Seen the arrow on the doorpost
Saying, “This land is condemned
All the way from New Orleans
To Jerusalem”
I traveled through East Texas
Where many martyrs fell
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell
Filene Center
Wolf Trap Farm Park For The Performing Arts
Vienna, Virginia
24 August 1997
- Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
- Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
- Larry Campbell (guitar)
- Tony Garnier (bass)
- David Kemper (drums & percussion)
This is also included on the bootleg set, The Genuine Bootleg Series Take 3
This is a bootleg that took the first 3 volumes of Dylan’s official Bootleg Series as it’s mold, they pick the “best” obscure Dylan material and try to presents it in a chronological context. They sometimes pick some very strange takes, it has to be said.
Review:
Perhaps the best so far of the Bootleg series. Incredible unreleased songs, including some very rare, hard to find gems. The packaging is as breathtaking as the material. A glossy, gatefold case contains picture sleeves for each disc. Each sleeve has a rare, glossy photo. Includes yet a different 40 page booklet containing 24 more rare, vintage photos. This is part of a true labor of love series of CD packages that also include 1 & 2.
– Bobsboots
And it has this incredible live version of Blind Willie McTell with great sound, I’ve played it hundreds of times. It is fantastic!
Well, I heard that hoot owl singing
As they were taking down the tents
The stars above the barren trees
Were his only audience
Them charcoal gypsy maidens
Can strut their feathers well
But nobody can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTellSee them big plantations burning
Hear the cracking of the whips
Smell that sweet magnolia blooming
See the ghosts of slavery ships
I can hear them tribes a-moaning
Hear that undertaker’s bell
Nobody can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTellThere’s a woman by the river
With some fine young handsome man
He’s dressed up like a squire
Bootlegged whiskey in his hand
There’s a chain gang on the highway
I can hear them rebels yell
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTellWell, God is in His heaven
And we all want what’s His
But power and greed and corruptible seed
Seem to be all that there is
I’m gazing out the window
Of the St. James Hotel
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell
-Egil & Hallgeir
Dylan doesn t get his tiing right with his little guitar lick most of the time but his singing is great here. Must be hard to do both at the same time.
love this version … love this song …..mercy,… while I push the play button once again
My first live Blind Willie McTell. When he didn’t play it at the other two shows I saw that tour, decided to take a chance a drive to Virginia in hopes he’d do it. Alan Lomax was in the audience that night.
Always a delight, to visit your site.