Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Odds And Ends
2. Orange Juice Blues
3. Million Dollar Bash
4. Yazoo Street Scandal
5. Goin' To Acapulco
6. Katie's Been Gone
7. Lo And Behold
8. Bessie Smith
9. Clothesline Saga
10. Apple Suckling Tree
11. Please Mrs Henry
12. Tears Of Rage

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
11. Long Distance Operator
12. This Wheel's On Fire

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6796 in Music
• Released on: 2009-03-30
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .25 pounds

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

CD Description
In 1967 Bob Dylan was recovering from his much-publicized motorcycle crash. To emphasize Dylan's startling fecundity, he laid down dozens of rudimentary demo recordings with backing from the fledgling Band. Eventually gaining an official release eight years later (with several delightful songs froma later Band session added), THE BASEMENT TAPES is a ragbagcollection of alternately playful and serious acoustic-based songs that draw on a deep well of American tradition for their inspiration. Songs of the calibre of "Tears Of Rage", "Nothing Was Delivered" and "This Wheel's On Fire" on this ostensibly tossed-off masterpiece only serve to further underline Dylan's importance as a writer.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant
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.

A five star rip off!
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.

Bob and friends having a good time!
Simply gorgeous! It sounds like they're just having a great time: very funny, sometimes beautiful and sometimes ridiculous. "Somewhere between the Old Testament and the Old West," someone said, and that about sums up the atmosphere. If you're into the sixties, you'll probably know some of these songs by other artists' covers, most notably 'Wheel's On Fire' (the theme tune to Ab Fab) and 'Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)' which was done by Manfed Mann.