Bob Dylan is ready to release his latest collection of unreleased tracks later this month, and now we have the premiere of his version of "Pretty Saro" from Another Self Portrait. The 18th century English folk song comes from Dylan's March 1970 Self Portrait sessions, and though he sang it six times, no version of the track has ever leaked or been released in any format. Finally, after 43 years, fans can hear Dylan's take on the traditional folk song, and as an extra treat, there is a video to go along with it.
Film director Jennifer Lebeau sifted through 1,200 photos from the Farm Security Administration in the Library of Congress. She selected images from the 1940s, '50s, and '60s and created the exclusive video, shown above. As Lebeau told Rolling Stone:
His vocal delivery is so haunting. I wanted to be able to visually represent that sort of unrequited love in a world that seems like it should be sad, but the people are always happy and fine... It literally goes from women on farms with wagons to Rosie the Riveter. They were doing laundry and tilling the land, and at the end, they're building planes and really in charge of everything at the work place. We wanted to include as many of these magnificent faces as we could, and tell this story across the years.
Lebeau has worked with Dylan before, notably on his 1994 MTV Unplugged video and the still-unreleased 1993 show at the Supper Club. The latter is a fan favorite which Lebeau hopes to release someday.
"Pretty Saro" will appear on Dylan's upcoming collection, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971). It will be released on August 27th on Columbia Records, and appears in both the standard 2-disc format and a deluxe edition box set of 4 CDs. The regular edition contains nearly 2 hours of music with 35 previously unheard tracks, including demos and alternate versions of songs from his Nashville Skylines, Self Portrait, and New Mornings albums. The deluxe bonus discs include remasters and live takes of the singer's material.
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10 - Another Self Portrait (1969-1971) is available for preorder now on iTunes, Amazon, and Bob Dylan's Official Store. You can learn more about the box set here.
Via Rolling Stone
