Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes - where we're at currently...

For what it's worth, I find the MFSL issue of the Basement Tapes awesome.

I have a very humble system and I'm happy to state that fact upfront. However, I can hear a clarity not found on other issues without sounding harsh. Nice smooth clear sound but still rough. As the BT should sound.

In fact I've found all the MFSL reissues very nice. As i said...take this with a grain of salt as I'm only going on my personal chose.

 

I also have the MFSL CD and, yeah, a run of the mill system, anyway it sounds great to me. Also have great respect for Jason's and GetRhythm's expert opinions.

Anyone know if the "original" CD is still in print? Doubt it.

 

All three versions are likely sourced from the same less-than-optimal master tape, so it ultimately comes down to what sort of mastering style you prefer. As I said above, Greg Calbi is often too bright for me. Some of his Dylan remasters are all right, but I really dislike what he did to Blood on the Tracks, for example. So I'm skeptical I would like what he did to The Basement Tapes. Mofi generally does a good job, but I haven't been motivated to check out their version because I think the old 80s CD sounds very nice (allowing of course for the source tape used) and it serves my purpose on the rare occasions I feel like listening to the original album. The old 80s CD has to my ears a good, solid mastering. It wouldn't surprise me if it was done by the same dude who did the old 80s John Wesley Harding that many people here like. It's out of print but probably not hard to find.

 

I just now discovered this highly useful and informative thread, which has compelled me to compare A Tree with Roots to my old silver copies of Genuine Basement Tapes for the first time ever. I enjoyed the former so much as a listening experience en toto that it never occurred to me that the latter might, in some cases, be superior. Sure enough, however, up to this point in your assessment I find myself in complete agreement. In fact, in some cases, it almost sounds as though noise reduction was used in the production of certain tracks on A Tree with Roots, though I could certainly be wrong.

This is a fun exercise!

 

When I found out about the GBT discs, I also thought it might have been a copy of the GBT Vol 1 disc. Odd that not all the tracks were the same. I'll have to listen to the tape again and see what the track listing is. Does anyone know if the GBT disc starts with an engineer or studio tone?

 

I have the MFSL? DSD of Blood On The Tracks? what don't you like about it? The fidelity impressed me...curious what you disliked.

 

If this is addressed to me, it's the 2003 Sony remaster I dislike, not the MFSL.

 

Thanks, I was having a hard time figuring that out. I looked up Greg Calbi but then had to run to work.

 

"I'm a Fool For You"

This is another one of those nascent Dylan compositions that would have been really worthwhile with a little more work, harkening back somewhat to the stately grandeur of his Highway 61/Blonde On Blonde sound. I prefer to listen to it in an edited version that cuts out the sections where the track breaks down in favor of something that flows coherently all the way through (and such a beast is possible, trust me...)

"Next Time On the Highway"

This raucous blues workout features a very ambient overall band sound as alluded to earlier that may have been an instance where everyone was routed through the Echorec unit. Dylan has a little fun at the end with some off-color language directed at the now returned Richard Manuel on piano.

"Tupelo"

Continuing in the blues vein with this sparely arranged, somewhat loose take on a track originally recorded by the great bluesman John Lee Hooker in 1960.

All three of the above come to us again via the 1991 cassettes. GBT has Dylan in the far left channel; TWR switches things up and has Dylan routed right - even though there is no reference to using an alternate source tape for the track. Soundwise, this is a very easy call - the GBT versions feature a very pleasing, even tonality; whereas the TWR's sound subjected to some heavy-handed EQ modifications that do the music no favors whatsoever.

Winner: GBT


Our totals to this point now indicate Tree With Roots pulling just ahead of Genuine Basement Tapes into the lead (the suspense is killing me...lol):

Tree With Roots: 23

Genuine Basement Tapes: 19

Basement Reels: 2

Genuine Bootleg Series: 1

 

A couple of posts back, I previewed the next section with the comment "let the games begin". Well, here's the some of the stuff I was actually referring to - whereas an atmosphere of loose informality had previously prevailed, now things start to get really 'well-oiled' so to speak - though we also see our first finished Dylan composition and "official" track...

"You Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dog Around"

This shaggy-dog vignette was originally a 19th century copyright of black songwriter James Bland. As it kicks off, we get to eavesdrop in on some of the arrangement in development, with Dylan instructing Manuel and Danko on how he wants the background vocals to go. Charming and unassuming, it's these kind of sidelights that contribute to the 'Americana-in-the making' reputation of these sessions.

