Durante la convalescenza, lontano dagli occhi del pubblico per la prima volta dopo anni, Dylan si sistemò, insieme a Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson e, più tardi, Levon Helm, nel seminterrato di una piccola casa, soprannominato “Big Pink” dal gruppo, a West Saugerties, New York. Questa formazione, successivamente passata alla storia come Bob Dylan e The Band, registrò più di un centinaio di canzoni nel corso dei mesi, tra cui cover, stornelli ironici e divertenti e, soprattutto, decine di nuove canzoni di Bob Dylan, tra cui i classici I Shall Be Released, The Mighty Quinn, This Wheel’s On Fire e You Ain’t Going Nowhere.
Quando le voci di alcune di queste registrazioni cominciarono a circolare, si venne a creare una forte curiosità che alimentava un settore un segmento completamente nuovo del mondo della musica: il bootleg. Nel 1969, un album misteriosamente intitolato Great White Wonder iniziò a essere distribuito nei negozi di dischi in tutto il paese, e la musica di Dylan a partire dall’estate del 1967 iniziò a infiltrarsi nel tessuto della cultura popolare, che penetra le anime degli amanti della musica di tutto il mondo. Col passare degli anni, sempre più appassionati cercarono questo raro contrabbando, curiosi di sentire questa nuova musica del leggendario Bob Dylan.
Le registrazioni effettive, tuttavia, rimasero commercialmente disponibili fino al 1975, quando la Columbia Records ne pubblicò 16 sull’album The Basement Tapes (che includeva anche otto nuove canzoni di The Band, senza Dylan).
Un successo di critica e popolare, The Basement Tapes finirono nella Top 10 negli Stati Uniti e nel Regno Unito, con John Rockwell del The New York Times, che lo definiva “uno dei più grandi album della storia della musica popolare americana,” Paul Nelson, Rolling Stone, lodava le tracce come “le canzoni più dure, più dolci, più tristi, più divertenti più sagge che conosco” ‘e il Washington Post sottolineava che “… Dylan si è affermato come il più grande artista che la moderna musica pop americana abbia mai prodotto.” Robert Christgau diede all’album un rating A + sul Village Voice, dove arrivò in cima alla Pazz annuale & Jop Critics Poll.
Nel corso degli anni, le canzoni di The Basement Tapes hanno ossessionato e lasciato perplessi gli appassionati, le registrazioni stesse rappresentano un Santo Graal per i Dylaniani. Cosa c’era sul resto di quei nastri?
The Basement Tapes Complete riunisce, per la prima volta in assoluto, ogni registrazione salvabile dai nastri comprese le prime gemme scoperte di recente registrate nella “Sala Rossa” della casa di Dylan nello stato di New York. Garth Hudson ha lavorato a stretto contatto con l’archivista musicale canadese e produttore Jan Haust per ripristinare il suono incontaminato dei nastri in deterioramento, e molta di questa musica è stata trasferita e conservata in digitale per la prima volta.
La decisione è stata presa per presentare The Basement Tapes Complete più intatta possibile. Inoltre, a differenza della pubblicazione ufficiale del 1975, queste performance sono presentate nella versione più fedele possibile al modo in cui sono stati originariamente registrate e suonate di nuovo nell’estate del 1967. I brani sono in ordine per lo più cronologico basato sul sistema di numerazione di Garth Hudson.
Meticolosamente restaurato per la prima volta dal ritrovamento dei nastri originali, il cofanetto di 6 cd racconta le leggendarie sessioni del 1967 di Dylan and The Band
L’edizione speciale in doppio cd, The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 contiene le tracce più importanti di The Basement Tapes Complete
The Basement Tapes: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 sarà inoltre disponibile in versione vinile 180gr in triplo LP
BOB DYLAN – THE BASEMENT TAPES COMPLETE:
THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 11
CD 1
1. Edge of the Ocean
2. My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It (written by Clarence Williams)
3. Roll on Train
4. Mr. Blue (written by Dewayne Blackwell)
5. Belshazzar (written by Johnny Cash)
6. I Forgot to Remember to Forget (written by Charlie A Feathers and Stanley A Kesler)
7. You Win Again (written by Hank Williams)
8. Still in Town (written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard)
9. Waltzing with Sin (written by Sonny Burns and Red Hayes)
10. Big River (Take 1) (written by Johnny Cash)
11. Big River (Take 2) (written by Johnny Cash)
12. Folsom Prison Blues (written by Johnny Cash)
13. Bells of Rhymney (written by Idris Davies and Peter Seeger)
14. Spanish is the Loving Tongue
15. Under Control
16. Ol’ Roison the Beau (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
17. I’m Guilty of Loving You
18. Cool Water (written by Bob Nolan)
19. The Auld Triangle (written by Brendan Francis Behan)
20. Po’ Lazarus (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
21. I’m a Fool for You (Take 1)
22. I’m a Fool for You (Take 2)
CD 2
1. Johnny Todd (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
2. Tupelo (written by John Lee Hooker)
3. Kickin’ My Dog Around (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
4. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 1)
5. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 2)
6. Tiny Montgomery
7. Big Dog
8. I’m Your Teenage Prayer
9. Four Strong Winds (written by Ian Tyson)
10. The French Girl (Take 1) (written by Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson)
11. The French Girl (Take 2) (written by Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson)
12. Joshua Gone Barbados (written by Eric Von Schmidt)
13. I’m in the Mood (written by Bernard Besman and John Lee Hooker)
14. Baby Ain’t That Fine (written by Dallas Frazier)
15. Rock, Salt and Nails (written by Bruce Phillips)
16. A Fool Such As I (written by William Marvin Trader)
17. Song for Canada (written by Pete Gzowski and Ian Tyson)
18. People Get Ready (written by Curtis L Mayfield)
19. I Don’t Hurt Anymore (written By Donald I Robertson and Walter E Rollins)
20. Be Careful of Stones That You Throw (written by Benjamin Lee Blankenship)
21. One Man’s Loss
22. Lock Your Door
23. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby
24. Try Me Little Girl
25. I Can’t Make it Alone
26. Don’t You Try Me Now
CD 3
1. Young but Daily Growing (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
2. Bonnie Ship the Diamond (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
3. The Hills of Mexico (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
4. Down on Me (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
5. One for the Road
6. I’m Alright
7. Million Dollar Bash (Take 1)
8. Million Dollar Bash (Take 2)
9. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 1)
10. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 2)
11. I’m Not There
12. Please Mrs. Henry
13. Crash on the Levee (Take 1)
14. Crash on the Levee (Take 2)
15. Lo and Behold! (Take 1)
16. Lo and Behold! (Take 2)
17. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 1)
18. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 2)
19. I Shall be Released (Take 1)
20. I Shall be Released (Take 2)
21. This Wheel’s on Fire (written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko)
22. Too Much of Nothing (Take 1)
23. Too Much of Nothing (Take 2)
CD 4
1. Tears of Rage (Take 1) (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
2. Tears of Rage (Take 2) (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
3. Tears of Rage (Take 3) (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
4. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 1)
5. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 2)
6. Open the Door Homer (Take 1)
7. Open the Door Homer (Take 2)
8. Open the Door Homer (Take 3)
9. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 1)
10. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 2)
11. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 3)
12. All American Boy (written by Bobby Bare)
13. Sign on the Cross
14. Odds and Ends (Take 1)
15. Odds and Ends (Take 2)
16. Get Your Rocks Off
17. Clothes Line Saga
18. Apple Suckling Tree (Take 1)
19. Apple Suckling Tree (Take 2)
20. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
21. Bourbon Street
CD 5
1. Blowin’ in the Wind
2. One Too Many Mornings
3. A Satisfied Mind (written by Joe Hayes and Jack Rhodes)
4. It Ain’t Me, Babe
5. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 1) (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
6. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 2) (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
7. My Woman She’s A-Leavin’
8. Santa-Fe
9. Mary Lou, I Love You Too
10. Dress it up, Better Have it All
11. Minstrel Boy
12. Silent Weekend
13. What’s it Gonna be When it Comes Up
14. 900 Miles from My Home (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
15. Wildwood Flower (written by A.P. Carter)
16. One Kind Favor (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
17. She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
18. It’s the Flight of the Bumblebee
19. Wild Wolf
20. Goin’ to Acapulco
21. Gonna Get You Now
22. If I Were A Carpenter (written by James Timothy Hardin)
23. Confidential (written by Dorina Morgan)
24. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 1)
25. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 2)
CD 6
1. 2 Dollars and 99 Cents
2. Jelly Bean
3. Any Time
4. Down by the Station
5. Hallelujah, I’ve Just Been Moved (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
6. That’s the Breaks
7. Pretty Mary
8. Will the Circle be Unbroken (written by A.P. Carter)
9. King of France
10. She’s on My Mind Again
11. Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
12. On a Rainy Afternoon
13. I Can’t Come in with a Broken Heart
14. Next Time on the Highway
15. Northern Claim
16. Love is Only Mine
17. Silhouettes (written by Bob Crewe and Frank C Slay Jr.)
18. Bring it on Home
19. Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
20. The Spanish Song (Take 1)
21. The Spanish Song (Take 2)
* * * * *
BOB DYLAN- THE BASEMENT TAPES RAW:
THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 11
(all songs written by Bob Dylan unless otherwise noted)
CD 1
1. Open the Door, Homer (Restored version)
2. Odds and Ends (Alternate version)
3. Million Dollar Bash (Alternate version)
4. One Too Many Mornings (Unreleased)
5. I Don’t Hurt Anymore (Unreleased) (written by Donald I Robertson and Walter E Rollins)
6. Ain’t No More Cane (Alternate version) (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
7. Crash on the Levee (Restored version)
8. Tears of Rage (Without overdubs) (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
9. Dress it up, Better Have it All (Unreleased)
10. I’m Not There (Previously released)
11. Johnny Todd (Unreleased) (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
12. Too Much of Nothing (Alternate version)
13. Quinn the Eskimo (Restored version)
14. Get Your Rocks Off (Unreleased)
15. Santa-Fe (Previously released)
16. Silent Weekend (Unreleased)
17. Clothes Line Saga (Restored version)
18. Please, Mrs. Henry (Restored version)
19. I Shall be Released (Restored version)
CD 2
1. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Alternate version)
2. Lo and Behold! (Alternate version)
3. Minstrel Boy (Previously released)
4. Tiny Montgomery (Without overdubs)
5. All You Have to do is Dream (Unreleased)
6. Goin’ to Acapulco (Without overdubs)
7. 900 Miles from My Home (Unreleased) (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
8. One for the Road (Unreleased)
9. I’m Alright (Unreleased)
10. Blowin’ in the Wind (Unreleased)
11. Apple Suckling Tree (Restored version)
12. Nothing Was Delivered (Restored version)
13. Folsom Prison Blues (Unreleased) (written by Johnny Cash)
14. This Wheel’s on Fire (Without overdubs) (written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko)
15. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Restored version)
16. Don’t Ya Tell Henry (Alternate version)
17. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby (Unreleased)
18. Sign on the Cross (Unreleased)
19. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Without overdubs)
Musicians:
Bob Dylan
Robbie Robertson
Rick Danko
Richard Manuel
Garth Hudson
Levon Helm
