Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes - where we're currently at (Part 4)

Received an email from Amazon.de this morning. The delivery has been delayed till 8-10 November. I don't know if this is universal?

 

When I placed my order with Amazon.de the release date was given as 31/10 but now it's changed to the same as the UK/US, plus the delivery time to the UK.

 

I hear absolutely no stereo on this mix. Am I missing something?

This sounds like the same mono mix as on Bootleg series 1-3, but in higher quality. And by "higher quality" I mean hissier and louder, and faded out slightly later. It's such a crappy, lo-res mp3, though, it's very hard to determine anything.

This recording is in very wide stereo on Tree with Roots. TOO wide, there, but I see no need to make this mono. I am hoping they just goofed with this premiere, and it is presented in some sort of stereo on the set.

 

Just wait until you hear the new "Teenage Prayer."
It now belongs in the Mono Box Set, sadly.

Where previously Bob and the Band traded their teenage prayers back-and-forth,
it now sounds like Bob with weak back-up singers.

 

I just ripped it from soundcloud. It's pretty centered, but still stereo

 

The tape hiss is weird, considering the other take doesn't have it.
The other take is centered but stereo as well.

 

On most of the "wide stereo" boots, the harmony vocal is WAY too loud, so I prefer this much cleaner, narrow-stereo/mono-like mix. The song itself and the wonderful performance come through much clearer on the newly-posted version, IMO.

 

Slightly tangential, but related to my earlier comments about the correct keys for "All You Have To Do is Dream." The second take appeared to have been performed either in Bb or B. I happened upon this funny exchange from Dylan's 1978 Playboy interview:

http://www.interferenza.com/bcs/interw/play78.htm

PLAYBOY: Getting back to colors and chords, are there particular musical keys that have personalities or moods the way colors do for you?

DYLAN: Yeah. B major and B-flat major.

PLAYBOY: How would you describe them?

DYLAN: (Pause) Each one is hard to define. Assume the characteristic that is true of both of them and you'll find you're not sure whether you're speaking to them or to their echo.

PLAYBOY: What does a major key generally conjure up for you?

DYLAN: I think any major key deals with romance.

PLAYBOY: And the minor keys?

DYLAN: The supernatural.

PLAYBOY: What about other specific keys?

DYLAN: I find C major to be the key of strength, but also the key of regret. E major is the key of confidence. A-flat major is the key of renunciation.

 

I hear absolutely no separation. I'm trying, here. I've heard fake stereo mixes with more separation. I wonder if I'm getting a lower res stream on my setup for some reason. I don't seem to be able to rip it, though, or I'd even try a phase test.

 

I assumed the message was a notification of dispatch until I saw your post and then checked google translate.

So nothing to be concerned about then? This is still being released next week and its just the delay in it being transported from Germany to the UK. I can deal with that. When will the MP3 download be available? I assume from Monday.

 

Daft question possibly, but why aren't some of these Legacy soundcloud links locatable in Soundcloud itself? I'd like to see them all in one spot, but they're not visible on the Legacy Recordings page.

 

Keep in mind I'm still a virgin to the various preview tracks out there...

In theory I agree with the decision to center the vocals when possible. But you've astutely pointed out a song that probably does benefit from the wide stereo treatment.

 

I see the unboxing video on the right side of Dylan's videos page on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Dylan/e/B000AP7NRI/ref=ac_dtp_sa_videos

 

God I love Bob.

 

Thanks, I was anxiously waiting for someone to pick up on this.
I'm not really a stickler for the wide stereo, for me it's a matter of what sounds best.
(Though I admit, I prefer the wide stereo 98% of the time.)

This new "Teenage Prayer" really broke my cold basement heart.
I can imagine people getting to know the song from the box,
then stumbling on the bootleg later and having a true bootleg OH MY GOD moment.

After further over-analysis, I also find that I prefer the boot "Odds And Ends."
The new one somehow manages to tame the out-of-control feel (and cut the count-in!).

Elsewhere, "Nothing Was Delivered" has also been centered from a wide Dylan vocal<-->Piano mix.
The results are astounding, the quality is breathtaking.
So, see...I'm not all about wide stereo!

 

I just tossed it into audacity, and you can see the levels during playback do not match between channels. Still, the waveforms for each channel are very similar.

 

Re: Odds and Ends count in etc.

I found this on a particular Dylan facebook group. Whoever compiled (and I can't see who it is) has the Odds and Ends that we've heard down as being from the 2CD comp. There is still (maybe) hope on that one.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xDJtvUVFYzrL8Px0w4_9DBcOTAgg_cQ0XbLOBp0bYj0/edit

 

drool........................................ slobber...............................................

 

I think all of us should be wearing bibs when we view that video... And at the same time, I'm also feeling the effects of most of the Seven Deadly Sins:
pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth.

 

Foreign bibs, of course.

 

Once it starts, it never ends. Or so I've heard.

 

Amusing quote in The Daily Telegraph - 'But most impressively in terms of for value for money, Bob Dylan is releasing his complete Basement Tapes, the entire legendary 138‑track session from 1967. The fact that it is mainly just a bunch of stoned musicians goofing around with old folk and country songs on a cheap two-track tape recorder is unlikely to put fans off.'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...-Floyd-Queen-Can-Dad-Rock-save-Christmas.html

 

I can see it now (at work) and wonder if I just missed it at home last night...?

 

Great article on the basement tapes by Clinton Heylin in The Guardian.

Bob Dylan’s back pages: the truth behind the Basement Tapes

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/30/bob-dylan-basement-tapes-myth-reality-clinton-heylin

(I guess this is the same as the one in UNCUT magazine?)

 

Nope. It's unique (though covers some similar territory). Thanks for the link!