
111. Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag 2     THE TIMES sessions  10/24/63  (3:27)
112. California                     ANOTHER SIDE sessions  06/09/64? (3:00)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 16                                                             (24:53)
113. If You Gotta Go, Go Now           BACK HOME sessions  01/15/65  (3:00)
114. Love Minus Zero/No Limit          BACK HOME sessions  01/14/65  (3:52)
115. She Belongs to Me                 BACK HOME sessions  01/14/65  (3:12)
116. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue      BACK HOME sessions  01/14/65  (3:38)
117. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? HWY61 sessions  07/30/65  (4:08)
118. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a   HWY61 sessions  06/15/65  (3:38)
119. From a Buick 6                        HWY61 sessions  07/30/65  (3:11)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 17                                                             (24:23)
120. Sitting on a Barbed-Wire Fence        HWY61 sessions  06/15/65  (4:12)
121. Desolation Row                        HWY61 sessions  08/02/65 (11:22)
122. She's Your Lover Now                 BLONDE sessions  01/21/66  (7:43)
123. Miami Sales Message  Levy's Recording Studio, London  05/12/65  (0:54)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 18: Sessions with the Hawks (The Band)                         (24:15)
124. Medicine Sunday                                       10/05/65  (1:00)
125. Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?                 10/05/65  (0:58)
126. I Wanna Be Your Lover                                 10/05/65  (3:26)
127. Visions of Johanna                                    11/30/65  (7:44)
128. She's Your Lover Now                 BLONDE sessions  01/21/66  (6:40)
129. Number One (#1)                                       10/05/65  (4:13)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 19: Manchester, England (not Royal Albert Hall)                (23:54)
130. Tell Me, Momma                                        05/17/66  (4:22)
131. I Don't Believe You                                   05/17/66  (5:56)
132. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down                          05/17/66  (4:07)
133. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues                           05/17/66  (5:55)
134. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat                             05/17/66  (3:34)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Side 20: Manchester, England (not Royal Albert Hall)                (22:39)
135. Tune-Up & Admonition                                  05/17/66  (1:30)
136. One Too Many Mornings                                 05/17/66  (3:42)
137. Ballad of a Thin Man                                  05/17/66  (7:24)
138. Like a Rolling Stone                                  05/17/66  (8:16)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 *Originally released on the withdrawn THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN album.



From: Jeff (drjibe@netwiz.net)
Subject:Ten of Swords
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997

: Was this ever put out on disc?
: Any material on it that is not readily available on other CD'S?

This is spread out on multiple CDs.

From the best that I can match them up not having the albums, then you can find on:

Side 1 - The Minnesota Tapes
Side 2 - The Minnesota Tapes
Side 3 - The Minnesota Tapes
Side 4 - The Bootleg Series 1961-1991 & The Freewheelin Outtakes
Side 5 - The Bootleg
Side 6 - The Bootleg Series 1961-1991 & The Freewheelin Outtakes
Side 7 - The Witmark Years
Side 8 - The Witmark Years
Side 9 - Gaslight Tapes
Side 10 - Gaslight Tapes
Side 11 - Gaslight Tapes
Side 12 - Bob Dylan In Concert & Talking Too Much
Side 13 - The Bootleg Series 1961-1991 & The Freewheelin Outtakes & The Witmark Years
Side 14 - The Bootleg Series 1961-1991 & Biograph
        Missing: Farewell
Side 15 - Biograph & Strip Tease & 1965 Revisited & The Emmet Grogan Acetates
Side 16 - 1965 Revisited
Side 17 - 1965 Revisited & The Lonesome Sparrow Sings
Side 18 - 1965 Revisited & The Bootleg Series 1961-1991
Side 19 - Guitars Kissing and the Contemporary Fix
Side 20 - Guitars Kissing and the Contemporary Fix

EDLIS Boot Advisory Agent



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