What can I say about this bootleg? Just click on the title link above and read the history of this record. Even if you (as a collector/fan) have heard all these tracks on various other releases before, I think that you (as a collector/fan) owe it to yourself to hunt down and listen to either an actual LP, a recording of one, or compile all the tracks from those various releases and make a copy for yourself so that you can hear what the very first bootleg sounded like to that first generation listener. Now, that may sound a little extreme, but that is the historian in me speaking.
These tracks give one a perspective of Dylan in his first decade. You hear the home recordings back in the early days and later, after achieving fame and success, you hear him again in the seclusion of 'Big Pink' with The Band. I sometimes have a hard time getting into long spans of listening to the 'Big Pink' sessions, but on this release you are given enough to show the genius at work and enjoy listening to the significance of these recordings.
Every now and then you can find a copy of this bootleg up on eBay. However, as mentioned above, you can create your own version. It's rather simple considering all the tracks are on common titles that circulate freely in the trading pool. Plus, if the pops and clicks bother you, or you don't have cash to hand over for the actual records, a personal CD creation of this masterpiece is a reasonable alternative.
To help out, I have listed the tracks for the Great White Wonder below, and also linked alternate bootleg sources that you can obtain the tracks from to help complete your own version of the Great White Wonder.
My note on recording a CD of the Great White Wonder is to put the order on the CD: Side 1, Side 3, Side 2, Side 4. The rationale for this is because LPs would tend to be Disc 1 (Side 1 and 2), Disc 2 (Side 3 and 4). The person would put the two LPs on the turntable and play Side 1 from Disc 1 and then the next record would drop and they would play Side 3 on Disc 2. Then they would flip the two LPs and play Side 2 from Disc 1 and finally Side 4 from Disc 2. The order of the songs tend to lead me to believe that was the intention of how these discs were to be played since they would then tend to follow (more or less) a chronological order to the songs. Regardless how you order your tracks on the CD, enjoy listening to a piece of recording history!
Side one:
1. Candy Man - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 2, Track 9
2. Ramblin' 'round - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 3, Track 15
3. Black cross - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 3, Track 16
4. Ain't got no home - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 2, Track 14
5. Death of Emmett Till - Broadside - Track 2 (Need to edit some of beginning until Dylan says, "This is Glen Chandler's tune")
6. Poor Lazarus - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 2, Track 13
Side two:
1. New Orleans rag - As Good As It Gets - Disc 1, Track 11
2. If you gotta go, go now - Dimestore Medicine - Disc 1, Track 5
3. Only a hobo - Twelve Curses - Track 1
4. Sitting on a barbed wire fence - Dimestore Medicine - Disc 1, Track 2
5. Mighty Quinn (take 1) - Genuine Basement Tapes 2 - Track 13
6. This wheel's on fire - Genuine Basement Tapes 3 - Track 12
Side three:
1. Baby please don't go - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 2, Track 10
2. Interview by Pete Seeger - Broadside - Track 1 (Need to edit up until Dylan says, "That's the way I feel about it")
3. Dink's song - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 2, Track 16
4. See that my grave is kept clean - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 3, Track 14
5. East Orange New Jersey - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 2, Track 18
6. Man of constant sorrow - Minnesota Tapes - Disc 2, Track 17
Side four:
1. I shall be released - Genuine Basement Tapes 3 - Track 14
2. Open the door, Homer (take 1) - Genuine Basement Tapes 2 - Track 15
3. Too much of nothing (take 2) - Genuine Basement Tapes 2 - Track 22
4. Nothing was delivered (take 1) - Genuine Basement Tapes 2 - Track 18 (This is the correct track)
5. Tears of rage (take 2) - Genuine Basement Tapes 2 - Track 11
6. Living the blues - Dylan / Cash Sessions - Track 17