There was a post a couple days ago regarding members wishlists for unreleased Dylan concert/studio material that have yet to see the light of day...A couple people mentioned The Basement Tapes. Other than the Hurricane Carter benefit boot, I have never really been a collector of Dylan rarities (and I know there are tons of stuff out there!). Several Dylan enthusiasts (on this board as well as other sites) have commented that there has been a variety of unreleased Basement Tapes material that blows away the legit release. I have always liked the commercial Basement Tapes release and would like to acquire more of it although I'm not a completist and am looking more for a "best of" type of package. Can anyone comment on these two Basement Tapes era releases: "Mixing Up the Medicine" on Hollow Horn & "The Best of the Basement Tapes" on Darkside or recommend other releases? Your feedback would be appreciated...

Tree With Roots has great sound and is complete.

Only have the old 5CD set The Genuine Basement Tapes ....
which was later remastered and put out as Tree With Roots....



ROCKMAN



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-11-11 09:51 by Rockman.

To be honest, you have to hear the whole thing, or at least the multi-CD set of the Genuine Basement Tapes (not totally complete because who knows what's still out there). The basterdized version that Robbie Robertson put together is a good taster, but it doesn't tell the whole story. He neglected to put on any of the cover songs they did (Spanish Is The Loving Tongue and Banks Of The Royal Canal come to mind) which, I think, are just as important to the Basement Tapes legacy as Dylan's original tunes. It's the best album of 1967 and one of the greatest collection of songs ever written.

However, if you wanna hear what the fuss was about back then, look for the 14-song demo that first made the rounds in late 1967.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-11-11 09:42 by tomk.

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Sighunt
Can anyone comment on these two Basement Tapes era releases: "Mixing Up the Medicine" on Hollow Horn [....]

THat Scorpio release is not a real "outtake collection", it's just a slightly different "mix" of the official record.....and from what I understand; it's a "fake mix". So avoid that one. The recent "remastered" official 2CD "Basement Tapes" is all you need for the official material.....not a bootleg of the same stuff.

When it comes to that other "bootleg" you mention.....I'm not familiar with it

I had a single CD(R) featuring the "best of the unreleased basement tapes" - but it didn't do much for me; there were so much essential stuff left out.

I'd recommend to go with Rockman's suggestion....you won't regret it.

It seems ATWR [www.bobsboots.com] is not just a remaster of the "old" early 90's 5-cd set (also on Scorpio Records) [www.bobsboots.com] , but a genuine upgrade with a different tape source used with a different lineage (blah blah).

Scorpio had given us a taste of the new BT with each of the 3 "Genuine Bootleg Series" which contained a few BT tracks with better sound or/and in stereo (while the 5-cd set was in mono).
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Thank you all for your comments....

The 5CD "Genuine Basement Tapes" changed my life completely. Accept no substitutes.

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UnderAssistantWCpromoMan
The 5CD "Genuine Basement Tapes" changed my life completely. Accept no substitutes.

ATWR is far superior. It'll give your life a new spin

The Hollow Horn boot Mixin' Up The Medicine is a copy of the safety tape made by Garth Hudson, this tape eventually fell into the the hands of Neil Young who gave one track back to Dylan's people for the Movie I'm Not There. The quality of the tracks on the Hollow Horn title is THE BEST there is for the stuff that's on it.The Darkside title just copies stuff available on other discs...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-11-11 18:26 by tomcat 6.

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dcba

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UnderAssistantWCpromoMan
The 5CD "Genuine Basement Tapes" changed my life completely. Accept no substitutes.

ATWR is far superior. It'll give your life a new spin

Actually, I do have "TREE", but I just remember that oh-so-wonderful Christmas circa 1998 when Santa left the entire "GENUINE" series under the x-mas tree (no roots, btw). My comment actually referred to the musical content in general, moreso than "best tape source", which remains on my desert island list to this day. But I will grant that you are right in your choice and if I had to do it all over again, I'd start there.

It's been awhile since I've listened to ATWR - that doesn't contain the Tiny Tim with The Band cuts, does it? If not, there is one more volume seldom mentioned. The Basement Tapes proper included their versions of "I GOT YOU BABE" and "SONNY BOY", that the sick completist in me had to eventually seek out. Typically, this "missing" volume repeats a lot of what is on other releases, but, hey, it's Tiny Tim and The Band. There's your psychedelia!

You're 100% right about the xtra bits of BTs that are not on the "Dylan only" cds. There's also a bunch of (genuine) Band outtakes around. But I guess from a bootlegger's pov a 7-cd set is harder to sell than a nifty 4-cd digipack.