"See You Later Allen Ginsberg" (takes 1 & 2)

A loose take on the Bill Haley and the Comets hit turns comic when Richard Manuel inserts the hallowed name of Dylan cohort and famous beat poet Allen Ginsberg as a replacement for "alligator", inspiring Dylan to riff on the change. They stop at one point and then pick up with a more structured pass at it, though the Echorec unit acting up and audibly feeding back cuts short the merriment.

"Tiny Montgomery"

In compiling the official album, Robbie Robertson has stated that they didn't have access to all the basement tapes that have since come to light. For evidence of this, one need look no further than this track - as mentioned in earlier posts, the fidelity is so rough one suspects it was taken directly from the original acetate demo. It's especially unfortunate since that to this day, any number of Dylan fans probably accept this as a substandard recording, when the versions that have come to light on more recent boots indicate it definitely was not. And the remastered versions of the official LP have only continued to perpetuate this false impression.

As Dylan's first fully realized new composition from these sessions, it's rich, virtually nonsensical wordplay sets the pattern for much to follow. It's obviously not a first run-through on tape either, with a more fully realized arrangement that perfectly services the subject matter.

The versions as booted here all come to us again via the 1991 cassettes, at which time it would seem more of the original reels had been located. Audio-wise, much the same analysis applies as in the previous entry; though this is largely a matter of personal taste, I tend to prefer the more natural tonality of the less futzed-with versions on the Genuine Basement Tapes over their EQ'd counterparts on Tree With Roots. Interestingly, they have Dylan in opposite channels on the first two tracks again, but come into agreement on "Tiny Montgomery" with Dylan right. The acetate-derived "official" version is of course in mono.

Winner: Genuine Basement Tapes

Up next - more high-spirited basement hijinks...

 

Original mono demo acetates should be re-reissued on repro vinyl LPs that look like this:

 

WFMU's "Give the Drummer Radio" stream occasionally plays the 1926 recording by Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers. I can see where this one would be a helluva lot of fun to play.

 

The same thing happened with Elvis Presley's "Sun Sessions" recording of I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine, IIRC: even though a superior sounding master tape surfaced on a bootleg, the record company continued to use a dub of an original 78 record for all re-releases of the track

 

Since there doesn't seem to be much of a response on these posts, I'm going to try and get through these at a bit faster pace from here on out...

"Big Dog Won't You Please Come Home"/"The Spanish Song" (takes 1 & 2)

Things start to come really unhinged here with this Mexican mariachi band send-up featuring Dylan bellowing some improvised part-Spanish/part-English lyrics, while the boys in the band whoop and hollar encouragement in the background. They're having so much fun that Dylan actually stops the proceedings to have another go at it, telling the guys it "goes easy during the verses" (yeah, right!). It's prefaced by a snippet of some other old folkie vignette of some sort continuing the 'dog' theme from a bit earlier. Altogether, amusing to hear once or twice, but a bit tedious beyond that.

"I Am Your Teenage Prayer"

Dylan and the guys atone for the last transgression with this catchy and quite charming doo-wop take-off - one of my personal favorites of all the unreleased tracks from these sessions. Mostly improvised again, it features a hilarious monologue from Dylan at the end including such chesnuts as "I know what you need, I can feel it in my bones, and I feel it on my throne - I'm your teenage prayer" - with plenty of appropriately zonked out commentary from Manuel and Danko.

Like most of the more recent entries, these tracks came into circulation once again via the 1991 cassettes. Even though no alternate source is claimed, Tree With Roots (TWR) again differs by having Dylan appearing in the opposite far right channel from where he appears on Genuine Basement Tapes (GBT). TWR also splits "Big Dog" and the two takes of "Spanish Song" into separate tracks, whereas they appear as a single track on GBT. Again, I much prefer the more natural, full-bodied tonality of the GBT versions to the hard-edged EQ-d sound on TWR.

Winner: Genuine Basement Tapes

I'll try and knock out of few more of these in succession here tonight...

