Product Description
Compiled from meticulously restored original tapes many found only recently this historic six-disc set is the definitive chronicle of the artist's legendary 1967 recording sessions with members of his touring ensemble who would later achieve their own fame as The Band.

Among Bob Dylan's many cultural milestones, the legendary Basement Tapes have long fascinated and enticed successive generations of musicians, fans and cultural critics alike. Having transformed music and culture during the early 1960s, Dylan reached unparalleled heights across 1965 and 1966 through the release of three historic albums, the groundbreaking watershed single "Like A Rolling Stone," a controversial and legendary 'electric' performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and wildly polarizing tours of the United States, Europe and the UK. Dylan's mercurial rise and prodigious outpouring of work during that decade came to an abrupt halt in July 1966 when he was reported to have been in a serious motorcycle accident.

Recovering from his injuries and away from the public eye for the first time in years, Dylan ensconced himself, along with Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson and, later, Levon Helm, in the basement of a small house, dubbed "Big Pink" by the group, in West Saugerties, New York. This collective recorded more than a hundred songs over the next several months including traditional covers, wry and humorous ditties, off-the cuff performances and, most important, dozens of newly-written Bob Dylan songs, including future classics "I Shall Be Released," "The Mighty Quinn," "This Wheel's On Fire" and "You Ain't Going Nowhere."

When rumors and rare acetates of some of these recordings began surfacing, it created a curiosity strong enough to fuel an entirely new segment of the music business: the bootleg record. In 1969, an album mysteriously titled Great White Wonder began showing up in record shops around the country, and Dylan's music from the summer of 1967 began seeping into the fabric of popular culture, penetrating the souls of music lovers everywhere. With each passing year, more and more fans sought out this rare contraband, desperate to hear this new music from the legendary Bob Dylan.

The actual recordings, however, remained commercially unavailable until 1975, when Columbia Records released a scant 16 of them on The Basement Tapes album (that album also included eight new songs by The Band, without Dylan).

A critical and popular success, The Basement Tapes went Top 10 in the US and UK.

Over the years, the songs on The Basement Tapes have haunted and perplexed fans, with the recordings themselves representing a Holy Grail for Dylanologists. What's on the rest of those reels?

The Basement Tapes Complete brings together, for the first time ever, 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 worked closely with Canadian music archivist and producer Jan Haust to restore the deteriorating tapes to pristine sound, with much of this music preserved digitally for the first time.

The decision was made to present The Basement Tapes Complete as intact as possible. Also, unlike the official 1975 release, these performances are presented as close as possible to the way they were originally recorded and sounded back in the summer of 1967. The tracks on The Basement Tapes Complete run in mostly chronological order based on Garth Hudson's numbering system.

[tracklisting]Disc: 1
1. Edge of the Ocean
2. My Bucket's Got a Hole in It
3. Roll on Train
4. Mr. Blue
5. Belshazzar
6. I Forgot to Remember to Forget
7. You Win Again
8. Still in Town
9. 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
1. Johnny Todd
2. Tupelo
3. Kickin' My Dog Around
4. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 1)
5. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 2)
6. Tiny Montgomery
7. Big Dog
8. I'm Your Teenage Prayer
9. 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
1. Young but Daily Growing
2. Bonnie Ship the Diamond
3. The Hills of Mexico
4. Down on Me
5. One for the Road
6. I'm Alright
7. Million Dollar Bash (Take 1)
8. Million Dollar Bash (Take 2)
9. 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
1. Tears of Rage (Take 1)
2. Tears of Rage (Take 2)
3. Tears of Rage (Take 3)
4. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 1)
5. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 2)
6. Open the Door Homer (Take 1)
7. Open the Door Homer (Take 2)
8. Open the Door Homer (Take 3)
9. 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
1. Blowin' in the Wind
2. One Too Many Mornings
3. A Satisfied Mind
4. It Ain't Me, Babe
5. Ain't No More Cane (Take 1)
6. Ain't No More Cane (Take 2)
7. My Woman She's A-Leavin'
8. Santa-Fe
9. 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
1. 2 Dollars and 99 Cents
2. Jelly Bean
3. Any Time
4. Down by the Station
5. Hallelujah, I've Just Been Moved
6. That's the Breaks
7. Pretty Mary
8. Will the Circle be Unbroken
9. 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)[/tracklisting]
Complete: Deluxe 6CD Box Set (detailed above)
US - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MXILU3S/?tag=imwan-20
CA - http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00MXILU3S/?tag=imwanca-20
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MXILU3S/?tag=imwan-21

Raw: Standard 2CD Set
US - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MXILUH4/?tag=imwan-20
CA - http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00MXILUH4/?tag=imwanca-20
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MXILUH4/?tag=imwan-21

Raw: 2LP Vinyl Set
US - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MXILUCY/?tag=imwan-20
CA - http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00MXILUCY/?tag=imwanca-20
UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MXILUCY/?tag=imwan-21

