sampler
― i blow goat farts, aka garts for a living (waterface), Monday, 27 October 2014 19:11 (nine years ago) link
Sasha Frere-Jones sez, "Robbie Robertson already picked all the winners!"http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/03/fall-4
Historically, these sessions have been treated with awe, as if something essential about both Dylan and popular song can be found on the tapes. That’s at best half true. The performances weren’t approached with any kind of gravity, and are best listened to with no reverence at all. For every moment of revelation and synthesis, there are five throwaways.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 27 October 2014 19:14 (nine years ago) link
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 27 October 2014 19:17 (nine years ago) link
he's right that there are plenty of throwaways, but there's also plenty of wonderful stuff that hasn't yet seen official release. i like a lot of the ballads on this one especially, some of which were never released because the takes aren't complete.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Monday, 27 October 2014 20:38 (nine years ago) link
i mean song for song that recent bootleg series volume on 1969–1970 might beat this one
― I dunno. (amateurist), Monday, 27 October 2014 20:39 (nine years ago) link
dunno, the "throwaways" are a big part of the basement tapes, aren't they? they're the basement tapes! i like the unfinished-ness of these recordings. I think it was paul williams who said it was more like hearing the idea of the song, rather than the song itself.
― tylerw, Monday, 27 October 2014 20:54 (nine years ago) link
i can't imagine what hearing an idea of a song sounds like
― I dunno. (amateurist), Monday, 27 October 2014 21:21 (nine years ago) link
You will if you listen to this whole thing, or A Tree With Roots. Also, I love how he sings "Still In Town," "Young But Daily Growing" (such a voice on the boysky then, when he was in the mood); very crisp, non-throwaway covers of other folk & country chestnuts too, giving the originals some competition (though I assume "Silent Weekend," on the xpost pre-release sampler posted at npr, is an original, and also country strong" a tad blurry around the edges, but appropriately so: swigging and swinging that moonshine consolation)
― dow, Monday, 27 October 2014 21:41 (nine years ago) link
So no, Robertson didn't pick nearly all the keepers---and for all his thoughtful fixes in the mixes, this sampler has better audio.
― dow, Monday, 27 October 2014 21:43 (nine years ago) link
hey dow - are any of the songs that cut off prematurely in tree w/roots available in a full version on this? or was that all there was?
― u2 removal machine (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 27 October 2014 21:51 (nine years ago) link
Haven't heard the whole legit version, just this sampler. Lot of track info grayed out on iTunes and Amazon, last time I checked (but iTunes did have the whole digital thang for $59.99; Amazon's only digital is 2-discs-worth, for $19.99 I think [that's Raw, the Robertson picks minus his fixes, plus a few more]; their only Complete is 6 CDs and a book or booklet, for $127.99)
― dow, Monday, 27 October 2014 22:04 (nine years ago) link
rollingstone.com's prob got more info about tracks.
― dow, Monday, 27 October 2014 22:05 (nine years ago) link
You will if you listen to this whole thing, or A Tree With Roots
i have, many times.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Monday, 27 October 2014 22:19 (nine years ago) link
i too love "still in town," "young but daily growin," "spanish is the loving tongue," "the french girl," etc.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Monday, 27 October 2014 22:20 (nine years ago) link
my comment above was just taking issue with that critic's line about "hearing the idea of a song"--i have no idea what that means
Well, like on the sampler's version of "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," you sort of have to squint at it, or some of it is a squint; D. hasn't quite gotten it in focus yet, seems like.
― dow, Monday, 27 October 2014 22:28 (nine years ago) link
SFJ is such a cunt
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 27 October 2014 22:29 (nine years ago) link
That first track on the NPR sampler sounds no better than my boot version -- lowering my expectations
― bodacious ignoramus, Monday, 27 October 2014 23:45 (nine years ago) link
30 unbootlegged tracks in the box, right? No idea if they make it worth buying for those who have A Tree With Roots (at the moment,it's a moot point for me, financially).
― dow, Tuesday, 28 October 2014 00:00 (nine years ago) link
there's no way i'm buying this for $150 or whatever. what's in the box? bob dylan nose hair? a t-shirt? redundant vinyl? a hardbound box i will look at once, maybe? fuck a sony.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 00:38 (nine years ago) link
for that much money i want the actual basement tapes in the box, like, the original tapes.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 00:39 (nine years ago) link
You get temporary custody of Garth Hudson.
― Don A Henley And Get Over It (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 00:43 (nine years ago) link
And the screen door he fixed.
