Jimmy LaFave - Trail One (1998)

Containing 31 previously unreleased tracks, this two-CD set highlights the past two decades of LaFave’s growth both as a songwriter and as a prime interpreter of Dylan material. Here he tackles no less than a dozen of Dylan’s classics, ranging from the opening “Positively 4th Street” to “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” to the quiet stillness of “If Not for You.” Equally as satisfying are LaFave’s own originals, with “Red Dirt Roads at Night,” “Burden to Bear,” “How It Must Remain,” “Ellie’s Song,” “Loved You Like Rainbows” and “The Open Road” all being particularly compelling statements. The sound, taken from live performances and radio broadcasts from Texas and around the world, is rough and right, giving this an official bootleg kind of feel that fits the music nicely. (Cub Koda, AllMusic)