Yet another Dylan rumor, but one with a certain amount of substance. Vol. 10 of Dylan's continuing "Booleg Series" has not yet been announced (it is rumored to be "something from the 1969/70 period"--see below) but Isis is citing sources indicating that "Vol. 11" will consist of 1974 "Blood On The Tracks" material. If true, this should be a killer release--I don't think there has yet been an expanded single Dylan album.
http://www.bobdylanisis.com/contents/en ... .html#p382

Excellent. Maybe they can pull together all of the BOTT recordings (including those released on Biograph, Bootleg Vol 1-3, Jerry Maguire soundtrack et al). Hopefully it's a far cleaner sound than all of the boots we have, like editing out the button and placing the various versions sequentially.

So are we ever going to get a complete Basement Tapes box set?

Call me radical, but I would like Columbia /Dylan to tackle what was arguably his most controversial period..the Jesus years. I was as stunned / dismissive as the average Dylan listener was at the time regarding "Slow Train Coming" / "Saved" / "Shot of Love". Yet I'll admit that over the intervening years that I have come to enjoy the albums much more than I ever thought I would. Paul Williams (amongst others) has written that the San Francisco shows from the "Slow Train Coming" tour were great, with the live renditions of the "Saved" material superior to the studio versions released later. It's as much a part of his story as the protest years and should be reexamined. Put one of the SF shows out as Volume 10 or 12 and I'll be truly impressed.

And, while I'm on my Dylan soap box, it's about time that they go ahead and release "Renaldo & Clara". It's been over thirty five years since the Rolling Thunder Review, so let's go ahead and put it out there, legally, before it gets lost to the mists of time. If I were the Master of All Media, I would issue it as a two disc Criterion Blu-Ray, with the bonus material being both versions of the Hard Rain TV special and appropriate commentary by Dylanologists like Greil Marcus or Clinton Heylin. Well, I can dream anyway.

Somewhere on this site I was pasting links to rumors about a restored "Renaldo And Clara" being readied for eventual release.

As for Dylan's "born-again" period--there were apparently at least a couple of shows from 1980-81 that were professionally recorded--a couple of live tracks from a 1981 New Orleans show have even popped up on b-sides and comps. I think that a significant number of Dylan fans hold the born-again material as some of the best of his career, but there is a rather loud contingent of individuals out there who love to slam those albums as well as anybody who doesn't profess to hate them.

I agree with you 100% regarding the his Christian years. I find it interesting that in interviews regarding Tempest, Dylan mentioned how he originally thought of making it a religious album (and no doubt there have been strong threads of faith within his last few albums). So Dylan probably would not be against focusing on that period of his career. As Pes mentioned, this was a very important period of his life and musical career. Slow Train Coming always grabbed me, and is one of his best albums of his career.

Before we get to the late 70's, why not go back to the mid-late 60's, early 70's. The complete Highway 61 Revisited, the epanded Blonde on Blonde, the expanded Basement. Tapes, the no smokin days of Nashville Skyline to New Morning, etc.

I've never gotten any of these (I'm not a huge Dylan fan), but how do they compare to actual Dylan bootlegs? Do they sound better? Is there a lot of stuff on them that has never been bootlegged? Has there been a lot of editing/futzing with/remixing, or are the outtakes presented more or less complete?

I could see picking up BOTT if they do it (ir anything with lots of Mick Ronson from Rolling Thunder) , but not personally a big enough fan to care otherwise.

I like Slow Train Coming and Shot Of Love. I don't like Saved .

I have several boots from that era. and they really are good. The "Saved" stuff blows away the album versions, and Dylan and his bands
sound great.
I don't think the NY version of BOTT is better than the released version. I'm not necessarily saying that this is the case here, but there are always those who will insist that the stuff Dylan released is not as good as what he didn't.

As for the rumoured 69/70 stuff, I doubt there's much from that period that would interest me.
More "Self Portrait" outakes, or "New Morning" alternates don't excite me.
Of course, with Dylan you never know.

It depends on the title in question. I really enjoyed the 1991 boxed set (Vols. 1-3), but the Dylan hardcore at the time complained that much of the material really wasn't the material that was made "famous" though bootlegs--the version of "Blind WIllie McTell", for example, was not some people's pick as the best version to leak from the 1983 "Infidels" sessions. There were also complaints that the "Basement Tapes" version of "I Can Be Released" was of lower quality than was available on bootleg. I still think it's an incredible set.

Vol. 4--As I understand it, this is indeed the full 1966 "Royal Albert Hall" show that circulated on bootleg for three decades. The recording has been stitched together in spots--IIRC, the original source tape used for the beginning of "Visions Of Johanna" ran out towards the end of the performance, and on the CD, the audio source noticibly changes as producers substituted a different tape for the final lines of the song. An amazing concert, however--the acoustic set on Disc 1 is mesmerizing, and the electric set on Disc 2 is fascinating for not only being teriffic rocking music, but because of how the audience vocally disapproves of said rocking music. There are some other great sounding, wonderful live performances from Dylan's 1966 UK tour available on bootleg, but the RAH set was historically been considered by Dylan aficianados as the best of the best.

Vol. 5--Pulls together highlights from the 1975 "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour from various concerts. Again, a lot of great stuff on here, including a remixed version of Bob and Joan Baez singing "It Ain't Me Babe" which had previously been a rare, promo-only track. Early copies came with a DVD with live footage of "Tangled Up In Blue" and "Isis" from "Renaldo & Clara" as well as "Isis" in 5.1. I've not heard a lot of griping about the title, although I'm sure some have wished that the set had focused on a single show, rather than compiling a hybrid setlist from multiple shows.

Vol. 6--In contrast, the acoustic 1964 New York City show on Vol. 6 is, warts and all, identical to the bootleg--it appears that nothing was left out, including an apparently stoned Dylan forgetting the opening lines to "I Don't Believe You". For me, the biggest problem with this volums is that it's just not that great of a show--good, but not great. This was originally suppsed to be released in 5.1 as well, but I don't think that edition ever made it to market.

Vol. 7--the "No Direction Home" "soundtrack" is really more of a collection of 1960's outtakes, alternate takes, and live recordings. Great stuff, fascinating stuff. My biggest complaint? Several bonus tracks were released only as I-tunes download exclusives.

Vol. 8--"Tell Tale Signs"--Once again Dylan would forge new paths for other artists to copy, this time demonstrating that music collectors were willing to pay an extra $100+ for a "deluxe edition" consisting of a hardcover book and a bonus disc of music unavailable elsewhere. I curse this set for what it has spawned (in a marketing sense). In the meantime, as this set mosltly focuses on Dylan's studio output from 1989 through 2008, one's appreciation of it depends mostly on one's appreciation for this era of Dylan's music. Still, it is truly odd how Dylan will choose to exclude certain songs from his albums in favor of other, inferior songs. Incidentally, I believe that just about all (if not all) of this stuff was never bootleged, as Dylan during this era clamped down completely on tapes from his studio sessions--no outtakes from any of these sessions were ever leaked to bootleggers.

Vol. 9--the Witmark Demos--As I understand it, this is indeed a complete collection of every one of these demos that have circulated among collectors since the early sixties. An interesting collection, with several songs seeing their first official release, decades after the lyrics were published in Dylan lyric collections.

So...there you go: nine volumes on fifteen discs (sixteen if you count the deluxe Vol. 8, or fourteen if you count the single-disc Vol. 8). Occasionally eclectic, sometimes of more historical than musical interest, but overall IMO the series has been extremely well done. I'll leave it to somebody else to state whether or not the audio was compressed, brickwalled, bright or loud, as I'm not really sure what any of that means.

Thanks, Mr. McGee!

ISIS has more rumors about Bootleg Series Vol. 10:

From one of Dylan's best albums, Blood on the Tracks, to two of his worst? I'll wait for more concrete details.

Just as Biograph kicked off the whole trend of boxed sets that mix readily-available tracks with rarities.

"Biograph" didn't just kick off that trend--"Biograph" was the first rock era boxed set ever.

Well...being that three years elapsed between Vol. 9 and Vol. 10, we should be enjoying Vol. 11 just in time for Xmas 2016.

I always considered this the first rock era boxed set, from 1979:

Well...I can't disagree. Now that I think about it, Elvis Presley also had a couple of gigantic boxes (8 or 10 LP's, something like that) that came out in 1980 and 1985, both of which should have popped into my head for no better reason than I have both of them right here.

I will say this--if I tend to gush about "Biograph", it's because I honestly do think it's not just an astonishing compilation, but the best boxed-set listening experience ever put together. I've gone through all three CD's yet again in the past few days, and each (especially Disc 3) unfolds as well as any album ever recorded.

That's probably just me, of course. Generally, I would agree that it is preferable for a boxed set (or any comp) to keep things relatively chronological, but for whatever reason, Dylan's music seems to function extremely well outside of such orderly parameters. In many ways, his stuff is ideal for the whole current "playlist" age, because to mix together recordings from different eras of his career somehow seems to enhance those recordings.

Again--it's probably just me.

Agree on the Buddy Holly box set. It seemed almost staggering at the time.

Around the same time, as a Christmas present to myself, I obtained Claudio Arrau's Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas, on Philips. A massive box set, 13 LPs, IIRC, beautifully packaged and annotated by Philips, massive as a block of granite. I've long since replaced it with the CD version. But I still have fond memories of that set.

I sold a 53 LP DG Beethoven box on consignment earlier this year.