No one knew these original recordings even existed until Rolling Stone magazine reported on them in 1968. This is the fourth incarnation of "The Basement Tapes" that I’ve bought. You ain’t goin’ nowhere "Great White Wonder" cover. It’s great to hear material never heard before and it’s illuminating to see the development of “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” from the "Look here, you bunch of basement noise" nonsense lyrics of the first take to the joyful nihilism of the final version. “Basement Tapes” is a different kind of Dylanology. Well, for one thing, “Another Self Portrait” not only shed light on a period of Dylan’s career that had been overlooked, but it shed light on the artist’s persona as well. So why do I feel this sense of vague disappointment about the whole thing? Why was I far more taken with Sony/Columbia’s last trip into the vaults, “Another Self Portrait,” from a far less interesting and important artistic period? At last the whole enchilada from this fascinating chapter in this fascinating artist’s career is available, remastered with such fine craftsmanship by Garth Hudson of The Band. I agree with everything that Seth Rogovoy has to say about “Basement Tapes Complete” in his ARTery essay. It includes only one minor repeated guitar run and the rest of it is reminiscent of Dylan’s uninspired folk-strumming of “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” days.The cover of the 1975 version of "The Basement Tapes." (Sony/YouTube) This article is more than 8 years old. The dedication to simplicity is reflected best on “I Am A Pilgrim,” a really sweet song rearranged by Roger (Jim) McGuinn and Chris Hillman. The other Dylan-penned track, “Nothing Was Delivered,” starts out innocently enough with steel guitar backing, but following the first “are-you-true-to-me” verse it breaks into a rock chorus worthy of Sonny and Cher, It’s plain enough otherwise, and does the job. The Byrds are gallant interpreters of his lyrics - “My Back Pages” was probably their most genuine effort. With “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” he proved he could master any Folk or Rock idiom, and with “Nowhere” - he’s identified himself as a valid songwriter in a medium that he’d apparently spurned long ago. (Even Johnny Cash will sound a little silly singing it.)ĭylan has found his corner of C&W to relax in. Buck Owens or Charlie Pride would never refer to Genghis Khan in a song. But its really more standard Bob Dylan than standard C&W. “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” is the finest cut they’ve done since “Old John Robertson” on the Notorious album. But what we’re confronted with at the moment is the current product. From straight, unamplified Folk, to Folk-Rock, to Rock, to Acid-Rock to semi-C&W-Rock, to affectedly-straight C&W - the next step appears all too obvious. The Yin-Yang cycle of the musical flow continues to hold true. In light of the former faux-pas, it is suggested that no purist C&W fans listen to Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, the Byrds’ latest transition. Not only were they put down severely at first by Sing Out! and Broadside, the Bibles of the Guthrie generations, but to some, like Randy Sparks, former leader of the New Christy Minstrels and Back Porch Majority, what they were singing (as ascribed to McGuire’s “Eve Of Destruction”) was “fodder for the communists.” Folk-Rock, such as it was, made the “Folks” uptight. What Barry McGuire, Jody Miller and the Byrds were doing was sacrilegious to the hard-core Folkies. Tambourine Man’ (which they had just recorded) gets through to the kids it’ll have been worth it.” The Byrds had all been Folkies and their subscription to Dylan’s new method of “getting the message across” (something Dylan himself denied trying to do) was of no little significance. The Byrds, during the not-so-Great Folk-Rock controversy, attempted to qualify their own individual transition by saying: “If only one line of ‘Mr.
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