Bob Dylan's "Basement Tapes," recorded with the Band in upstate New York during the late 1960s are among the most legendary recording sessions of all time - mainly because most of the recordings were never officially released.
Apart from an official 2-LP compilation released in 1975, most of the music has only appeared on scattered bootlegs.
Now, we can officially hear more. Dylan has announced the Nov. 4 release of
The Basement Tapes Complete, a 6-CD set collecting all 138 recordings, including 30 never before bootlegged.
The set will be the 11th volume of Dylan's long-running "Bootleg Series" of previously unreleased recordings. Also up on Amazon is a double-CD highlights set called
Basement Tapes Raw.
According to
Rolling Stone:
The previously unknown tracks include an epic, apocalyptic rocker, "Wild
Wolf"; an early draft of "I Shall Be Released" with slightly different
lyrics; a cover of Hank Williams' 1949 classic "My Bucket's Got a Hole
In It"; and country-fied versions of "Blowin' in the Wind," "It Ain't Me
Babe" and "One Too Many Mornings," featuring Band keyboardist Richard
Manuel handling lead vocals on the first verse.
"The stuff that people
haven't heard justifies, in every way, shape and form, all the hype,
hubris and myth that surrounds these tapes," says folk musician and
writer Sid Griffin, who wrote the liner notes for this new collection
(which is also being released as a two-disc version and three-LP set).
"Some of this stuff is mind-boggling."
There are also many Dylan originals that have never been released
outside of dodgy-sounding bootlegs, including "Sign on the Cross," the
trombone-heavy New Orleans ode "Bourbon Street," the 1950s pop parody
"I'm Your Teenage Prayer" and the jokey "See You Later Allen Ginsberg,"
which ends with Dylan and the Band cracking up. Throughout the tapes,
Dylan and the Band swerve from country to calypso to jazz to folk to
rock and even Spanish music.
Here's the tracklist:
CD 11. "Edge of the Ocean"
2. "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It" (written by Clarence Williams)
3. "Roll on Train"
4. "Mr. Blue" (written by Dewayne Blackwell)
5. "Belshazzar" (written by Johnny Cash)
6. "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" (written by Charlie A Feathers and Stanley A Kesler)
7. "You Win Again" (written by Hank Williams)
8. "Still in Town" (written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard)
9. "Waltzing with Sin" (written by Sonny Burns and Red Hayes)
10. "Big River (Take 1)" (written by Johnny Cash)
11. "Big River (Take 2)" (written by Johnny Cash)
12. "Folsom Prison Blues" (written by Johnny Cash)
13. "Bells of Rhymney" (written by Idris Davies and Peter Seeger)
14. "Spanish is the Loving Tongue"
15. "Under Control"
16. "Ol' Roison the Beau" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
17. "I'm Guilty of Loving You"
18. "Cool Water" (written by Bob Nolan)
19. "The Auld Triangle" (written by Brendan Francis Behan)
20. "Po' Lazarus" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
21. "I'm a Fool for You" (Take 1)
22. "I'm a Fool for You" (Take 2)
CD 21. "Johnny Todd" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
2. "Tupelo" (written by John Lee Hooker)
3. "Kickin' My Dog Around" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
4. "See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 1)"
5. "See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 2)"
6. "Tiny Montgomery"
7. "Big Dog"
8. "I'm Your Teenage Prayer"
9. "Four Strong Winds" (written by Ian Tyson)
10. "The French Girl (Take 1)" (written by Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson)
11. "The French Girl (Take 2)" (written by Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson)
12. "Joshua Gone Barbados" (written by Eric Von Schmidt)
13. "I'm in the Mood" (written by Bernard Besman and John Lee Hooker)
14. "Baby Ain't That Fine" (written by Dallas Frazier)
15. "Rock, Salt and Nails" (written by Bruce Phillips)
16. "A Fool Such As I" (written by William Marvin Trader)
17. "Song for Canada" (written by Pete Gzowski and Ian Tyson)
18. "People Get Ready" (written by Curtis L Mayfield)
19. "I Don't Hurt Anymore" (written By Donald I Robertson and Walter E Rollins)
20. "Be Careful of Stones That You Throw" (written by Benjamin Lee Blankenship)
21. "One Man's Loss"
