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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Odds and Ends | |||
| 2. Orange Juice Blues (Blues for Breakfast) | |||
| 3. Million Dollar Bash | |||
| 4. Yazoo Street Scandal | |||
| 5. Goin' to Acapulco | |||
| 6. Katie's Been Gone | |||
| 7. and Behold! | |||
| 8. Bessie Smith | |||
| 9. Clothes Line Saga | |||
| 10. Apple Suckling Tree | |||
See all 12 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Too Much of Nothing | |||
| 2. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread | |||
| 3. Ain't No More Cane | |||
| 4. Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood) | |||
| 5. Ruben Remus | |||
| 6. Tiny Montgomery | |||
| 7. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere | |||
| 8. Don't Ya Tell Henry | |||
| 9. Nothing Was Delivered | |||
| 10. Open the Door, Homer | |||
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See all 12 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Basement Tapes can be heard as a manifesto for the 1990s underlying Americana agenda or as the greatest album never intended for commercial release. Homegrown 1967 recordings taped in the Band's fabled Big Pink hermitage in Saugerties, New York, many of the 24 songs resonated across American and English rock and folk long before their belated 1975 release, through studio interpretations by the Byrds, Fairport Convention, Manfred Mann, Peter, Paul & Mary, and numerous other acolytes, as well as through myriad unauthorised bootlegs. Good as the covers were, Dylan and the Band rolled their own with an extraordinary coherence that sounds only more authentic in these rough-hewn, intimate, always musical performances, which dovetail with Dylan's stark John Wesley Harding and the Band's stunning debut, Music from Big Pink as well as the presciently lo-fi The Band. At a time when most rock culture was entranced with its post-atomic origins, these songs sounded timeless, plunging into pre-industrial folk, turn of the (20th) century barrelhouse and blues, and crackling, vintage rock and roll excursions with offhand verve and a thrilling disregard for what was hip. Time has only reinforced their visionary power. --Sam Sutherland
From Amazon.com
The Basement Tapes can be heard as a manifesto for the current decade's underlying Americana agenda, or as the greatest album never intended for commercial release. Homegrown 1967 recordings taped in the Band's fabled Big Pink hermitage in Saugerties, New York, many of the 24 songs resonated across American and English rock and folk long before their belated 1975 release through studio interpretations by the Byrds, Fairport Convention, Manfred Mann, Peter, Paul & Mary, and numerous other acolytes, as well as through myriad unauthorized bootlegs. Good as the covers were, Dylan and the Band rolled their own with an extraordinary coherence that sounds only more authentic in these rough-hewn, intimate, always musical performances, which dovetail with Dylan's stark John Wesley Harding and the Band's stunning debut, Music from Big Pink as well as the presciently lo-fi The Band. At a time when most rock culture was entranced with its post-atomic origins, these songs sounded timeless, plunging into pre-industrial folk, turn of the (20th) century barrelhouse and blues, and crackling, vintage rock & roll excursions with offhand verve and a thrilling disregard for what was hip. Time has only reinforced their visionary power. --Sam Sutherland
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
All Dylan fans know the history of The Basement Tapes, for me one of the cornerstones of Dylan's collected works. Why, when they're not even a proper album? Because they show him relaxed and playing some different styles of music with friends, away from the pressures of touring and the recording studio.
This `official' set has many of the best Basement songs, with some strange exceptions such as Quinn the Eskimo and I Shall Be Released, which came out many years later in The Bootleg Series. However, you're still left with some great, not so great, unusual, funny , low fi, risqué and silly songs which never seem to lose their appeal.
The vocal and instrumental interplay between Bob and The Band (at the time, probably not known as such) is delightful. Clothes Line Saga epitomises the attraction of the set: Dylan's deadpan but humorous narrative counter-pointed with some lovely guitar lines from Robertson. Or take Tears of Rage, with lovely high harmonies from the late Richard Manuel.
The general critical view is that the songs by The Band didn't belong in this collection, as they weren't recorded in the Basement and were probably demos for Music From Big Pink. True, they have much better sound than the Basement tracks, butI don't care because there are some real gems here: Orange Juice Blues, Bessie Smith, Ain't No More Cane to name a few.
This album is quite unlike any other Dylan music, with the possible exception of Love and Theft. It's rootsy, rocky, laid back and bluesy, but sounds nothing like its predecessor, Blonde on Blonde, or its successor, John Wesley Harding.