As with any sort of 'archival' project, we probably won't see a definitive official Basement Tapes release until after Dylan, Robertson, etc are long gone. Rob Fraboni and Joel Bernstein would be the guys to do it IMO. Till then, "Tree With Roots" will do me just fine. Compared to just about any of the boots the 1975 release is an atrocity...the mono mix and overdubs were just the wrong idea. But then I still find it amazing Dylan sat on this material for so long; some of the Basement Tapes music is arguably the best stuff Bob or The Band ever did.

I think, "Imagine if the '14 Song Demo' or a variant thereof had've been released in late 1967? What sort of effect would it have?" Sure, The Beatles, The Stones, Clapton, etc all had it...big, big influence on all those guys. But somehow, for me, the Basement Tapes would have really upped the ante against a lot of the psychedelic hooey of the time if they'd've put it out when it was recorded. The stereo tapes we have on the bootlegs don't sound that bad at all...especially compared with a lot of the other records of the same era. Garth Hudson did a damn good job getting those tunes down.

I've got a book called "Million Dollar Bash" by Sid Griffin with a good breakdown of all the recording gear, etc...a much better/more informative read than the Greil Marcus book.

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loveyoulive75
I think, "Imagine if the '14 Song Demo' or a variant thereof had've been released in late 1967? What sort of effect would it have?" Sure, The Beatles, The Stones, Clapton, etc all had it...big, big influence on all those guys. But somehow, for me, the Basement Tapes would have really upped the ante against a lot of the psychedelic hooey of the time if they'd've put it out when it was recorded.

maybe, but how different would this result have been from what actually did happen when dylan released John Wesley Harding a few months later?

and aren't we glad that some of the psychedelic hooey exists? I don't see why we should have wanted things to have been any different, from a 2010 perspective. Do you think more good records would have been made, simply because a roots revival happened earlier?

they are overrated

Not overrated, but at least as intressting as the big box with Woody Guthrie...Tapes that a guy Lomax released in the seventies...4 LPs

At the suggestion of others on this board, I sought out A Tree With Roots and acquired a copy of it.. Boy, there was quite a lot of material to listen to! AS A WHOLE, I thought the collection of tunes was great, but I also thought (from my perspective) that there was a significant amount of filler that didn't quite do it for me...However, there were a few choice nuggets in this wealth of material that I fell in love with immediately that could certainly have found their way on the commercial release from 75 such as I'm Not There, Silent Weekend, Sign on the Cross, and I Shall Be Released (which from memory ended up on the 2nd greatest hits package?)...anyway, thanks to all who steered me towards this collection...

"quite a lot of material to listen to...a significant amount of filler that didn't quite do it...a few choice nuggets... such as I'm Not There, Silent Weekend, Sign on the Cross, and I Shall Be Released"

You summed it up extremey well!

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dcba
"quite a lot of material to listen to...a significant amount of filler that didn't quite do it...a few choice nuggets... such as I'm Not There, Silent Weekend, Sign on the Cross, and I Shall Be Released"

You summed it up extremey well!

totally agree, when i got into dylan with the usual stuff (buying all lps, books, boots (studio & live)) listening and reading and listening etc. i never understood WHY they have this place in his work. i can think of a lot of better stuff. but maybe it depends on taste or maybe i´m a fool......

how can stuff recorded one summer just for the hell of it be called "filler"?

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cc
how can stuff recorded one summer just for the hell of it be called "filler"?

This is true...with all the exposure the Basement Tapes have gotten over the years, it's worth pointing out that WE we never meant to hear any of 'em...and most likely if not for Great White Wonder we probably never would have. Dylan and the boys were just screwing around, as far as they were concerned. I know: "Sign On The Cross" and "I Shall Be Released" etc are more than just 'screwing around' but Dylan, Robertson, et al just didn't see the big deal about those songs at the time(!). Like I said, what's amazing is Bob more or less disregarded some of the best stuff he ever did by not putting it out in 1967. The John Wesley Harding LP puts me to sleep, by the way...IMO the 14 song demo would have made a fine album in itself, and arguably a better follow up to Blonde On Blonde than JWH ended up. I still think it's hilarious that while everybody else was tripping out, Dylan and The Band were making the earthiest music they'd ever make!

Sure, some of the 'basement noise' is rough going but once you separate the wheat from the chaff, it's easily up there with Dylan's best stuff. My only hope is that if they ever do a "Bootleg Series, Volume 474- The Basement Tapes" set is that whomever is in charge doesn't f--k it up (Jaime Robbie Robertson, I am talking to you!)

Of course, to tie it all in to the Stones, as my wife says, "Exile is the Stones' version of The Basement Tapes". She's got a point, when you think on it...