Myth: The Basement Tapes double LP released on Columbia are presented just as they went down.
Reality: There are overdubs recorded many years later. The Band tracks were not part of the basement sessions at all.
Bob Dylan and the Band - The Basement Tapes (Columbia 1975)
Bob Dylan got into a motorcycle accident in 1966. During his recovery, he became a recluse in his Woodstock retreat. He was still writing songs and summoned his friends from The Band to lay down some tracks to fulfill his publishing contracts. Some of this material ended up being covered by other artists. At the time it was a big coup to have your song written by Bob Dylan. One of my personal favorites of these is Manfred Man's Quinn the Eskimo.
This Album was released by Columbia shortly after Bob's brief stint at Asylum to help David Geffen's ego. Robbie Robertson took the tapes and prepped the release. During the prep, he overdubbed guitar parts and drums onto the original tapes.
The Band tracks were from sessions at Capitol Studios in Hollywood. Their fidelity was dumbed down to fit in with the sonic feel of the basement tapes. The versions of these recordings that appear on their 'A Musical History' box set sound great.
And what's with the mix? I have bootlegs that are more pleasing to the ear.
The cover photo is from 1975.
Don't get me wrong. I still like this record. If you've yet to discover the legendary basement tapes sessions, I would recommend the recently released 'Bootleg Series Volume 11: The Basement Tapes Raw' over this one. No overdubs or sonic mixing tricks. Just unadulterated basement magic.
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