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

The director's cut is 122 minutes -- I know there's some differences with the Dylan tracks between the two versions, but I'll have to consult the reference books. I would have loved this film even if Bob wasn't in it.

 

Many contributors already said that this is a great thread and I could not agree more, I'm grateful to GetRhythm for sharing his findings here!

On the topic of "Minstrel Boy", I'm wondering, what are the chances of Dylan going back to a not quite finished song that they ran through - perhaps only once - about 2 years before the Isle of Wight show. Or even remembering it... "The Mighty Quinn" is a different case, that had been a world wide hit

Instead of from the Basement Tapes, could it perhaps come from a cassette that they ran while rehearsing on the Isle of Wight? It would not be the first prank the old master pulled...

Highly speculative of course, but maybe worth considering. Any opinons on this?

 

When did "Minstrel Boy", the basement take, first appear? I recently realized it was on BootlegSeries #10 Another Self Portrait.....

That would make sense to me! If it is a basement outtake, it is kind of randomly inserted in Another Self Portrait, doncha think? I sure hope it is the actually basement take though

 

It has the feel and unfinished lyrical style of a basement track...does anyone know when it was originally copyrighted? That could provide a clue.

 

In his 2007 book about the basement tapes Sid Griffin mentions "Minstrel Boy" as being one of the "holy grails" of the tapes. Based on this, I believe that "Minstrel Boy" on Bootleg 10 is that take and not from a rehearsal cassette for Isle Of Wight.

 

Wow, I thought I was a Dylan fan! I bow in you general direction.

 

Of course one of the truly unfortunate things about these series of recordings is the sketchiness of the documentation - of which there apparently is practically none on the original reels. Also, the fact that Garth routinely archived other Hawks/Band recording endeavors from other periods makes it doubly difficult to accurately determine what's "basement" and what isn't.

"Minstrel Boy" is a fascinating subject of course since it was previously uncirculated - in fact it's the first "new" basement track to come into any kind of circulation in over twenty years. One would hope that the principles involved in the Another Self Portrait project were able to definitively identify it as "basement" due to context - particularly, the other things found on the same tape reel (which would be fascinating to know in their own right, as the major basement researchers seem to think there's definitely more out there). One would also hope that anything remaining is in better quality than "Minstrel Boy", which is among the lower fidelity recordings in the entire set of basement tracks.

 

"holy grail", yes - but why was it a Basement track in the first place? Probably because the BT chapter in the Writings & Drawings book was the most convenient one in which it could be included, even it was
not a BT track as such.

GetRhythm's remark about sound fidelity is a good approach too, I think. Aren't all other BT tracks with Levon participation of clearly higher fidelity? Not too sure myself, I'd rather rely on GR's assessment,
but he already seems to allude this...

 

I get the feeling from listening to these last few Wittenberg Road tracks that maybe they didn't put quite as much effort into the setup as they had at Big Pink, maybe realizing that it was only a temporary arrangement at best. While still palatable enough, there's definitely a fall-off from the better fidelity tracks recorded in their previous digs.

"Silent Weekend"

As mentioned previously, this tidy little rocker was in the last group of Dylan basement copyrighted tracks with its submittal in 1973. Heylin and Tree With Roots both place it earlier in the sessions, but it has to have been recorded here at the end - not only does it sound like Levon playing, but everybody else is present and accounted for on the track as well (though Garth's organ is a bit faint in the mix).

It was copied over by Robertson and Fraboni for consideration for the 1975 LP, but not used. That's apparently where the booted versions have derived from, because it's not listed on any other basement iteration. Another clue indicating the Fraboni reels is the fact that it appears only in narrow stereo on the boots.

The very nice, full-bodied Genuine Bootleg Series version is far superior to either the GBT (poor transfer) or TWR (supposedly generationally superior source, but not all that great either) versions.

Winner: Genuine Bootleg Series (Volume 2)

"All You Have to Do Is Dream" (takes 1 & 2)

This comely little tale of domestic bliss is one of the true enigmas of these sessions. Even though it sounds like a very structured and arranged Dylan composition - with two extant takes no less - it apparently has never been copyrighted. And it appears no one rated it very highly either - it not having been copied over to the Basement Safety or the Fraboni reels (though perhaps the reel it had been recorded on had been misplaced or forgotten about at that time). And in fact, only Take 2 is listed as appearing on the 1986 Band Roadie Reels - though it seems reasonable to assume that Take 1's absence in that listing is probably a clerical error.

