sweet_nothing

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Gavin B.

Dylan comes off as smug and arrogant in the documentary. I felt sorry Donovan because Dylan treated him so shabbily during his visit to Dylan's hotel room. Donovan played one of his work-in-progress compositions for Dylan who appeared to be bored. When the guitar gets passed to Dylan he plays perhaps his greatest song ever It's All Over Now Baby Blue just to trump Donovan's musicianship. It was sad to watch Donovan humbly voluteering to pick up the beer bottles Dylan's entourage had been throwing out the window like he's a roadie or hanger on.

The D.A. Pennebaker documentary is a classic and his fly-on-the-wall approach reveals a great deal about Dylan. Pennebaker had control over the final editing cuts and I'm surprised Dylan relinquished those rights to him because Pennebaker included a lot of scenes that weren't exactly flattering to Dylan.

That was a long time ago and undoubtably Dylan is older and wiser. I still think he's a enigma but he manages to share a small part of himself in his autobiogrpahy.

sweet_nothing

Donovan asked Bob to play that song. And wasnt it Donovan who was throwing the bottles in the 1st place?

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WaspStar

Good call. The version on Live 75/Bootleg Series Vol. 5 is especially wonderful.

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Gavin B.

You're right... I never heard Donovan's request for Baby Blue because of the poor sound quality but I can hear it now that you mentioned it.

The glass throwing incident wasn't Donovan's doing. Dylan seems to have gotten into a agrugment with one of the hangers-on who was involved in the incident. It's not clear if the glass thrower was part of Donovan's group of people or another group.

Both Dylan and the glass throwing dude seem very drunk. Donovan's only words came when Dylan ordered the guy to clean up the glass and Donovan says "I'll help man." I think a lot of Dylan's surly behavior in the hotel room scene can be attributed to his inebriated state of mind. Still it was interesting that Dylan allowed Pennebaker to include that rather unflattering incident in the final cut.

You can view that section of film by going to You Tube and entering the search phrase Bob Dylan Pissed & Drunk. Sorry but I'm not able to post a direct link to the video.

rconkling

I love the Basement Tapes-- I would have loved to have seen Dylan and The Band live-- The best musicians ever.

Gavin B.

The Basement Tapes are available as an MP3 download or in the CD format at Amazon. Amazon.com: The Basement Tapes: MP3 Downloads: Bob Dylan & The Band

An edition of the Basement Tapes been in issue for several years but a lot of retailers don't carry it because it's not one of the better selling Dylan titles. What's really unusual about the Basement Tapes it's one of those rare occasions when Dylan seems relaxed and unenigmatic.

The full story on the Basement Tapes is that the 24 songs on the cd are only a small portion of the 125 or so songs recorded at Big Pink by Dylan and the Band. I'm hoping the Complete Basement Tapes get released as part of the highly successful Dylan "Bootleg" release project because a lot of the best stuff still hasn't been issued.

Bootlegs of the complete sessions have been floating around for years and I've heard a few dozen cuts that didn't make it to the 1975 Basement Tapes collection. Here's some of the material you won't find on the Basement Tapes:

All You Have to Do is Dream [version one is the better of the two]--one of Dylan's finest. Understated lyrics with an underlying depth that leave you second guessing each reading of the song. Beautifully performed by all involved.

Rock, Salt, and Nails--beautiful Utah Phillips' song. I've never heard a better vocal from Dylan or a more delicate performance from The Band.

Get Your Rocks Off--filthy lyrics, filthy performance. The lyrics remind me a bit of "Rainy Day Women" in that they front as a series of naughty puns but carry a greater weight. The song is just ideal. Dylan at his bluesy best.

Quinn the Eskimo--very fun song. And the two best versions of the song [un]available.

I'm not There (1956)--now available on the otherwise poor soundtrack for the film of the same title, many say it's the best song of all the Basement material. I don't, but it is beautiful and haunting.

Don't Ya Tell Henry--Dylan's version. Supremely better than The Band's. The lyrics remind me of "Ballad of a Thin Man," except, Dylan is having a poke at his own perceptions. I like to think of it as "Ballad of a Thin Man" ran through a deeply religious experience. The quirky brass reminds me a bit of some of Tom Waits' 80's material.

Too Much of Nothing V2--better than the version here. Great song either way.

I Shall Be Released--available on the Bootleg volume's 1-3 [disc 2], one of Dylan's greatest songs and greatest performances [the ultimate performance of the song].

Santa Fe--like "I'm not There," the lyrics are a bit difficult to make out at times, and like "I'm not There," the beautiful performance makes the lyrics almost unnecessary.

Silent Weekend--not my favorite, but a good number of people rate it as one of the better songs from the sessions. It's a good song.

Sing on the Cross--brilliant song. Dylan never wrote a more haunting chorus. It's very strange in that the verses and the drunken rant seem to be a good deal of nonsense swirling around that very pointed chorus, but it definitely works together.

I'm a Fool for You--starts beautifully and falls apart. Still worth hearing for said start.

Next Time on the Highway--great bluesy rock song. Clever lyrics, great performance by all involved.

See You Later, Allen Ginsberg--worth mentioning for its silliness.

Big River--after a warm up, Dylan out-man's Cash and out-sneers Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.

Ol' Roison Le Beau--beautiful drinking song. The distortion doesn't hurt any.

mr. goth glam

Eh...it's always been a vaguely guilty pleasure of mine, personally.

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5-Track

The official album is definitely more listenable as an "album experience". There are, however, a LOT of gorgeous moments in the complete sessions. However they are hard to sit and listen to as a whole. Better taken just a little bit at a time and mulled upon for days. Very low fidelity and very loose. Also does not include the Band tracks (minus Dylan plus Helm) from the official album, which are very much worth hearing. The complete session would make a good "Bootleg Series" entry, but the official album sequence was probably a good rocknroll call on someone's part.

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phantom133pz

Personally, I can NOT STAND his voice. I would be the last to deny that as a songwriter, he was probably the best. I love listening to covers of his songs, the lyrics are absolutely amazing. That said, I haven't really heard anything by him that wasn't a hit because of his voice. Are there any songs where he doesn't sound like such a whiny b****? Don't mean to offend anyone by that by the way just can't stand it.