I enjoyed this album upon its release. It was my introduction to not only Basement Tapes songs, but also other worthy Dylan songs which were unreleased at that point. A really well done effort.
Thank you for these updated reel breakdowns. To me, they are the absolute highlight of the thread. As soon as the semester wraps up I'll be putting together my "reel playlists" based on your structure, and hopefully I'll have an insight or two to contribute. Well done!
I would have no problem sequencing the "Belshazaar" reel ("6.") slightly earlier in the chain of recordings, but I am sold on the idea that the "Spanish Is..." reel was second in line, due to the amount of distortion that was present on some of the tracks, indicating that Garth was still refining his engineering skills at that point. My intent was to break the sessions down into separate reels, using the available images and documentation (such as it is), but obviously anyone can sequence them however they see fit. Once again, you raise excellent points about the continuity of the audio quality, but as far as the use of the Echorec reverb unit, these sessions were held over a long period of time, and it's possible that the recording setup could have been altered along the way, with certain pieces being unplugged for a session or two but then used again later on. I'm sure Garth tinkered with the components in the recording chain from time to time, possibly when The Band made their own tapes without Dylan's involvement.
Wow. Down to $92. http://www.amazon.com/Basement-Tape...=1417016110&sr=1-1&keywords=bob+dylan+bootleg
I'm pretty much on board with you here, though if we're talking recording chronology, I think the two "stragglers" at the end of 'reel 6' (i.e., the "900 Miles" fragment and "Goin' Down the Road") probably belong between these two reels, as was theorized earlier. I also hear a sharp upgrade in recording quality between "Under Control" and "Ol' Roison the Beau" - and wouldn't be surprised if the change in venue actually happened between the recording of these two tracks.
I think you're right about the "change in venue" -- the second half of the Spanish Is... [EDIT] reel definitely sounds better than the first half.
Frankly, I think Heylin is dead wrong here; other reels sequenced later to me sound like cruder recordings, despite the upgrade in sound quality on the new set. Without going into too much detail at this time, I also consider this grouping the least successful in terms of being any kind of audio upgrade from the previously circulating versions. Part of this no doubt can be attributed to the 'cassette copy' source, but better tonal balancing in the remastering than what we have here I believe is definitely possible.
These three reels all represent huge upgrades in sound quality from anything previously circulating, but in terms of reflecting true recording chronology, this to me seems totally out of whack. I still think reels 5 & 7 were most likely contiguously recorded, with most of 7 actually being recorded first. As mentioned in my prior post, these also sound like cruder recordings for the most part than most of "reel 4", and I would be shocked if these were actually recorded later than those. Based on recording quality, I would also place the "Sun" recordings on "reel 6" just before "reel 4" as well.
I think a revised consensus may be forming in regard to the chronology of the tapes, but I still wonder -- who put those big, bold numbered stickers on reels 5, 6 and 7? Were they always there, or were they slapped on during the recent remastering process? The liner notes should have been clearer about the markings on the boxes and reels, IMO.
In the "what did he say" category ... In Take 2 of "Apple Suckling Tree" Bob appears to reference Dave Bartholomew, and then Betty Brown(?). The first one is clear, the second, not so much. Wikipedia wasn't any help with "Betty Brown". Any ideas? Anyone hear something else?
Wow, thanks for that! I never, ever noticed those names before...now it's crystal clear. Damn, what else do you hear?!
My vinyl box came from importcds very quickly, and all three records are flat, quiet and beautiful sounding. Love how the map of the Woodstock area is built into the inner liner of the box itself, with no chance of being able to read it. Much like a larger version was printed INSIDE the deluxe cd box. A Jeff Rosen joke?
FWIW: Those purple stickers were supposed to have been applied by the Robertson-Fraboni team when they accessed the reels in 1975.
I think you're right, nice catch! Seems to me you can hear faint echoes of this song in "Ugliest Girl in the World" (of course you can also hear not so faint echoes of "Shake, Rattle and Roll" in "Miss Fanny Brown" too).
A provisional timeline for the second half of the sessions is here: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...rently-at-part-6.391877/page-32#post-11385483 Along with some followup questions: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...rently-at-part-6.391877/page-33#post-11387620 Hopefully it can be revised if more information comes out.
For whatever it's worth, my transcription (aka guess) for the verse unique to Take 2 of "Apple Suckling Tree": "Now I wish to my soul (dummy lyrics) years, uh-huh, I wish to my soul after seven years, uh-huh, Dave Bartholomew, Fanny Brown, Don't treat/catch(?) your name, but he have the hound, Down on down on the avenue, oh yeah."
Thanks. That's what I was looking for. I know this question is probably unanswerable, but do we know if any songs were recorded in 1966 and 1968? There's some speculation about the sessions wrapping up in 1968, but it is not known for certain, right?
The current thinking is the sessions wrapped up in Jan/Feb '68, but there's really no proof of that. I don't think anyone knows. There is a sad gap of a year in Dylan's songwriting - from the "hotel" tapes of the spring '66 tour to the first Basement Tapes in spring '67, there's nothing. From Pennebaker's account, and the evidence of the early Basement Tapes, Dylan was coming up with lots of spur-of-the-moment songs all the time in that period, often with Robbie Robertson, but they never bothered taping them.
I fell behind on this thread back at the end of Part 4, and I just finished catching up! I've never read any book about The Basement Tapes, but this thread has been as informative, and as entertaining, as I'd imagine any book about these sessions to be. I'm loving all the great detective work in regards to the reels. I've listened to the complete set about 6 times now, and certain discs several times individually. Disc 5 is definitely a huge standout. I can't get enough of Mary Lou and Dress It Up. Disc 6, like Disc 5, is a real treasure trove for those familiar with the boots. The sound quality is not a deal-breaker for me. Its a shame those tracks weren't placed in their proper chronological spots among the rest of the recordings. I'll be following along from here. "Hi, there" to anyone reading through these posts days, weeks, months, or years from now.
Maybe a clue... The version of '900 Miles' on Disc 5 seems to have Levon on it, so must come from very late in the sessions, yet I can't believe this was recorded after Dylan wrote and recorded JWH (the song). Would he make a traditional cover sound like one of his just recorded original songs? It seems more likely to me that the run through of '900 Miles' gave Dylan inspiration for the tune of JWH. Which would make '900 Miles' from November 1967 at the latest.
