Blood on the Tracks Outtakes

Blood on the Tracks is marked by some of Dylan’s aesthetic masterpieces. The album is also associated with the two outtakes “Up to Me” and “Call Letter Blues,” omitted and replaced at the last minute by “Buckets of Rain” and “Meet Me in the Morning.” The folk song “Up to Me” is included on Biograph, whereas “Call Letter Blues,” a lowdown blues song, was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3.

Up To Me Bob Dylan / 6:19

Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Tony Brown: bass / Recording Studio: A&R Recording (Studio A), New York: September 19, 1974 / Producer: Bob Dylan / Sound Engineers: Phil Ramone and Glenn Berger / Set Box: Biograph (CD 3) / Date of Release: November 7, 1985

“Up to Me” is a synthesis of “Tangled Up in Blue” and “Idiot Wind.” From the first song, Dylan takes the tangle of feelings of love that may be reality or may be fiction; from the second, the defiant response to those writing calumnies against him. In the second verse he sings, “I was just too stubborn to ever be governed by enforced insanity.” Surely “Up to Me” is autobiographical, concerning his broken relationship with Sara, which dominates the song (“Everything went from bad to worse, money never changed a thing”), and his professional experience. When Dylan sings, “I’ve only got me one good shirt left and it smells of stale perfume,” he refers to his debut with his guitar and his harmonica around his neck. Yet he tirelessly refutes any association with himself: “I don’t think of myself as Bob Dylan. It’s like Rimbaud said, ‘I is another.’”¹²

Despite a session on September 16 with Eric Weissberg’s group, Dylan recorded seven other takes on September 19, accompanied by the excellent Tony Brown on bass. The last attempt was released on Biograph. The melody and chords are very close to “Shelter from the Storm,” allowing Dylan to adroitly modulate his singing. The song has never been played live.

Call Letter Blues Bob Dylan / 4:27

Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar; Eric Weissberg: guitar; Charlie Brown III: guitar; Buddy Cage: pedal steel guitar; Tom McFaul: keyboards (?); Tony Brown: bass; Richard Crooks: drums / Recording Studio: A&R Recording (Studio A), New York: September 16, 1974 / Producer: Bob Dylan / Sound Engineers: Phil Ramone and Glenn Berger / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991 (CD 2) / Date of Release: March 26, 1991

“Call Letter Blues” was recorded in two takes on September 16, 1974. Even if this blues song is credited to Bob Dylan, the Delta blues musician Robert Johnson’s influence is obvious, particularly his 1936 song “32–20 Blues” (Dylan recorded this in 1993, and released it on The Bootleg Series Volume 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare & Unreleased 1989–2006 in 2008). But “Call Letter Blues” is different from “Meet Me in the Morning.” With Dylan accompanied by Eric Weissberg’s band, the song takes off with Buddy Cage’s entrance, recording an extraordinary pedal steel guitar solo on September 24 during the overdub session where Mick Jagger was present in the control room. “Call Letter Blues” has never been performed onstage.