 

"Four Strong Winds"

"The French Girl" (takes 1 & 2)

"Joshua Gone Barbados"

A measure of sanity is restored to the proceedings with this abrupt u-turn back to Dylan's folkie roots, giving the nod here to fellow travelers Ian Tyson and Eric von Schmidt. "Winds" is an especially affecting take on this Ian and Sylvia chesnut; Dylan's treatment here the obvious inspiration for Neil Young's later version that so eloquently closed his Comes a Time LP (Neil also performed it during The Last Waltz concert prior - though it was cut out of the film). Tyson's "The French Girl" - a highlight of the recent "dorm tape" that caused such a stir here on the forum - isn't nearly as successful, Dylan never really finding the right delivery to adequately convey the pathos of the lyrics - despite two separate cracks at it. The calypso-tinged "Joshua" comes off a bit better, though Dylan cuts the proceedings short at around the 2:43 mark, explaining "that's enough, it's a very long song".

Audio-wise, almost the identical critique to the previous post. Circulation via the 1991 cassettes, far right on TWR, far left on GBT - GBT combines the two takes of "French Girl" into one track, separated on TWR. The more natural, preferable tonality of the GBT versions proves once again the old adage "if you're going to muck around with the tonality, make sure you know what you're doing"...

Winner: Genuine Basement Tapes

 

Don't worry...by using the word expound you've got it covered!

 

"I'm In the Mood"

Dylan and the boys get down and dirty with this lowdown John Lee Hooker blues burner which starts out promising enough, but starts to devolve a bit midway through as Dylan begins messing with the tempo and feel on his 12-string acoustic. Pleased nevertheless, he implores Garth "what do you say we hear some of that?" immediately at the conclusion.

"All-American Boy"

Taking as its inspiration the 1959 Bobby Bare hit that satirized the Elvis Presley/Colonel Tom Parker relationship, Dylan changed enough of the lyrics and tune to feel justified in copyrighting it in 1973 under his own name along with four previously un-copyrighted basement tracks. Most Dylanologists now see this as a fairly transparent dig at manager Albert Grossman, whom Dylan had recently discovered was taking a greater percentage of his publishing royalties than he'd previously realized. Richard Manuel once again amusingly plays Dylan's foil with his cheeky asides.

"Sign On the Cross"

What more is there to say about this greatest of officially unreleased Dylan originals - other than that it lives up to the hype and then some. Symphonic in structure and scope, this is Dylan's first major Christian commentary - a product at least some of which must have been inspired by his early biblical explorations during this period. Even if it doesn't get you at first (took a while for me actually), stay with it and you'll find ample rewards in Dylan's impassioned vocal and 'blissed-out' closing sermonizing, supported brilliantly throughout by some of the Hawk's most eloquent playing during these sessions.

"I'm In the Mood" and "All-American Boy" are again listed as sourced from the 1991 cassettes, where "Sign On the Cross" also appeared. As mentioned early on, as a major Dylan composition, "Sign On the Cross" was also ubiquitous in its absence from the Basement Safety, though it did apparently make the Fraboni compilation reels compiled for the official LP in 1975 (making its non-issue at that time all the more puzzling).

I've been a bit tough on Tree With Roots lately, but I actually think they get it close to correct on "I'm In the Mood", adding clarity and taking a bit of the harsh edge off Dylan's 12-string. For some reason, less of the beginning is cut off in their version as well.

Winner: Tree With Roots

With "All-American Boy" things start to get a bit more complicated as Genuine Bootleg Series (GBS) re-enters the arena. With Dylan far right, their version is likely from the same source as TWR, but despite lacking a strum or two present at the beginning in the GBT and TWR versions, I find their version has better presence and more balanced tonality.

Winner: Genuine Bootleg Series

"Sign On the Cross" is marked as having come from an "alternate source tape" on TWR. Interestingly, it's in mono - which probably again means the Fraboni reels - though the slightly muffled quality makes it likely that even that was probably sourced from a generational master. GBT and GBS both feature wide stereo with Dylan far right - meaning that they are more likely the product of the 1991 cassette transfers from the original reels. The superior tonality on GBS though again indicates either a higher quality transfer or more productive efforts improving the tonality with EQ.

Winner: Genuine Bootleg Series

Okay - that's the haul for tonight - inching ever closer to the official basement tracks...

 

99% of what you're saying is based on assumptions. You should really listen to Greg Calbi's remaster, which sounds miles better than the old 80s CDs.

 

I'd say more like 5% assumption at most. I know that I really like the sound of the old 80s Basement Tapes CDs. I know that I tend to find Calbi's work too bright and harsh for my tastes (though on some albums it bothers me less than on others). I know that in particular, I find his work on Blood on the Tracks to be awful. And I know that I tend to agree with GetRhythm's opinions/recommendations on mastering. All these things are not assumptions, they are opinions based on my listening experiences. And given that I hold these opinions, it seems entirely reasonable (and not a particularly large leap) for me to assume that I probably would not like Calbi's mastering of The Basement Tapes better than I like the old 80s mastering. To the contrary, I think it's extremely unlikely that I would.