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 28 October 2014 00:44 (nine years ago) link
on a side note, why does greil marcus keep retitling his books?
― I dunno. (amateurist), Tuesday, 28 October 2014 00:57 (nine years ago) link
Ordered a copy from Overstock.com - $99.15 with free shipping.
― Jazzbo, Friday, 31 October 2014 15:29 (nine years ago) link
Xpost "Temporary Custody of Garth Hudson" sounds like a Dylan tune from 1966.
― Jazzbo, Friday, 31 October 2014 15:46 (nine years ago) link
Overstock? Anticipating low sales out-the-gate? Given the NPR sneak-peak, unless the book is super fantastic, gonna buy this one second hand.
― bodacious ignoramus, Friday, 31 October 2014 18:57 (nine years ago) link
gaaaah this is so goooooooood
― I dunno. (amateurist), Saturday, 1 November 2014 23:50 (nine years ago) link
better sound quality than tree w/roots?
are any of the former partial songs there in full form?
$109 on pop market deal today
― There Goes Ryan's Scion (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 3 November 2014 17:06 (nine years ago) link
yurrrgh, just starting in on disc one, this is the besssst. sound quality seems a little bit improved from tree with roots to me.
― tylerw, Monday, 3 November 2014 17:08 (nine years ago) link
I would say it's a bit better but not artificially cleaned up. When the original distorts or skips or whatever, they've done nothing to try to remove it. It's still a warts and all release.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 3 November 2014 17:13 (nine years ago) link
some of the super-wide stereo mixes on the bootlegs seem to have been centered a little bit. sounds a-ok to me so far.
― tylerw, Monday, 3 November 2014 17:16 (nine years ago) link
It's amazing. What we've been waiting for all these years.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 3 November 2014 17:22 (nine years ago) link
YOU DICKS!!!!!
i was trying to talk myself out of this :)
― There Goes Ryan's Scion (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 3 November 2014 17:29 (nine years ago) link
lol. may just stop listening to anything other than this for the next few months... everybody down into the basement!
― tylerw, Monday, 3 November 2014 17:29 (nine years ago) link
but the Velvets box is nigh, too...
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 3 November 2014 17:32 (nine years ago) link
I know, right?
― sleeve, Monday, 3 November 2014 17:32 (nine years ago) link
don't buy it, just steal it, sony doesn't need your $125
the sound quality is much better in some cases, fairly better in others
if i'm not mistaken there are a handful of tracks i hadn't heard before
― I dunno. (amateurist), Monday, 3 November 2014 17:36 (nine years ago) link
yeah, something like 30 tracks that have never been bootlegged.
― tylerw, Monday, 3 November 2014 17:39 (nine years ago) link
the little mini-set of blowing in the wind, one too many mornings, satisfied mind and it ain't me babe is making me fantasize about what a Dylan/Band tour in 1967-8 would've been like.
― tylerw, Monday, 3 November 2014 22:17 (nine years ago) link
I can't imagine them taking this style to the stage. If they did it woulda been cool.
The Autoharp songs have never sounded anywhere near this good. I won't skip them anymore.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 3 November 2014 23:23 (nine years ago) link
yeah pretty impossible to imagine (aside from the isle of wight show maybe) exactly how they could've pulled off something so casual sounding in a live setting, especially given what a lightning rod dylan was in 67-68. doubtful the audience would have just relaxed and listened to the tunes. but i'd be curious to know if that's what they were doing with those reinvented tunes -- practicing for a potential live show?
― tylerw, Monday, 3 November 2014 23:27 (nine years ago) link
Somebody please be sure to describe the 30 prev unbootlegged tracks
― dow, Monday, 3 November 2014 23:48 (nine years ago) link
They're cool
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 3 November 2014 23:49 (nine years ago) link
don't want to be too hyperbolic, but they're pretty phenomenal! i mean, they're very much unfinished for the most part, but i am pretty giddy about more basement noise.
― tylerw, Monday, 3 November 2014 23:52 (nine years ago) link
und you vill of course provide more detail
― dow, Monday, 3 November 2014 23:57 (nine years ago) link
Tyler are any of the cut off songs complete?
― There Goes Ryan's Scion (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 4 November 2014 00:05 (nine years ago) link
bourbon street is much longer...
― tylerw, Tuesday, 4 November 2014 00:08 (nine years ago) link
but most of the cut-offs are the same as tree with roots as far as i can tell
― tylerw, Tuesday, 4 November 2014 00:09 (nine years ago) link
Any comments on the book ??
― bodacious ignoramus, Tuesday, 4 November 2014 00:21 (nine years ago) link