Further complicating matters, TWR and GBT both have each take at different speeds - with the channels reversed both times as well. For the ballad treatment Take 1, the faster tempo GBT take in Ab major sounds right to my ears, while on the more up-tempo Take 2, the faster tempo version on TWR in B major sounds right. So for preferred versions, they split the difference this time...

Winner - Take 1: Genuine Basement Tapes

Winner - Take 2: Tree With Roots

"Minstrel Boy"

We've already discussed this a bit in the past few prior posts, so no need to go into a lot more detail here. For the recent Another Self Portrait excavation, it sounds as though they just copied it straight over from whatever source they were able to locate for it, which I thought a little strange, as it obviously could have used a bit of mastering TLC. But I suppose we're fortunate to finally have it in whatever form available, and here's hoping there's more 'undiscovered' basements somewhere down the line...

That's it for now - I'm going to save the wrap-up for one final post on this thread...

 

Man, you're right about Silent Weekend on GBT -- I don't think I've ever been able to appreciate it properly because of the inferior sound.

Once again, your grasp of this material is impressive, and your comparisons and background info are extremely helpful. We'll be sorry to read "The Big Finale."

 

Man, this thread has been so much fun! I had been previously working off a cannibalized version of Tree With Roots (basically downloaded it, deleted every title that was on the official release, as well as a few others by mistake). Now, I, and anyone else who has been playing along, can have the best possible set of circulating "tapes." I've also gained a better appreciation for many titles.

Hopefully your big finale will not be the end... if a Bootleg Series volume for the Basement Tapes ever materializes.

Also, not to break stride here, but I figured I'd ask abut a few other tracks, 3 non-Dylan cuts on the GBT set:
Instrumental (disc 1, track 16)
Ferdinand The Imposter (disc 3, track 10)
Even A Tomato (disc 3, track 16)

I realize there are more Band tracks in circulation, official and not, so why were these three selected for GBT?

 

Thanks - glad to have you along for the ride - it's been a great journey!

As to why the tracks you mentioned happened to appear on the GBT set, it probably was just a matter of the creators needing to fill up some space, and those were the particular tracks they happened to select (if could have been any of a number of others the Hawks recorded around that time period.) Again, the Basement Reels set is probably the best source for most of the material they worked on on their own - along with the few things that have since trickled out on the more recent official archival sets.

We've reached the end of the Dylan basement recordings at this point, but not by any means the end of Dylan and the Hawks/Band's activities for the remainder of this period. Dylan of course would make two more journeys down to Nashville in November to complete recording of John Wesley Harding - the entire LP only requiring three individual single-day sessions - an amazing example of recording economy and efficiency.

On one of his returns to Woodstock, he happened to be hanging out at Albert Grossman's spread one day with a couple members of the Bengali Bauls, an Indian musical troupe who had first drawn the attention of Allen Ginsburg on a sojourn there. Entranced by the richness of their traditional Indian music, Ginsburg recommended them to Grossman, who brought them out to the U.S. and put them up at Woodstock. The JWH cover photo - with Dylan standing between brothers Luxman and Purna Das of the Bauls - was shot that day at Grossman's.

The Band - now whole again - meanwhile were busy at work readying and rehearsing material for the recording of their debut LP, though Garth Hudson took time out in December to record an album's worth of material by the Baul's using the very same equipment that had been utilized to make the Basement recordings (the resulting LP - Bengali Bauls...At Big Pink - was finally released on Buddah in 1970). With Grossman managing to find seed money, they spent Jan 10-12 of 1968 at New York's A&R studios under the direction of producer John Simon laying down the initial tracks for their new LP. Future classics like "The Weight", "Chest Fever", and "We Can Talk" that resulted must have been enough to convince Capitol Records to finally sign them to a recording contract the following month.

Dylan and the Band reunited one final time during this period on January 20th when they performed a set at the Woody Guthrie tribute concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. The rollicking, good-hearted, freewheeling character of their renditions of three Guthrie classics makes an excellent postscript for this altogether unique period in the ongoing Dylan/Band saga.

I think that's enough for now - I'll save the remainder of the planned wrap-up for a final upcoming post...

 

This is why I admire your work on this thread so much -- all the wonderful historical context you've provided, which adds so much to the technical details of the recordings themselves, in all their various incarnations. Well done.

 

Going through these from the top, I have a couple of disagreements. On my set Hills of Mexico is certainly better on GBT, as is Bonnie Ship the Diamond. There's more hiss, but much more open sounding. That's it so far! Thanks again for this thread. If there's any chance of uploading the spreadsheet you used, I for one would be hugely grateful!

