The Basement Tapes
The official release of The Basement Tapes -- which were first heard on a 1… Read Full Bio ↴The official release of The Basement Tapes -- which were first heard on a 1968 bootleg called The Great White Wonder -- plays with history somewhat, as Robbie Robertson overemphasizes the Band's status in the sessions, making them out to be equally active to Dylan, adding in demos not cut at the sessions and overdubbing their recordings to flesh them out. As many bootlegs (most notably the complete five-disc series) reveal, this isn't entirely true and the Band were nowhere near as active as Dylan, but that ultimately is a bit like nitpicking, since the music here (including the Band's) is astonishingly good. The party line on The Basement Tapes is that it is Americana, as Dylan and the Band pick up the weirdness inherent in old folk, country, and blues tunes, but it transcends mere historical arcana through its lively, humorous, full-bodied performances. Dylan never sounded as loose, nor was he ever as funny as he is here, and this positively revels in its weird, wild character. For all the apparent antecedents -- and the allusions are sly and obvious in equal measure -- this is truly Dylan's show, as he majestically evokes old myths and creates new ones, resulting in a crazy quilt of blues, humor, folk, tall tales, inside jokes, and rock. The Band pretty much pick up where Dylan left off, even singing a couple of his tunes, but they play it a little straight, on both their rockers and ballads. Not a bad thing at all, since this actually winds up providing context for the wild, mercurial brilliance of Dylan's work -- and, taken together, the results (especially in this judiciously compiled form with its expert song selection, even if there's a bit too much Band) rank among the greatest American music ever made.
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The Basement Tapes
Bob Dylan and The Band Lyrics


Ain't No More Cane Ain't no more cane on the Brazos Oh, oh, oh-oh It's all…
Apple Suckling Tree Under that apple suckling tree, oh yeah Under that apple suc…
Bessie Smith Bessie was more than just a friend of mine We shared…
Clothes Line Saga After a while we took in the clothes Nobody said very…
Don't Ya Tell Henry Yes, I went down to the river on a Saturday…
Goin' to Acapulco I'm going down to Rose Marie's She never does me wrong She…
Katie's Been Gone Katie's been gone since the spring time She wrote one time'n…
Lo and Behold! I pulled out for San Anton', I never felt so good. My…
Long Distance Operator Long-distance operator Place this call, it's not for fun Lon…
Million Dollar Bash Well, that big dump blond With her wheel in the gorge Turtle…
Nothing Was Delivered Nothing was delivered And I tell this truth to you Not out…
Odds and Ends I stand in awe and shake my face You break your…
Ruben Remus Wrote a letter this mornin' Put it in your hat 'Cause there'…
Tears of Rage We carried you in our arms On Independence Day And now you'd…
This Wheel's on Fire If your mem'ry serves you well We were goin' to meet…
Tiny Montgomery Well, you can tell everybody Down in ol' Frisco Tell 'em Tin…
Too Much of Nothing Too much of nothing Can make a man ill at ease One…
Yazoo Street Scandal Stranded out in the night Eliza took me down To see the…
Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread Well, the comic book and me, just us, we caught…
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere Clouds so swift Rain won't lift Gate won't close Railings fr…


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