Originally posted here in 2016…
11/7
My monthly income is $500. I just spent $130 of that on the newly released Dylan Basement Tapes. My daddy thinks I’m no good with money.
They haven’t arrived yet so I’ve been listening to the bootleg of those 6 CDs I bought in ‘93 in NYC. One thing now occurs to me—this is boy music. It’s like a frat party of geniuses. It’s a lot of fun to be invited.
My friend in NYC and I were discussing the relative merits of the 2CD release vs. the 6CD box. How many times do you have to hear 3 takes of “Open the Door Homer” (wherein Homer’s name is Richard)?? I explained my sense that the 2CD set is the trailer, and a damn fine one, and the 6CD set is the documentary. (I didn’t mention I already have 3 copies of 3 takes of “Open the Door Homer.”)
I’m not a fanatic nor a cultist—it just seemed obvious to me get the box. Also I was stoned when I ordered it. My daddy thinks I’m not good with money.
11/8
Track 2 is “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It”—Dylan lets out a Beatle howl! My cynicism about the price of this set (and the “bonus disc”) melted. For an instant the Beatles just came back to America. The sound’s impeccable. “I’m Mr. Blue”—This is so rich. “I Forgot to Remember to Forget Her” is downright romantic, with Garth’s organ a chandelier. I take back what I said about it being all boy music. Lush. (“You Win Again”). Rhythmic and true. I’ve heard no better cover versions of these songs. (But I’m no scholar.) Dylan pushes the high and low ends of his voice purely and with great élan. He sings like a rainbow dancing with sin. Track 9 and already we’re in church.
“Big River’s” got mad soul. This ain’t a cover, it’s a take-over. I’m like a kid in a candy store. Awestruck!!
Rollin’ on. Folsom Prison funk. Dylan has the genius gift for great phrasing. His voice slides all over the place, not always at the same time as the words. A map is not a territory.
Dylan sounds in love with his singing, and with the songs themselves. These aren’t covers, they’re respectful, slightly mischievous re-enactments. Out in the street in the night rain belting out “Under Control.” Dylan the brat!! The man has magic and music in everything he does, and mystery. Mr. Dylan I’m guilty of loving you.
PRELUDE (Shoulda Come First): Disc 6 of this set is referred to as a bonus disk. At a list price of over $150 for the 6-disk set, that’s not a bonus disk—that’s one of 6 disks you paid way too much for (I don’t have to tell you how my daddy thinks I am with money). Back to the Basement tomorrow.
11/9/14
Carny. “That old triangle/that old jingle jangle.” Feel like I’ve happened on a gospel tent (on the Royal Canal). Empty except for one man and a guitar working out their spirit in the dark.
While walking out one evening
Not knowing where to go
Just to pass the time away
Before we held our show
I came upon a mission band
Playing with all their might
I gave my soul to Jesus
And left the show that night
—(“Diamonds In the Rough”)
Also, “Along the Royal Canal’s” jingle-jangle’s Tambourine Man.
DISC 2:
Rowdy. Mysterious: first mention of the flood. Tupelo, Miss. Big Dog.
Outrageous Whimsy: Allen Ginsberg. Allen Ginsberg.
Levon shows up: “I’m your Teenage Prayer.” Look at me baby!! If you’re not singing along by now then you’re not me.
Dylan hangs the lyrics on a jump rope. I keep trying to describe his fluidity, vocally and verbally. It’s the way he wrote, applied to standards.
Joshua Gone Barbados. Tender.
It’s all poetry in the best sense. It’s where the oral tradition is, at the corner of pop radio and Shakespeare. Dylan puts his heart and soul into everything, with humor and reverence. This is the closest I’ve felt to him, since way back in high school.
We’re somewhere between a monastery and a kegger, working the mines. “Ain’t that Fine?” (I write disjointed even though I’m smoking one right now. ((Call it Alzheimer’s, blame it on Rio)).)
Dylan and his cohorts sneak right up on “People Get Ready” and again they own it. If the Bible’s a Cecil B. DeMille opus, this is the man on the cross. “Get on board.” I don’t hurt anymore (like Jesus).
