The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack

The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack is the third most recent installment in the Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series" of rare and/or officially unissued recordings.

It was released in 2005 in conjunction with the Martin Scorsese television documentary on Dylan, called No Direction Home, which aired in late September, and features previously unreleased material from Dylan's formative years to his legendary 1966 world tour.

The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack was compiled with Scorsese's input. It fared well commercially, debuting on the Billboard 200 album chart on September 17, 2005 at number 16, with sales of 50,987 copies. It remained on the chart for 11 weeks. It was certified a gold record on October 21, 2005 by the RIAA. It also reached #21 in the UK.

Preparing The Bootleg Series Vol. 7

The project eventually titled as No Direction Home began to take shape in 1995 when Dylan's manager, Jeff Rosen, began scheduling interviews with Dylan's friends and associates. Among those interviewed were poet Allen Ginsberg and folk musician Dave Van Ronk, both of whom died before the film was ever completed. Dylan's old girlfriend Suze Rotolo also granted a rare interview, and she later told Rolling Stone Magazine that she was very pleased with the project's results. Dylan himself also sat for ten hours in a relaxed and open conversation with Rosen in 2000.

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, an unnamed source close to the project...
Read More