Bob Dylan 'Bootleg Series Volume 18: Through The Open Window, 1956

In late 1961, barely a year after he’d arrived in New York City from the Midwest, Bob Dylan already contained multitudes. The proof arrives early in Through the Open Window , the 18th edition of Dylan’s ongoing Bootleg Series . That fall, Dylan, then only 20 years old, recorded his first album with producer John Hammond. Among the many unheard tapes crammed into the box’s eight discs are leftovers from those sessions, including an alternate version of the traditional “Man of Constant Sorrow.” Sounding like an unsure Boy Scout asking for the approval of his Scoutmaster after attempting a square knot, Dylan lays down a take and then asks Hammond, “Did you get that? … Did you like that?” But when Hammond asks if anyone else had cut the song already, a different Dylan emerges. “Not tha