Great White Wonder, or GWW, is the first notable rock bootleg album, released in July 1969, and containing unofficially released recordings by Bob Dylan. It is also the first release of the famous bootleg record label Trademark of Quality (or TMQ). Several of the tracks presented here were recorded with The Band in the summer of 1967 in West Saugerties, New York, during the informal sessions that were later released in a more complete form in Dylan's 1975 album The Basement Tapes. Much of the other material consists of a recording made in December 1961 in a Minnesota hotel room (referred to as the "Minnesota hotel tape"), studio outtakes from several of Dylan's albums, and a live performance on The Johnny Cash Show. It was the first time that these previously unreleased recordings came to the market; many more would be released in similar formats over the coming years, though most were single albums, not double albums like this record.

The album was nicknamed the "great white wonder" due to the original pressing's plain white gatefold cover; newer pressings contain the name stamped on. This name—or variations, such as "white wonder",[1] "little white wonder"—would surface in later bootleg releases or in the initials "G.W.W." that were printed on record labels or covers.

Tracklist

A1

Mixed Up Confusion

 

A2

East Laredo

 

A3

I'll Keep It With Mine

 

A4

John Birch Society Blues

 

A5

Who Killed Davy Moore?

 

A6

Eternal Circle

 

A7

Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie

 

B1

I Was Young When I Left Home

 

B2

Percy's Song

 

B3

Corrina Corrina

 

B4

In The Evening

 

B5

Long John