Bob Dylan

The one-man Cultural Revolution that was Bob Dylan in the '60s changed songwriting forever, sure, but, as The Witmark Demos intimates, he also destroyed Tin Pan Alley by empowering his peers to take ownership of their work, from page to stage. The Bootleg Series has straddled the line between giving demanding fans (almost) all the Dylan they could want while simultaneously bringing their hero down to earth with rare outtakes, alternate versions and songs that were jettisoned for one reason or another. Covering Dylan's heady first two-and-a-half years as a major label artist, Witmark is named for the publishing house where our hero recorded demos of new songs, ostensibly for other artists to sing, but really just to hear his ideas bounced back at him. Bolstered by savvy management and mentoring producer John Hammond, Dylan wasn't going to be some well of ideas for other voices; he was determined to be a performer in his own right, reaping the rewards of his artistry from record sales, publishing and live appearances. However fragmented and unrealized, in some ways, these performances capture the greatest songwriter of the last century establishing his talent unselfconsciously, exhibiting classic material in its earliest stages.