 

MFSL> Calbi> Original CD

I really sig I'm Your Teenage Prayer. Great groove and feel. It was put up on the BobDylan.com site some years back. I don't know what source they used but it sounded better than Tree With Roots. I don't think it was from any original tapes though; this was from the era when they were posting field recordings.

 

Dylan had a strong connection to Ian & Sylvia: http://www.amazon.com/Four-Strong-W...TF8&qid=1402341202&sr=1-7&keywords=ian+Sylvia

Another great C&W version of Four Strong Winds:

 

Dear Get Rhythm,

Please compile this thread into a book and publish it. Your detailed writing about the Basement Tapes offers clarity that's often missing from Greil Marcus' prose, and far surpasses Clinton Heylin's smarmy critiques of Dylan.

 

Thanks - really flattered - but there's no way my little capsule summaries can really do justice to this material (I actually hope to accomplish something useful on the audio end of things, but that's all I can say about that at this time). I agree that Marcus often goes a bit overboard with the literary flights of fancy, but I've found Heylin to be a pretty useful and knowledgable source - in fact, there's no way I could have put this together without his prior research being available.

"Don't Ya Tell Henry"

Here's the real basement "Henry" - the 'official' version recorded by The Band of course being a newly recorded remake done at their Shangri-La studios in Malibu at the time the LP was compiled. While that version adds a measure of polish and professionalism (with a great Levon Helm vocal), I think I might actually prefer the carefree atmosphere of the more slapdash basement original, with Rick Danko's baritone horn/trombone (depending on which source you trust) providing an amusing running commentary to the proceedings. Originally copyrighted along with "Sign On the Cross" (talk about strange bedfellows!) in 1970.

"Bourbon Street"

Continuing in the same musical vein as "Henry", this track vividly evokes the feel of staggering back to one's hotel room - empty bottle in hand - after a night of serious on-the-town carousing in the French Quarter. This was one of the last group of Dylan basement compositions copyrighted in September of 1973 along with the previously covered "All-American Boy", "Silent Weekend", "Santa Fe" and the currently uncirculating "Wild Wolf".

"Santa Fe"

Pleasant little ditty that somehow found its way onto the official Bootleg Series Rare and Unreleased collection in 1991 in lieu of obviously superior choices like "Sign On the Cross" or "I'm Not There" (what the hell were they thinking anyways???).

All three of the above are unique in that they're the first tracks covered that don't appear on either the 1986 Band roadie reels or the 1991 cassettes. In fact, the only place they seem to be available is the Fraboni reels - which may explain why they're all in mono on each of the source collections (excepting the 'official' version of "Santa Fe", where they've spread it out a bit by grafting on some artificial stereo reverb).

Tree With Roots claims a "generationally superior" source for all three tracks - and that definitely pays dividends here in clearer, more present audio - though their "Santa Fe" is marred by a half-second complete audio dropout at the 1:24 mark. The Genuine Basement Tapes version of "Santa Fe" doesn't have the dropout, but is slightly speeded up so the audio plays slightly sharp. The official version on the Bootleg Series is flat out awful - sounding like a dub of a dub of an acetate of a dub - with the grafted-on reverb only making matters worse.

Winner: Tree With Roots

Up next - we at long last enter the realm of the OFFICIAL BASEMENTS....

 

Clinton Heylin has done a fantastic amount of research into Dylan recordings, for which he is to be commended, but his literary style is just a little too smug for my taste.

Another great summary. The three tracks you've covered here were among the loosest of the BT's, with alcohol obviously playing a role in the proceedings. The live version of Don't Ya Tell Henry from Rock of Ages (The Band, NYC 1971) is pretty good, with Levon on lead vocal and Bob singing harmony, I believe.

 

Thanks for your track summaries, which I find to be very insightful. I am surprised that such enjoyable listening as "Four Strong Winds" and "Next Time on the Highway" have not been officially released by now. Unlike some of the rougher material from these sessions, those sound quite polished to me--ready for prime time by any commercial standard. And of course, "Sign on the Cross"--why that has not been released officially when so much less worthy material has found its way out of the vaults--truly a head scratcher.