The last volume of Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series, 2021's Springtime in New York, chronicled the singer-songwriter at the outset of the 1980s.  On January 27, 2023, the seventeenth volume of the long-running series will arrive, this time exploring the creation of Dylan's thirtieth studio album.  Fragments: Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997) takes a deep dive into the three-time Grammy Award-winning album which was perceived by many as a comeback after a string of lackluster or uninspired LPs.  The collection will be available in 5CD and 10LP deluxe editions as well as 2CD and 4LP standard editions; digital versions of both presentations will also be released.

The 1990s found Bob Dylan in choppy waters.  He opened the decade with Under the Red Sky, an atypically star-studded set (guests included George Harrison, Elton John, Slash, David Crosby, Bruce Hornsby, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Jimmie Vaughan) which was criticized for lightweight material such as "Wiggle Wiggle."  Two sets of traditional folk songs and covers (Good as I Been to You and World Gone Wrong) followed, leading some to question whether Dylan's muse had abandoned him.  Time Out of Mind proved, categorically, that his mastery of the craft was still intact.

In early 1996, a little over two years after the release of World Gone Wrong, Dylan began writing original material once again.  In August, he entered Oxnard, California's Teatro Studio with producer-musician Daniel Lanois (with whom he had collaborated on 1989's well-received Oh Mercy), bassist Tony Garnier, and drummer-percussionist Tony Manguarian to record a clutch of original demos in sessions which stretched into October.  Dylan was heartened enough by the results to move to Miami's famed Criteria Studios in January 1997 to begin recording for a new album.  Session players would be joined there by members of his touring band including Bucky Baxter (acoustic guitar, pedal steel), Duke Robillard (guitar, electric Gibson L-5), Robert Britt (Martin acoustic, Fender Stratocaster), Cindy Cashdollar (slide guitar), Tony Garnier (bass guitar, upright bass), Augie Meyers (Vox organ combo, Hammond B3 organ, accordion), Jim Dickinson (keyboards, Wurlitzer electric piano, pump organ), and drummers Jim Keltner, Brian Blade, and David Kemper.

Dylan knew when inspiration had struck him.  Upon its release on September 30, 1997, Time Out of Mind captivated critics and fans alike.  Its dark, atmospheric sound was inspired by the early blues musicians Dylan cherished and was singled out by many for praise; the evocative cover photo was taken by Lanois in the studio.  In addition to such latter-day Dylan classics as "Love Sick," "Cold Irons Bound," and "Not Dark Yet," the album introduced "Make You Feel My Love."  An unusually straightforward ballad in traditional song form, it immediately attracted the ear of singers everywhere and has since been recorded by Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, Neil Diamond, and Adele - a few of the approximate 450 singers to have covered it.

Despite the album's enormous success, Dylan has expressed dissatisfaction with the spooky sound created by Daniel Lanois.  Disc One of Fragments premieres a new mix of the original LP by Michael H. Brauer at Brauer Sound Studio which aims to restore the in-studio ambiance and immediacy.  Liner notes author Steven Hyden explains, "The album itself has been remixed to sound more like how the songs came across when the musicians originally played them in the room, without the effects and processing that Lanois applied later. It's not meant to replace the Time Out of Mind that won all of those Grammys a quarter-century ago; it's a reimagining, an alternate view of a great work of art. If the original album remains mythic and enigmatic, this Time Out of Mind puts you in close proximity to the players." The Time Out of Mind (2022 Remix) disc will also be available digitally as remixed into "immersive audio."

The second and third discs of the box set present over two dozen session takes and alternates including four original songs that didn't make the 1997 track listing: "Dreamin' of You" and "Red River Shore" from the Teatro sessions and "Marchin' to the City" and "Mississippi" from Criteria (the latter of which would be re-recorded for 2001's seminal Love and Theft).  A fifth previously unreleased song from the Teatro sessions, the Scottish folk tune "The Water Is Wide," is also featured.

Disc Four of Fragments turns the spotlight onto Dylan's live performances from 1998-2001 in which he revisited and reimagined the Time Out of Mind songs with sympathetic touring bandmates Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, and slide guitar), Bucky Baxter (pedal steel and slide guitar, 1998-1999), Charlie Sexton (guitar, 2000-2001), Tony Garnier (bass) and David Kemper (drums). All of the live tracks on Disc Four are previously unreleased save "Make You Feel My Love" (May 21, 1998, Los Angeles) which was included on the "Things Have Changed" maxi-single.

The fifth and final disc reprises a dozen tracks from The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 including different studio versions of the original album's four outtakes as well as an alternate of "Can't Wait" and live versions of "Tryin' to Get to Heaven" and "Cold Irons Bound."

Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 arrives in all formats from Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on January 27.  The 2CD and 4LP "highlights" versions offer the new album remix plus twelve selected Outtakes and Alternates.  You'll find the track listing and pre-order links below.  The previously unreleased "Love Sick (Version 2)" is streaming now on all digital services.

Bob Dylan, Fragments - Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997): The Bootleg Series Vol.17 (Columbia/Legacy, 2023)

5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
10LP: Bob Dylan Store
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD 1: Time Out of Mind (2022 Remix) (*)

1. Love Sick
2. Dirt Road Blues
3. Standing in the Doorway
4. Million Miles
5. Tryin' to Get to Heaven
6. 'Til I Fell in Love with You
7. Not Dark Yet
8. Cold Irons Bound
9. Make You Feel My Love
10. Can't Wait
11. Highlands

CD 2: Outtakes and Alternates

1. The Water is Wide (8/19/96, Teatro) (*)
2. Dreamin' of You (10/1/96, Teatro)
3. Red River Shore - version 1 (9/26/96, Teatro) (*)
4. Love Sick - version 1 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios) (*)
5. 'Til I Fell in Love with You - version 1 (10/3/96, Teatro)
6. Not Dark Yet - version 1 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios) (*)
7. Can't Wait - version 1 (1/21/97, Criteria Studios) (*)
8. Dirt Road Blues - version 1 (1/12/97, Criteria Studios) (*)
9. Mississippi - version 1 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios)
10. 'Til I Fell in Love with You - version 2 (1/16/97, Criteria Studios)
11. Standing in the Doorway - version 1 (1/13/97, Criteria Studios)
12. Tryin' to Get to Heaven - version 1 (1/18/97, Criteria Studios)
13. Cold Irons Bound (1/9/97, Criteria Studios) (*)

CD 3: Outtakes and Alternates

1. Love Sick - version 2 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios)
2. Dirt Road Blues - version 2 (1/20/97, Criteria Studios)
3. Can't Wait - version 2 (1/14/97, Criteria Studios)
4. Red River Shore - version 2 (1/19/97, Criteria Studios)
5. Marchin' to the City (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
6. Make You Feel My Love - take 1 (1/5/97, Criteria Studios) (*)
7. Mississippi - version 2 (1/11/97, Criteria Studios) (*)
8. Standing in the Doorway - version 2 (1/13/97, Criteria Studios) (*)
9. 'Til I Fell in Love with You - version 3 (1/16/97, Criteria Studios)
10. Not Dark Yet - version 2 (1/18/97, Criteria Studios)
11. Tryin' to Get to Heaven - version 2 (1/12/97, Criteria Studios) (*)
12. Highlands (1/16/97, Criteria Studios) (*)

 CD 4: Live (1998-2001)

1. Love Sick (6/24/98, Birmingham, England)
2. Can't Wait (2/6/99, Nashville, Tennessee)
3. Standing In The Doorway (10/6/00, London, England)
4. Million Miles (1/31/98, Atlantic City, New Jersey)
5. Tryin' to Get to Heaven (9/20/00, Birmingham, England)
6. 'Til I Fell in Love with You (4/5/98, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
7. Not Dark Yet (9/22/00, Sheffield, England)
8. Cold Irons Bound (5/19/00, Oslo, Norway)
9. Make You Feel My Love (5/21/98, Los Angeles, California) (Previously released on the "Things Have Changed" maxi-single)
10. Can't Wait (5/19/00, Oslo, Norway)
11. Mississippi (11/15/01, Washington, D.C.)
12. Highlands (3/24/01, Newcastle, Australia)

CD 5: Bonus Disc (all tracks previously Released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006)

1. Dreamin' of You - Tell Tale Signs (10/1/96, Teatro)
2. Red River Shore - Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (1/19/97, Criteria Studios)
3. Red River Shore - Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/8/97, Criteria Studios)
4. Mississippi - Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (9/96, Teatro)
5. Mississippi - Tell Tale Signs, version 3 (1/17/97, Criteria Studios)
6. Mississippi - Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/17/97, Criteria Studios)
7. Marchin' to the City - Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
8. Marchin' to the City - Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/6/97, Criteria Studios)
9. Can't Wait - Tell Tale Signs, version 1 (10/1/96, Teatro)
10. Can't Wait - Tell Tale Signs, version 2 (1/5/97, Criteria Studios)
11. Cold Irons Bound - Tell Tale Signs, live (6/11/04, Bonnaroo Music Festival)
12. Tryin' to Get to Heaven - Tell Tale Signs, live (10/5/00, London, England)

(*) included on 2CD/4LP editions