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What’s In The Three Versions of Bob Dylan’s The Basement Tapes

Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series

Sony has released three versions of Bob Dylan’s 1967 embryonic recording sessions with The Band – what do you get with each?


By Stephen Pate – If you’re considering purchasing Bob Dylan’s The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 which one is the right one?

This is not the old days when money was no object. Scarce resources translates into more careful purchases. Some people consider buying the physical CD’s or vinyl a waste of money and nothing but a storage problem. Other people like to hold the CD or album in their hands. For instance, the Japanese like to collect CD’s and vinyl over the North American passion for downloads.

The 3 sets will be released on November 4, 2014 and are available for pre-order from Amazon.com.

While I can’t make those choices here is what you get in songs.

The 2-CD The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 $19.98 and 3-LP vinyl The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 (Vinyl) $99.98 contain the same songs. These are mainly original Dylan songs plus a few covers.

The 138-song 6 CD collection contains alternate takes of most of the same songs plus warm up covers and studio jamming. I tried mapping the songs from each but that makes an unwieldy chart so here is in two sections.

See Bob Dylan Bootleg App Covers Basement Tapes for details of the iPad iPhone app and contents.

Track listing for 2-CD and 3-LP versions The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11

2- CD set 3-LP Vinyl
Disc: 1 LP 1
1. Open the Door, Homer 1. Open the Door, Homer
2. Odds and Ends 2. Odds and Ends
3. Million Dollar Bash 3. Million Dollar Bash
4. One Too Many Mornings 4. One Too Many Mornings
5. I Don’t Hurt Anymore 5. I Don t Hurt Anymore
6. Ain’t No More Cane 6. Ain t No More Cane
7. Crash on the Levee 7. Crash on the Levee
8. Tears of Rage 8. Tears of Rage
9. Dress it up, Better Have it All 9. Dress it up, Better Have it All
10. I’m Not There 10. I m Not There
11. Johnny Todd 11. Johnny Todd
12. Too Much of Nothing 12. Too Much of Nothing
LP 1
13. Quinn the Eskimo 1. Quinn the Eskimo
14. Get Your Rocks Off 2. Get Your Rocks Off
15. Santa-Fe 3. Santa-Fe
16. Silent Weekend 4. Silent Weekend
17. Clothes Line Saga 5. Clothes Line Saga
18. Please, Mrs. Henry 6. Please, Mrs. Henry
19. I Shall be Released 7. I Shall be Released
Disc: 2
1. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere 8. You Ain t Goin Nowhere
2. Lo and Behold! 9. Lo and Behold!
3. Minstrel Boy 10. Minstrel Boy
4. Tiny Montgomery 11. Tiny Montgomery
5. All You Have to do is Dream 12. All You Have to do is Dream
6. Goin’ to Acapulco 13. Goin to Acapulco
7. 900 Miles from My Home 14. 900 Miles from My Home
LP 3
8. One for the Road 1. One for the Road
9. I’m Alright 2. I m Alright
10. Blowin’ in the Wind 3. Blowin in the Wind
11. Apple Suckling Tree 4. Apple Suckling Tree
12. Nothing Was Delivered 5. Nothing Was Delivered
13. Folsom Prison Blues 6. Folsom Prison Blues
14. This Wheel’s on Fire 7. This Wheel s on Fire
15. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread 8. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
16. Don’t Ya Tell Henry 9. Don t Ya Tell Henry
17. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby 10. Baby, Won t You be My Baby
18. Sign on the Cross 11. Sign on the Cross (Unreleased)
19. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere 12. You Ain t Goin Nowhere

As you can see, the contents are same, except the media and the book that comes with the vinyl set will be larger and easier to read.

All three sets will be released on November 4, 2014 and are available for pre-order from Amazon.com.

Track listing for The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11(Deluxe Edition)

In the deluxe edition, the tracks are in the same order as they were recorded in 1967, according to Garth Hudson’s recording diary. Songs for which there is one version in the other two sets are shown in bold.  Alternate takes of some songs are there to compare.

