Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series

don't know if there were sound issues per se, but I think Robertson overdubbed some parts

maybe Dylan's voice seems clearer in the Odds&End take?

anyway, a remaster should be good, Another Self Portrait had amazing sound compared to SP, Dylan and New Morning

I thought a lot of the stuff on the Basement Tapes was not even from the sessions just tacked on Band studio tracks (like Bessie Smith)

The original Basement lp got remastered alongside Before The Flood, New Morning, and, er, Dylan & The Dead back in 2009. Shortly thereafter a leak of Garth Hudson's safety tape reel of like 20+ tracks in pristine quality appeared online.

As for tinkering on the o.g. album, Robertson over saw a faux stereo mix in addition to overdubbed vocals and instrumental parts from The Band (mostly guitar and drums iirc) on the Dylan material. As noted, all of The Band's own songs on the album were all recorded later, even though it was material tied to that time.

I'm curious if Helm's on this set at all. I think he might've done an overdub or two for the 1975 release (and was obviously on the Band tracks), but had he returned from Arkansas in time to be heard on these tapes?

yeah he's on some stuff -- right around this point he pops up. maybe he's on some of the un-booted stuff too?
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

Oh, cool! It's hard for me to imagine Band singing without him.

It's funny, Robertson always talks about, "it was so casual, we were just hanging out, doing whatever, didn't think anyone would hear it" but then also "I CALLED LEVON AND SAID GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW, THIS IS AMAZING WHAT'S HAPPENING!"

yeah i'm sure robertson was having his mind blown on a regular basis during that time, even if he plays it off as being just dudes hanging out.
levon also returned to the fold because danko told him they were being offered a six-figure record deal too iirc, haha. bizarre to imagine the band if he had been like "nah, i'm going to continue working on this oil rig."

Ha, yeah, I figured it was more than "hey, we're hanging with Dylan -- you know, that guy who's tour you quit -- in his house recording music no one will hear" that got Levon off the oil rig.

listening to a tree with roots this morning - THE BASEMENT TAPES ARE SO GOOD

^^^^

https://38.media.tumblr.com/8f6d3264c9b622a4f3f63fb57d37d429/tumblr_naxgvk3uY31rbwx2xo1_500.jpg

woah where is that from

was over on the expecting rain forums -- seems like it's from the same time as this one?
http://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/macmillan_us_frontbookcovers_1000H/9780312572914.jpg
same hat anyway.

Some weird synchronicity: woke up this morning thinking 'I really need to listen to a Tree with Roots today', fired it up, listened on commute, got to the office to see they're releasing this thing finally. So strange

he needs to bring back the Davy Crockett hat + up-to-the-chin overalls, getting kind of an Adam Ant vibe from that look

For all the sturm und drang over RR's overdubs and Band demos, I've always dug the shit out of things like "Yazoo Street Scandal." Big Pink Funk with Calliope Garth Hudson wheedling over the top is ok in my book. And however they came up with it, the BT's version of "This Wheel's on Fire" is fucking definitive.

i love all those songs! it was more just ppl grumbling that it was sort of phony to have them there

Yeah that album is a total classic, overdubs and non basement songs included.

If the official adulterated/overdubbed basement tapes had a version of All I Have To Do Is Dream on it it'd be all I need tbrr

floorbirds = essential

Whole thing streaming online at NPR right now:

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/26/357630611/first-listen-bob-dylan-the-basement-tapes-complete-the-bootleg-series-vol-11

sampler

Sasha Frere-Jones sez, "Robbie Robertson already picked all the winners!"
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/03/fall-4

Historically, these sessions have been treated with awe, as if something essential about both Dylan and popular song can be found on the tapes. That’s at best half true. The performances weren’t approached with any kind of gravity, and are best listened to with no reverence at all. For every moment of revelation and synthesis, there are five throwaways.

sampler

he's right that there are plenty of throwaways, but there's also plenty of wonderful stuff that hasn't yet seen official release. i like a lot of the ballads on this one especially, some of which were never released because the takes aren't complete.

i mean song for song that recent bootleg series volume on 1969–1970 might beat this one

dunno, the "throwaways" are a big part of the basement tapes, aren't they? they're the basement tapes!
i like the unfinished-ness of these recordings. I think it was paul williams who said it was more like hearing the idea of the song, rather than the song itself.

i can't imagine what hearing an idea of a song sounds like

You will if you listen to this whole thing, or A Tree With Roots. Also, I love how he sings "Still In Town," "Young But Daily Growing" (such a voice on the boysky then, when he was in the mood); very crisp, non-throwaway covers of other folk & country chestnuts too, giving the originals some competition (though I assume "Silent Weekend," on the xpost pre-release sampler posted at npr, is an original, and also country strong" a tad blurry around the edges, but appropriately so: swigging and swinging that moonshine consolation)

So no, Robertson didn't pick nearly all the keepers---and for all his thoughtful fixes in the mixes, this sampler has better audio.

hey dow - are any of the songs that cut off prematurely in tree w/roots available in a full version on this? or was that all there was?

Haven't heard the whole legit version, just this sampler. Lot of track info grayed out on iTunes and Amazon, last time I checked (but iTunes did have the whole digital thang for $59.99; Amazon's only digital is 2-discs-worth, for $19.99 I think [that's Raw, the Robertson picks minus his fixes, plus a few more]; their only Complete is 6 CDs and a book or booklet, for $127.99)

rollingstone.com's prob got more info about tracks.

You will if you listen to this whole thing, or A Tree With Roots

i have, many times.

i too love "still in town," "young but daily growin," "spanish is the loving tongue," "the french girl," etc.

my comment above was just taking issue with that critic's line about "hearing the idea of a song"--i have no idea what that means

Well, like on the sampler's version of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," you sort of have to squint at it, or some of it is a squint; D. hasn't quite gotten it in focus yet, seems like.

SFJ is such a cunt

That first track on the NPR sampler sounds no better than my boot version -- lowering my expectations

30 unbootlegged tracks in the box, right? No idea if they make it worth buying for those who have A Tree With Roots (at the moment,it's a moot point for me, financially).

there's no way i'm buying this for $150 or whatever. what's in the box? bob dylan nose hair? a t-shirt? redundant vinyl? a hardbound box i will look at once, maybe? fuck a sony.

for that much money i want the actual basement tapes in the box, like, the original tapes.

You get temporary custody of Garth Hudson.

And the screen door he fixed.

on a side note, why does greil marcus keep retitling his books?

Ordered a copy from Overstock.com - $99.15 with free shipping.

Xpost "Temporary Custody of Garth Hudson" sounds like a Dylan tune from 1966.

Overstock? Anticipating low sales out-the-gate? Given the NPR sneak-peak, unless the book is super fantastic, gonna buy this one second hand.

gaaaah this is so goooooooood

better sound quality than tree w/roots?

are any of the former partial songs there in full form?

$109 on pop market deal today