Midnight Train – new bootleg - in a department store!

On a visit to Andalusia last year, I picked up a 2CD package, Bob Dylan (Seleccion 5 Estrellas), combining official recordings with wild and wacky live tracks and outtakes. I bought it in a branch of El Corte Ingles, Spain’s leading chain of department stores.

Last week, in one of Valencia’s many branches of El Corte Ingles, I almost bought another “grey market” CD, Bob Dylan and The Band, with Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield - Midnight Train: Recorded Live Between 1964 and 1966.

The first eight tracks were said to be from the 1965 US tour rehearsals, the last two from Edinburgh, May 1966. I pondered long before deciding to pass – the short timings suggested that three of the 1965 tracks were aborted starts and, at £10, it was overpriced for a dodgy looking piece of merchandise.

But, once again, I was surprised to see a leading retailer offering goods you never see for sale in kosher retail outlets in the rest of the continent; Spain’s copyright laws must be very different from those of the rest of Europe.




Gerry Smith