Junk for Code

The Basement Tapes

Following his 1966 motorcycle accident, BOb Dylan retreated to Woodstock, N.Y., where he assembled a musical entourage known as simply, The Band. Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Levon Helm and Richard Manuel.The daily music sessions at the Big Pink house in the Catskills soon produced more than 100 new recordings of either traditional or original material.

The official Basement Tapes: a two-disc set of ad hoc performances from 1967, albeit refurbished slightly for this release, "The Basement Tapes" provides the missing link between Dylan's long, poetic songs of the mid 60s and the shorter, more direct songs of the late 60s.

The trouble is that Greil Marcus has heard the 5 CD set basement tapes bootleg. I've only heard the 1975 official release. I've I loved the feel of this music: The songs are easy, the band is having fun, and the music flows and are a precursor to Dylan's stark John Wesley Harding and the Band's stunning debut, Music from Big Pink as well as the The Band. The music of Basement sessions are seen favourably.Thus:

"At a time when most rock culture was entranced with its post-atomic origins, these songs sounded timeless, plunging into pre-industrial folk, turn of the (20th) century barrelhouse and blues, and crackling, vintage rock & roll excursions with offhand verve and a thrilling disregard for what was hip."

But I'm at a disadvantage here. I cannot listen to the span of music covered in the 105 songs. Nor can I see the connection between Dylan's Basement Tapes project and the spirit of the true underground America as embodied/enshrined in Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music. Nor can I discern and grasp the roots and memory of this music.

Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at May 22, 2005 11:56 PM | TrackBack