but I'll dream of pretty Saro wherever I go...
August 7, 2013 10:09 PM   Subscribe

Bob Dylan ran through the 18th century English folk song "Pretty Saro" six consecutive times during the Self Portrait sessions in March 1970, but none of those versions made the final cut for the album and the song remained in Columbia's vault for the past 43 years, until now. Bob Dylan's Lost 1970 Gem 'Pretty Saro' - Premiere
posted by flapjax at midnite (14 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite
 
It's a lovely old tune, one that I first heard about 35 years ago on a Pete Seeger record. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate Seeger's version on the nets. Maybe someone else can find it and post it here.

The wonderful Iris DeMent sings a version which is much closer, melodically, to the Pete Seeger rendition. It appeared in the movie Songcatcher.

Dylan's version, unsurprisingly, abandoned the *traditional* melody: he took it somewhere else altogether.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:17 PM on August 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


This is fantastic... I knew there was a reason I was staying up late... this is it! Thanks, Flapjax...
posted by HuronBob at 10:19 PM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


As a Dylan fan who loves this phase of his career in particular, and is named Sara and already loves "Sara", it's nice to hear this.

The video with slides of what I'm guessing are color photos from the 30s is gorgeous, too.

Yes, I do like to pretend Bob Dylan recorded a bunch of very flattering songs about me.
posted by Sara C. at 10:27 PM on August 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


Yes, I do like to pretend Bob Dylan recorded a bunch of very flattering songs about me.

Like, say, "Idiot Wind"?

well, after all, that one was about Sara too, as I understand it...

posted by flapjax at midnite at 10:37 PM on August 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Wonderful. Self Portrait is one of my favorite - if not my very favorite, Dylan records. Looking forward to this new release.
posted by alex_skazat at 10:39 PM on August 7, 2013


Wait. What?

"She worked on ... his unreleased 1993 show at the Supper Club. The latter is a fan favorite, through it remains in the vault. "We used five cameras and shot four shows over two nights," Lebeau says. "I have some amazing film. I have hopes and prayers it'll one day see the light of day."

Now that would be amazing!
posted by maupuia at 10:48 PM on August 7, 2013


This is lovely. Thanks.
posted by dougzilla at 10:58 PM on August 7, 2013


Lovely. I also like Sam Amidon's version.
posted by Callicvol at 12:45 AM on August 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


Lovely. There's already a real sense of a lost world in these photos, too, in the people, but just as much in the buildings, clothes and activities, even (it seems to me) in the way people stand, and the light in the photos.

Callicvol - yes, a nice version. Knowing Amidon's version is why I clicked, tbh.
posted by aesop at 1:01 AM on August 8, 2013


Here is Pete's Saro.
posted by swift at 4:14 AM on August 8, 2013 [5 favorites]


This is great, thanks! This 1982 Alan Lomax clip of Cas Wallin singing the song on his porch is one of my favorite things on YouTube.
posted by neroli at 5:59 AM on August 8, 2013 [3 favorites]


Lovely version... I didn't know Dylan ever recorded it. I learned it from the Doc Watson version.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 6:10 AM on August 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


Here is Pete's Saro.

Interesting that the Smithsonian Folkways page only had a snippet, but Myspace has the whole thing..
posted by dubold at 7:06 AM on August 8, 2013


To complete the circle, the photos are taken from the Farm Security Administration photos, previously on Metafilter.
posted by one_bean at 11:24 AM on August 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


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