 

Quick review - just about all of those early "Red Room" recordings at Dylan's house prior to the move to Big Pink entered into circulation via the 1986 "Band Roadie Reels". From that source, Tree With Roots claims their versions are "remastered from a generationally superior transfer" - though it's interesting that this same transfer seems to have most of the tracks at a noticeably different, slower speed than the earlier Genuine Basement Tape versions.

I earlier picked the TWR versions of "Mexico" and "Bonnie" because I thought on those the slower speed sounded more natural, but listening again, I'm not so sure. It may just be my ears were more acclimated to those versions. In any case, I definitely agree the GBT versions are more "open sounding" - and certainly less futzed with it would seem.

Keep the feedback coming - much appreciated!

 

I have the 5 CD "Genuine Basement Tapes" set, which is being discussed on this thread.

I also have a 5 CD set on the Hawg Leg label, the "Original Basement Tapes." The CD packaging says that they were released in 1997 in Luxembourg. What is this Hawg Leg set? Is there any general opinion on its sound quality?

 

Will do - I'm up to 'Under Control' and I think I'm in agreement beyond the noted exceptions. I'm not sure about the pitch on a few GBT versions, but the general sound on many is more open and less noise-reduced, so I might have a go at some pitch correction once I've gone through the lot. I don't think I'm going to do this all weekend though - just a few as I find time, but I'll keep you informed of any findings!

 

One of the best information sources on the Basement Tapes, a handy companion to Sid Griffin's 'Million Dollar Bash' I have enjoyed every post on this thread. Thank-you. And yes, post up the spreadsheet.

 

Sort of off topic, but I'm wondering if you would recommend the Mobile Fidelity reissue?
Thanks for the thread, I am in complete agreement with hollowhorn, this is a fantastic companion to 'Million Dollar Bash', and we didn't have to hear about how Canadian the Band is or how drunk Dylan sounds.
Many thanks to GetRhythm and all the contributors!

 

Not a comment on these tracks in particular, but in general I'm in agreement with your choices other than those noted, however the more I'm listening to a lot of these side by side from different sources, the more I'm convinced that there are very few actual new sources used by TWR. A lot of it sounds like a result I could (quite easily) get with some volume boosting, crude noise reduction and EQ. If you can get past the hiss on a few GBT tracks, the tone of the recordings are certainly fuller and a lot of the distortions that appear to be gone on TWR are just there still, but have been pushed out by (occasionally) very heavy-handed NR and EQ.

However, I've no idea where the Genuine Bootleg Series guys got Banks of the Royal Canal, but it sounds gorgeous and gives me a LOT of hope for a future Basement Tapes Bootleg Series release.

 

I think the Mobile Fidelity is a worthy effort, and they seemed to try hard to smooth out (maybe a bit too much) and improve overall tonality while respecting the integrity of the original LP masters (such as they are) - something I would not say is true of the Sony remaster. I've gone back to that several times during this process, and each time I'm taken aback by how utterly wrong it sounds. I would recommend avoiding that at all costs.

I'll go into this in more detail in a last wrap-up post, but if anything is clear from this entire exercise, it's that as of today, a "definitive" version of the basement recordings simply doesn't exist. Some of course are waiting for Sony to tackle this in an upcoming Bootleg Series release (more on this later as well), but if the principles involved in the 2009 remaster go anywhere near that project, count me out...

 

Just putting my hat into the ring to say that I'd happily give an official version a critical listen before release just to make sure it suits you. In case anyone from Sony is listening.

 

As mentioned earlier, Tree With Roots touts itself as a remaster of the Genuine Basement Tapes released about eight years prior, and on many tracks claimed upgrades of two different types - either an "alternate source tape" from that used on GBT, or a "generationally superior" transfer from the same source. But in both cases, they also admitted to further remastering from that point.

Many seem to consider TWR at this juncture the "last word" insofar as the complete basements go, but I think - and I hope this thread helps prove the point - that it's way overrated in that regard. Some things do indeed sound better there, but just as often as not, their "enhancements" actually work to the detriment of the material.

As you've noted, it's too bad the Genuine Bootleg Series folks didn't delve further into this material, because their work in most cases is superior to the other options.

I'll include a final tallying up of the "winners" from this thread in the last wrap-up.

 

While we're awaiting GR's final summations, how about a little Baby Ain't That Fine (discussed in post #70) from 1966:

 

And another of the Basement songs, by Dylan's pal Bob Neuwirth, from 1967, filmed by D.A. Pennebaker: