Bob Dylan
Genuine Basement Tapes
Vol 1- 5
1967

Vol. 1   1. All You Have To Do Is Dream   2. I Can't Make It Alone   3. Down On Me   4. Bonnie Ship The Diamond   5. One Man's Loss   6. Baby Ain't That Fine   7. Rock Salt And Nails   8. A Fool Such As I   9. Stones That You Throw 10. Hills Of Mexico 11. It's alright, ma (I'm only bleeding) 12. One Single River 13. Try Me 14. One For The Road 15. I Don't Hurt Anymore 16. People Get Ready 17. Lock Your Door Baby/Baby,       Won't You Be My Baby 18. Don't You Try Me Now 19. All You Have To Do Is Dream # 2 20. Young But Daily Growing	Vol 2  1. Odds And Ends # 1  2. Nothing Was Delivered # 1  3. Odds And Ends # 2  4. Get Your Rocks Off  5. Clothes Line Saga  6. Apple Suckling Tree #1  7. Apple Suckling Tree # 2  8. Going To Acapulco  9. Gonna Get You Now 10. Tears Of Rage # 1 11. Tears Of Rage # 2 12. Tears Of Rage # 3 13. Quinn The Eskimo # 1 14. Quinn The Eskimo # 2 15. Open The Door, Homer # 1 16. Open The Door, Homer# 2 17. Open The Door, Homer# 3 18. Nothing Was Delivered  # 2 19. Nothing Was Delivered # 3 20. I'm Not There (1956) 21. Don't Ya Tell Henry 22. Too Much Of Nothing, # 2	Vol 3   1. Million Dollar Bash   2. Yea Heavy And A Bottle Of Bread   3. Million Dollar Bash #2   4. Yea Heavy And A Bottle Of Bread   5. Please Mrs. Henry   6. Crash On The Levee   7. Crash On The Levee#2   8.  Lo and Behold   9.  Lo and Behold #2 10. Ferdinand The Imposter// 11. Tiny Montgomery 12. This Wheel's On Fire 13. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere 14.  I Shall Be Released 15. Too Much Of Nothing #2 (Stereo mix) 16. Even A Tomato - Instrumental 17. Santa Fe 18. Silent Weekend 19. Too Much Of Nothing 20. Sign On the Cross
Vol 4   1. You Ain't Going Nowhere #1   2. Bourbon Street   3. All American Boy   4. Wildwood Flower   5. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean   6. Comin' Round the Mountain   7. Flight of the Bumble Bee   8. Confidential to Me   9. I'm a Fool for You 10. Next Time on the Highway 11. Big Flood 12. Don't Know Why They Kick My Dog 13. See You Later, Allen Ginsberg 14. Spanish Song #1 & #2 15. I Am a Teenage Prayer 16. I'm in the Mood 17. Belchezaar #1 & #2 18. Bring It on Home 19. King of France	Vol 5   1. Four Strong Winds   2. The French Girl #1 and #2   3. Joshua Gone Barbados   4. I Forgot To Remember To Forget   5. You Win Again   6. Still In Town   7. Waltzing With Sin   8. Big River   9. Folsom Prison Blues 10. Bells of Rhymney 11. Nine Hundred Miles 12. No Shoes On My Feet 13. Spanish Is The Loving Tongue 14. On A Rainy Afternoon 15. I Can't Come In With A Broken Heart 16. Under Control 17. Ol' Roison The Beau 18. I'm Guilty Of Loving You 19. Johnny Todd 20. Cool Water 21. Banks Of The Royal Canal 22. Po' Lazarus	Bob Dylan - guitar, piano, harmonica, vocals Robbie Robertson - guitar, drums, vocals Rick Danko - bass, fiddle, vocals Richard Manuel - piano, vocals Garth Hudson - organ, piano return

return

Some have speculated that the basement tape sessions were actually rehearsals for a Guthrie tribute at Carnegie Hall, or possibly for an aborted concert tour. But this seem unlikely (drummer - Levon Helm had not yet rejoined the Band), and Dylan had just recently broken his neck and was in no condition to be going out on an extended concert tour of any kind. Instead, these songs were done at home in the most relaxed setting possible. As a result, Dylan recorded his greatest body of work

The Genuine Basement Tapes are genuine and raw - no overdubs and no cleaning up - just the way they were recorded. The mixes are of a crude nature and the recording equipment was somewhat primitive. Some tracks are fragments - from beginning, middlen and even the endings of songs. Some fragments would never become songs. Some of it is in very clear mono, and some is distorted and full of hiss, but mostly the sound is superb. There is a stereo sound but it's limited to the crude equipment - with Dylan's voice on one channel and most of the instruments on the other. The nice part about this stereo is that you get to hear Dylan's voice in isolation, and the instruments/melodies come through rather clearly.

More interesting, these tracks show a new side of Dylan and the Band. There is considerably more goofing off and the atmosphere is more relaxed than what was apparent on Columbia's official '75 Basement Tapes release. At various times Dylan and members of the Band have claimed that these sessions were "just for fun", and it's clear that they were having fun.

But there are times when Dylan seems very serious about getting something down on tape and even tells Garth at one point "you don't have to record this, Garth. You're just wasting tape". So it seems that Dylan was trying to get some new songs written and published. Dylan still owed Columbia 14 songs - [oddly enough, the same number that appeared on the Columbia release, hum, coincidence?] - before negotiating a contract w/ rival MGM.

So why wasn't this material released until 1975? The deal with MGM fell through and Dylan secured a new contract with Columbia, and John Wesley Harding was released instead. There is a lot of confusion about the John Wesley Harding release. Why didn't Dylan return to the basement tapes material? Why record a whole new album of new songs with new (Nashville) musicians? Who knows - heck even Dylan himself probably doesn't know now?

Regardless, the basement songs didn't go to waste; They were sent out to various artists for demo purposes. Fourteen songs were distributed on acetate, and in 1967, new Dylan songs were being covered by the Byrds, Manfred Mann, and Peter, Paul and Mary. The other interesting historical tidbit is that seven of these original 14 songs appeared on the bootleg,  Great White Wonder, which arguably was the first bootlet ever. It launched an entire industry.