11/10/14
The multiple takes are money. They’re not repetitive, it’s a joy to hear em wrangle the lyrics/vocals around on “Tears of Rage.”
“One man’s loss is ponderous.”
Baby Won’t You Be My Baby—Garth’s back!!
Dylan gets a little Mick Jaggerish. It’s so tent show. Things seem to be getting a little sonorous and muddy. Garth’s in there like a lighthouse.
Hills of Mexico turns out to be “left that joker’s bones to bleed/ on the hills of Kokomo.”
Buffalo Skinners’ Bash (Take 2) is smooth! Garth’s organ is all over it, the harmonies are wonderful and Dylan sounds brash!!
Finally!!…”Please Mrs. Henry.”
Before I forget, it’s worth any amount of money to hear Dylan sing “I just do what I’m told” (“Clothesline Saga”). More than once listening to this material I sang to myself “Halleluiah I’ve Just Been Moved” (from the “bonus” disc).
These guys rip a new one in “If I Were a Carpenter.” Best, sloppiest, soulfullest, rockingnest version imaginable.
11/14/14
I’m having a weird after-effect from this box set. I think it felt more intimate and sounded warmer (emotionally) when it was a real, illegal bootleg. This is a thorough, meticulous, and honest view of these sessions, and a far superior presentation than the Basement Tapes have ever enjoyed. But if you had the bootlegs for decades already, it’s kind of like a Beatles album simulating their arrival in America is to having been there (which I wasn’t!). The experience is missing.
11/17/14
I’m gonna party like it was $19.95.
The Basement Tapes is scrappy stuff. Dylan and the band attack these songs with rowdiness, integrity, and exuberance. Dylan’s a great vocalist with a profound sense and knowledge of musical history. He scampers all over the place with verve and authenticity. He sings the way he writes, with genius phrasing. He even scats a little here.
This is the best showcase of the Band’s chemistry and range I’ve heard. Garth’s organ careens and dances all over creation while Manuel pounds soulful piano runs. Levon shows up late, but when he does he becomes the trellis all these notes are growing on. He’s always right at home—he brings a lot of heart to the proceedings.
Danko jumps around on bass like it was a pogo stick. His playing is punctual and frolicsome. He sort of stomps along cheerfully and always inventively.
Even Robertson breaks out on a few guitar runs you won’t hear anywhere else.
This is an assembly of mastery and mystery, and is unlike anything else before or since. These guys play around but they’re all pros. They bring it with them when they come.
Whatever Can’t Be Proved (Must Be True)
nuance and bravado
frolic and grief
re-atomic particles
music is belief
hip hop hallelujah
rocking at my door
I’m afraid if I go outside
I’ll never come back no more
I remember everything
even what I’ve been taught
my english teachers died for my sins
without a second thought
hip hop confidential
sprawled across america
pinpointed only by healings
of mass hysteria
it’s raining so hard
my bird has flown
I’m gonna have to walk on water
just to get back home
hip hop california
hip hop kalamazoo
hip hop “pledging my time to you
hoping you’ll come through too”
reel after reel
no one ever gets old
just like bob dylan and jesus
I just do what I’m told
cheek to cheek
tongue in hand
toe to toe
contraband
hip hop apocalypse
scholars and domes
59 years old and I’m still running
away from home
cartwheels and attitudes
barkers and nuns
theft and gratitude
illegal puns
hip hop acapulco
beat your drum
I like to go to big places and just sit there
waiting for bob dylan to come
g.o. squires and K. Scott Strong
taught me life doesn’t last very long
I turned 25 and they were both gone
sacrificing their lives for the sake of this song
hip hop “hallelujah
I’ve just been moved”
from one end to the other
by a faith that can’t be proved
confidence and exposure
sugar and salt
if you never listen to the basement tapes
it’s your own damn fault
Carm’s Last Note:
(What separates me from other chicks is I got no mystery ((That and the fact that my vagina’s a dick)) (((which has nothing whatever to do with Bob Dylan))) ((((even if he IS singing a raucous drinking song)))) (((((“Rosyn the bow”!!))))).