It is clear Dylan and The Band spent time playing old songs and covers to get in the mood for recording the new material. This is not unusual for artists. Recording sessions with Elvis Presley would often last days while he recorded warm up material of ballads, gospel, rock and country songs before they got down to the reason for the recording session.

6-CD Deluxe Set
CD 1
1. Edge of the Ocean
2. My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It (written by Clarence Williams)
3. Roll on Train
4. Mr. Blue (written by Dewayne Blackwell)
5. Belshazzar (written by Johnny Cash)
6. I Forgot to Remember to Forget (written by Charlie A Feathers and Stanley A Kesler)
7. You Win Again (written by Hank Williams)
8. Still in Town (written by Hank Cochran and Harlan Howard)
9. Waltzing with Sin (written by Sonny Burns and Red Hayes)
10. Big River (Take 1) (written by Johnny Cash)
11. Big River (Take 2) (written by Johnny Cash)
12. Folsom Prison Blues (written by Johnny Cash)
13. Bells of Rhymney (written by Idris Davies and Peter Seeger)
14. Spanish is the Loving Tongue
15. Under Control
16. Ol’ Roison the Beau (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
17. I’m Guilty of Loving You
18. Cool Water (written by Bob Nolan)
19. The Auld Triangle (written by Brendan Francis Behan)
20. Po’ Lazarus (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
21. I’m a Fool for You (Take 1)
22. I’m a Fool for You (Take 2)
CD 2
1. Johnny Todd (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
2. Tupelo (written by John Lee Hooker)
3. Kickin’ My Dog Around (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
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 (written by Ian Tyson)
10. The French Girl (Take 1) (written by Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson)
11. The French Girl (Take 2) (written by Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson)
12. Joshua Gone Barbados (written by Eric Von Schmidt)
13. I’m in the Mood (written by Bernard Besman and John Lee Hooker)
14. Baby Ain’t That Fine (written by Dallas Frazier)
15. Rock, Salt and Nails (written by Bruce Phillips)
16. A Fool Such As I (written by William Marvin Trader)
17. Song for Canada (written by Pete Gzowski and Ian Tyson)
18. People Get Ready (written by Curtis L Mayfield)
19. I Don’t Hurt Anymore (written By Donald I Robertson and Walter E Rollins)
20. Be Careful of Stones That You Throw (written by Benjamin Lee Blankenship)
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
CD 3
1. Young but Daily Growing (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
2. Bonnie Ship the Diamond (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
3. The Hills of Mexico (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
4. Down on Me (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
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 (written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko)
22. Too Much of Nothing (Take 1)
23. Too Much of Nothing (Take 2)
CD 4
1. Tears of Rage (Take 1) (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
2. Tears of Rage (Take 2) (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
3. Tears of Rage (Take 3) (written by Bob Dylan and Richard Manuel)
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 (written by Bobby Bare)
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
CD 5
1. Blowin’ in the Wind
2. One Too Many Mornings
3. A Satisfied Mind (written by Joe Hayes and Jack Rhodes)
4. It Ain’t Me, Babe
5. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 1) (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
6. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 2) (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
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 (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
15. Wildwood Flower (written by A.P. Carter)
16. One Kind Favor (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
17. She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
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 (written by James Timothy Hardin)
23. Confidential (written by Dorina Morgan)
24. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 1)
25. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 2)
CD 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 (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
6. That’s the Breaks
7. Pretty Mary
8. Will the Circle be Unbroken (written by A.P. Carter)
9. King of France
10. She’s on My Mind Again
11. Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
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 (written by Bob Crewe and Frank C Slay Jr.)
18. Bring it on Home
19. Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies (Traditional, arranged by Bob Dylan)
20. The Spanish Song (Take 1)
21. The Spanish Song (Take 2)

To pre-order click on the links above.

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