22. "Lock Your Door"
23. "Baby, Won't You Be My Baby"
24. "Try Me Little Girl"
25. "I Can't Make it Alone"
26. "Don't You Try Me Now"
CD 31. "Young but Daily Growing" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
2. "Bonnie Ship the Diamond" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
3. "The Hills of Mexico" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
4. "Down on Me" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
5. "One for the Road"
6. "I'm Alright"
7. "Million Dollar Bash (Take 1)"
8. "Million Dollar Bash (Take 2)"
9. "Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 1)"
10. "Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 2)"
11. "I'm Not There"
12. "Please Mrs. Henry"
13. "Crash on the Levee (Take 1)"
14. "Crash on the Levee (Take 2)"
15. "Lo and Behold! (Take 1)"
16. "Lo and Behold! (Take 2)"
17. "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Take 1)"
18. "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Take 2)"
19. "I Shall be Released (Take 1)"
20. "I Shall be Released (Take 2)
21. "This Wheel's on Fire" (written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko)
22. "Too Much of Nothing (Take 1)"
23. "Too Much of Nothing (Take 2)"
CD 41. "Tears of Rage (Take 1)" (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
2. "Tears of Rage (Take 2)" (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
3. "Tears of Rage (Take 3)" (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
4. "Quinn the Eskimo (Take 1)"
5. "Quinn the Eskimo (Take 2)"
6. "Open the Door Homer (Take 1)"
7. "Open the Door Homer (Take 2)"
8. "Open the Door Homer (Take 3)"
9. "Nothing Was Delivered (Take 1)"
10. "Nothing Was Delivered (Take 2)"
11. "Nothing Was Delivered (Take 3)"
12. "All American Boy" (written by Bobby Bare)
13. "Sign on the Cross"
14. "Odds and Ends (Take 1)"
15. "Odds and Ends (Take 2)"
16. "Get Your Rocks Off"
17. "Clothes Line Saga"
18. "Apple Suckling Tree (Take 1)"
19. "Apple Suckling Tree (Take 2)"
20."Don't Ya Tell Henry"
21."Bourbon Street"
CD 51. "Blowin' in the Wind"
2. "One Too Many Mornings"
3. "A Satisfied Mind" (written by Joe Hayes and Jack Rhodes)
4. "It Ain't Me, Babe"
5. "Ain't No More Cane (Take 1)" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
6. "Ain't No More Cane (Take 2)" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
7. "My Woman She's A-Leavin'"
8. "Santa-Fe"
9. "Mary Lou, I Love You Too"
10. "Dress it up, Better Have it All"
11. "Minstrel Boy"
12. "Silent Weekend"
13. "What's it Gonna be When it Comes Up"
14. "900 Miles from My Home" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
15. "Wildwood Flower" (written by A.P. Carter)
16. "One Kind Favor" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
17. "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
18. "It's the Flight of the Bumblebee"
19. "Wild Wolf"
20. "Goin' to Acapulco"
21. "Gonna Get You Now"
22. "If I Were A Carpenter" (written by James Timothy Hardin)
23. "Confidential" (written by Dorina Morgan)
24. "All You Have to do is Dream (Take 1)"
25. "All You Have to do is Dream (Take 2)"
CD 61. "2 Dollars and 99 Cents"
2. "Jelly Bean"
3. "Any Time"
4. "Down by the Station"
5. "Hallelujah, I've Just Been Moved" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
6. "That's the Breaks"
7. "Pretty Mary"
8. "Will the Circle be Unbroken" (written by A.P. Carter)
9. "King of France"
10. "She's on My Mind Again"
11. "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
12. "On a Rainy Afternoon"
13. "I Can't Come in with a Broken Heart"
14. "Next Time on the Highway"
15. "Northern Claim"
16. "Love is Only Mine"
17. "Silhouettes" (written by Bob Crewe and Frank C Slay Jr.)
18. "Bring it on Home"
19. "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies" (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
20. "The Spanish Song (Take 1)"
21. "The Spanish Song (Take 2)"
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ReplyDeleteHoly, holy, holy CRAP. Can this be for real? Can this be really happening, and be finally complete? Even the bootleggers couldn't get it all...
ReplyDeleteAs a guy who really doesn't buy CD's any more, I will SO be buying this.
And for any undecideds out there, who need a push: this is quite simply the high point of American (with Canadian assistance) music. Period.