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Bob Dylan to release the “complete” Basement Tapes

by Jay Gabler

August 26, 2014

The 11th installment in Bob Dylan's official "Bootleg Series" will be an expanded version of an album that could be described as his first official bootleg release: The Basement Tapes, a 1975 release of recordings made with the Band in 1967. On Nov. 4, Dylan will release The The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11, a box set containing what's described as "every salvageable recording from the tapes, including recently discovered early gems recorded in the 'Red Room' of Dylan's home in upstate New York."

Garth Hudson of the Band is helping to compile the new set, which will include a whopping 138 tracks on six discs, expanding the original 24 tracks on two albums. For Dylan fans who want to go deeper but not quite that deep, a two-disc highlight compilation will also be released as The Basement Tapes Raw.

The "Basement Tapes" were described as such because many of the recording sessions took place in the West Saugerties house known as "Big Pink," the house that also provided the inspiration for the Band's 1968 debut album Music From Big Pink. The Basement Tapes recordings were made during a period when Dylan had pulled back from the spotlight after a 1966 motorcycle crash; the songs that became Dylan's 1967 album John Wesley Harding were written and recorded around the same time.

Upon their 1975 release, The Basement Tapes were immediately acclaimed; in the New York Times, John Rockwell went so far as to call The Basement Tapes "the greatest album in the history of popular American music." By the time of the set's official release, it had become, in the words of Bob Dylan Encyclopedia author Michael Gray, "the world's most bootlegged bootleg."

Since 1975, a number of songs from The Basement Tapes have become popular standards: "Tears of Rage" (which also appeared on Music From Big Pink, featuring Richard Manuel on lead vocal), "This Wheel's On Fire," and perhaps most notably "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere." Here, the latter song is covered by Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Shawn Colvin at Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration in 1992.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yicpOvhhvg8

As a teaser for the box set, Dylan has shared an alternate version of "Odds and Ends." Scroll down for the set's complete track list, via Rolling Stone.

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Disc 1:

01 Edge of the Ocean 02 My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It 03 Roll on Train 04 Mr. Blue 05 Belshazzar 06 I Forgot to Remember to Forget 07 You Win Again 08 Still in Town 09 Waltzing with Sin 10 Big River (Take 1) 11 Big River (Take 2) 12 Folsom Prison Blues 13 Bells of Rhymney 14 Spanish is the Loving Tongue 15 Under Control 16 Ol’ Roison the Beau 17 I’m Guilty of Loving You 18 Cool Water 19 The Auld Triangle 20 Po’ Lazarus 21 I’m a Fool for You (Take 1) 22 I’m a Fool for You (Take 2)

Disc 2:

01 Johnny Todd 02 Tupelo 03 Kickin’ My Dog Around 04 See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 1) 05 See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 2) 06 Tiny Montgomery 07 Big Dog 08 I’m Your Teenage Prayer 09 Four Strong Winds 10 The French Girl (Take 1) 11 The French Girl (Take 2) 12 Joshua Gone Barbados 13 I’m in the Mood 14 Baby Ain’t That Fine 15 Rock, Salt and Nails 16 A Fool Such As I 17 Song for Canada 18 People Get Ready 19 I Don’t Hurt Anymore 20 Be Careful of Stones That You Throw 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

Disc 3:

01 Young but Daily Growing 02 Bonnie Ship the Diamond 03 The Hills of Mexico 04 Down on Me 05 One for the Road 06 I’m Alright 07 Million Dollar Bash (Take 1) 08 Million Dollar Bash (Take 2) 09 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 22 Too Much of Nothing (Take 1) 23 Too Much of Nothing (Take 2)

Disc 4:

01 Tears of Rage (Take 1) 02 Tears of Rage (Take 2) 03 Tears of Rage (Take 3) 04 Quinn the Eskimo (Take 1) 05 Quinn the Eskimo (Take 2) 06 Open the Door Homer (Take 1) 07 Open the Door Homer (Take 2) 08 Open the Door Homer (Take 3) 09 Nothing Was Delivered (Take 1) 10 Nothing Was Delivered (Take 2) 11 Nothing Was Delivered (Take 3) 12 All American Boy 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

Disc 5:

01 Blowin’ in the Wind 02 One Too Many Mornings 03 A Satisfied Mind 04 It Ain’t Me, Babe 05 Ain’t No More Cane (Take 1) 06 Ain’t No More Cane (Take 2) 07 My Woman She’s A-Leavin’ 08 Santa-Fe 09 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 15 Wildwood Flower 16 One Kind Favor 17 She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain 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 23 Confidential 24 All You Have to do is Dream (Take 1) 25 All You Have to do is Dream (Take 2)

Disc 6:

01 2 Dollars and 99 Cents 02 Jelly Bean 03 Any Time 04 Down by the Station 05 Hallelujah, I’ve Just Been Moved 06 That’s the Breaks 07 Pretty Mary 08 Will the Circle be Unbroken 09 King of France 10 She’s on My Mind Again 11 Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad 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 18 Bring it on Home 19 Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies 20 The Spanish Song (Take 1) 21 The Spanish Song (Take 2)

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This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.