RECORDINGS Quick Spins

TELL TALE SIGNS

Bob Dylan

"Well the sun went down on me a long time ago," Bob Dylan sings on "Red River Shore," one of the many unearthed gems on "Tell Tale Signs," the eighth volume of his superlative "Bootleg Series." When the song was recorded in 1997, it could have been seen as an accurate statement, even if taken out of context in a song about lost love. But hearing it now, more than a decade later, the outtake from the career-reviving, Grammy-winning "Time Out of Mind" seems like just the latest in a long line of jokes that Dylan got before anyone else. His recent trilogy of albums serves notice that Dylan remains one of the most relevant songwriters alive, and "Tell Tale Signs" reinforces something else that has held true for much of the last 45 years: Dylan's back pages aren't mere curiosities but essential listening.

"Tell Tale Signs" covers 1989-2006, when Dylan reestablished himself as a voice of wisdom and took on a new role as caretaker of classic American music traditions, many of which are showcased on this double-disc set. There's "The Lonesome River," his lively collaboration with bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley; a straightforward, solo acoustic take on Robert Johnson's "32-20 Blues"; a rough-throated rendering of Western swing standard "Cocaine Blues" (taken from a 1997 Wolf Trap performance); and two versions of the unreleased "Mississippi," one of which is a dusty back-porch blues and another that's a slightly swampy, laid-back shuffle.

Dylan's constant desire to reinvent his own songs is accounted for with a half-dozen alternate takes, including the gently galloping "Someday Baby," which is superior to the version on "Modern Times." A handful of live tracks are also well-chosen; the searing "High Water (for Charley Patton)" and a vulnerable "Ring Them Bells" will astound Dylanphiles and casual fans alike.

-- David Malitz

DOWNLOAD THESE: "Ring Them Bells" (live at the Supper Club, Nov. 17, 1993), "Someday Baby" (alternate version, "Modern Times"), "Mississippi" (Unreleased Version No. 2, "Time Out of Mind")

LITTLE HONEY

Lucinda Williams

Much has been made of how finding "real love," as this record's hurtling leadoff track puts it, has spurred Lucinda Williams's productivity. But even prior to finding her fiance and producer, Tom Overby -- and arguably as early as 2001's "Essence" -- Williams had quit fretting over every chord and rhyme and started loosening up. "Little Honey" is but the latest, and most cohesive, installment in her commitment to forgoing self-consciousness and rocking out more.