For the first time, the entirety of Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes sessions will be available to the general public. Available November 4th, the six-disc collection spans an astonishing 138 tracks, 30 of which were never known to exist until today’s announcement. Several other tracks have only existed as subpar bootleg recordings.
Coming in the aftermath of Dylan’s infamous motorcycle crash in 1966, the sessions saw Dylan and The Band (then known as the Crackers) retreat to Woodstock, New York. They proceeded to record over 100 tracks together, some of which were given to other artists, including Manfred Mann (“Quinn the Eskimo”), The Byrds (“You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”), and Peter, Paul and Mary (“Too Much of Nothing”). Dylan’s versions of these songs first surfaced on the 1969 bootleg Great White Wonder, and were later given an official release in 1975.
(Read: Another Side of Bob Dylan Turns 50)
According to Rolling Stone, unreleased material on the anthology includes: an “epic, apocalyptic rocker” called “Wild Wolf”; an early version of “I Shall Be Released” with different lyrics; a cover of Hank Williams’ 1949 song “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It”; and “country-fied” versions of “Blowin’ in the Wind”, “It Ain’t Me Babe”, and “One Too Many Mornings”, featuring keyboardist Richard Manuel handling lead vocals on the first verse. Below, stream an alternate take of “Odds and Ends”.
The deluxe edition of the album also includes a 120-page companion book featuring extensive liner notes and previously unseen photographs. Also available will be a more concise version dubbed The Basement Tapes Raw, featuring 38 tracks on two discs or three LPs. Pre-orders are now ongoing and the full tracklist is below.
The Basement Tapes Complete serves as the 11th installment in Dylan’s The Bootleg Series, an archival project dating back to the early 1990s. It also coincides with the release of Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes, which sees a supergroup of folk rockers — My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Mumford and Sons’ Marcus Mumford, Elvis Costello, Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rhiannon Giddens, and T-Bone Burnett — create music for two-dozen recently discovered Dylan lyrics from The Bootleg Tapes era.
The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 Tracklist:
CD 1
Disc: 1
01. Edge of the Ocean
02. My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It
03. Roll on Train
04. Mr. Blue
05. Belshazzar
06. I Forgot to Remember to Forget
07. You Win Again
08. Still in Town
09. 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
01. Johnny Todd
02. Tupelo
03. Kickin’ My Dog Around
04. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 1)
05. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 2)
06. Tiny Montgomery
07. Big Dog
08. I’m Your Teenage Prayer
09. 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
01. Young but Daily Growing
02. Bonnie Ship the Diamond
03. The Hills of Mexico
04. Down on Me
05. One for the Road
06. I’m Alright
07. Million Dollar Bash (Take 1)
08. Million Dollar Bash (Take 2)
09. 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
01. Tears of Rage (Take 1)
02. Tears of Rage (Take 2)
03. Tears of Rage (Take 3)
04. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 1)
05. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 2)
06. Open the Door Homer (Take 1)
07. Open the Door Homer (Take 2)
08. Open the Door Homer (Take 3)
09. 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
01. Blowin’ in the Wind
02. One Too Many Mornings
03. A Satisfied Mind
04. It Ain’t Me, Babe
05. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 1)
06. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 2)
07. My Woman She’s A-Leavin’
08. Santa-Fe
09. 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
01. 2 Dollars and 99 Cents
02. Jelly Bean
03. Any Time
04. Down by the Station
05. Hallelujah, I’ve Just Been Moved
06. That’s the Breaks
07. Pretty Mary
08. Will the Circle be Unbroken
09. 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)
The Basement Tapes Raw: Bootleg Series Vol. 11 Tracklist:
Disc: 1
01. Open the Door, Homer
02. Odds and Ends
03. Million Dollar Bash
04. One Too Many Mornings
05. I Don’t Hurt Anymore
06. Ain’t No More Cane
07. Crash on the Levee
08. Tears of Rage
09. Dress it up, Better Have it All
10. I’m Not There
11. Johnny Todd
12. Too Much of Nothing
13. Quinn the Eskimo
14. Get Your Rocks Off
15. Santa-Fe
16. Silent Weekend
17. Clothes Line Saga
18. Please, Mrs. Henry
19. I Shall be Released
Disc: 2
01. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
02. Lo and Behold!
03. Minstrel Boy
04. Tiny Montgomery
05. All You Have to do is Dream
06. Goin’ to Acapulco
07. 900 Miles from My Home
08. One for the Road
09. I’m Alright
10. Blowin’ in the Wind
11. Apple Suckling Tree
12. Nothing Was Delivered
13. Folsom Prison Blues
14. This Wheel’s on Fire
15. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
16. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
17. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby
18. Sign on the Cross
19. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