PS If you can track down the 'unofficial' Basement songs, it's worth it. The complete sessions have the qualities of this set, but in greater measure - especially the goofs and mucking about. For example, Get Your Rocks Off is a long lost classic which deserves official release and She's Not There is brilliant.
This `official' set has many of the best Basement songs, with some strange exceptions such as Quinn the Eskimo and I Shall Be Released, which came out many years later in The Bootleg Series. However, you're still left with some great, not so great, unusual, funny , low fi, risqué and silly songs which never seem to lose their appeal.
The vocal and instrumental interplay between Bob and The Band (at the time, probably not known as such) is delightful. Clothes Line Saga epitomises the attraction of the set: Dylan's deadpan but humorous narrative counter-pointed with some lovely guitar lines from Robertson. Or take Tears of Rage, with lovely high harmonies from the late Richard Manuel.
The general critical view is that the songs by The Band didn't belong in this collection, as they weren't recorded in the Basement and were probably demos for Music From Big Pink. True, they have much better sound than the Basement tracks, butI don't care because there are some real gems here: Orange Juice Blues, Bessie Smith, Ain't No More Cane to name a few.
This album is quite unlike any other Dylan music, with the possible exception of Love and Theft. It's rootsy, rocky, laid back and bluesy, but sounds nothing like its predecessor, Blonde on Blonde, or its successor, John Wesley Harding.
PS If you can track down the 'unofficial' Basement songs, it's worth it. The complete sessions have the qualities of this set, but in greater measure - especially the goofs and mucking about. For example, Get Your Rocks Off is a long lost classic which deserves official release and She's Not There is brilliant.
34 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
While the music on this 2CD set is wonderful, it is only a small and not necessarily the best part of the story. If you have heard the 5cd complete Basement set you will know that a great deal of better music has been left off this, I'm Not There 1956 being a case in point. The rip off part, this 2cd set would fit easily on a single disc at a much lower price.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This 2009 Columbia/Sony edition of The Basement Tapes has been superbly remastered, now making it, without any doubt, the best sounding version (on CD or LP) that's ever been issued.
Musically this oozes a classy laid back charm, and is as essential as anything else in Bob Dylan & The Band's amazing back catalogue.
If you have not already heard this sonically upgraded version yet, you are in for a real treat!
Musically this oozes a classy laid back charm, and is as essential as anything else in Bob Dylan & The Band's amazing back catalogue.
If you have not already heard this sonically upgraded version yet, you are in for a real treat!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Missing Link
This is not only the missing link between 'Blonde On Blonde' and 'John Wesley Harding' but shows us Dylan's and The Band's love for and knowledge of Americana and classic American... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Andy Ed
Buy for 'Goin' to Acapulco'. Enjoy the rest.
If I remember rightly this got mixed reviews when it came out in '75. Perhaps the tapes had been around in bootleg form for so long that it failed to surprise. Read more
Published 2 months ago by A. ADAM
Bob And The Band
Got this on CD as lost the vinyl in a fire. So know the songs well, many have the feel of guys that know their trade,remember The Band had been working together as The Hawks for a... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Steve
Best Album in a long time
loved this album - you can hear everyone taking part is having a really good time.
Would recommend it to anyone!!
Would recommend it to anyone!!
Published 9 months ago by Mrs. S. A. Snowden
No great improvement in sound quality
Five stars for the music, but if you have the previous remaster from 2000-ish you really don't need this latest one. It's louder, but there's not much increase in depth or detail. Read more
Published 11 months ago by m'artagnan
Meanwhile 7 years later
It would be 1974 when a double album came out called The Basement Tapes when the Band had cut at least 4 albums in their own right. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Richard
Not bad for a load of odds and ends
I guess I just like the 'wrong' Dylan albums, although I realise this is strictly a team effort with The Band. I like both artists, but am not among their biggest fans. Read more
Published 17 months ago by D. J. H. Thorn
Basement Tapes
Totally overrated. So glad I never paid full price. Outtakes which shoudl have been left on the floor.
Published on 3 Aug 2009 by Hilary Nicholls
Actually not very good
I love Bob Dylan, and I know it's heresy, but really this is a poor CD set. Put it this way : if I woke up from a coma and had no memory of Bob Dylan, and heard this, I'd think it... Read more
Published on 24 May 2007 by XTR
Drunken Demos
This is a "fun" album in a way: Dylan and the boys singing just whatever way the moment takes them, and in a lot of the "songs" they seem to just make the lyrics up as they go... Read more
Published on 17 July 2004
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