The album is filled with various songs of story telling. “Tiny Montgomery,” Million Dollar Bash,” “Clothesline Saga” and “Lo and Behold” just pull the listener along through the wonderful use of words and images.
“Goin’ To Acapulco” and “Odds and Ends” are straight rock ‘n’ roll songs for Dylan on which Robbie Robertson provides some of his signature guitar licks. He had just begun to explore the rock format and these two songs are good examples of his early experimentation.
Some other interesting tracks include the old Ledbelly tune. “Ain’t No More Cane,” which is given a classic treatment, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” would become a concert staple, and “Crash On The Levee (Down On The Flood)” which may be the most sophisticated song on the album. The Basement Tapes was a belated look into the musical mind of the 1967 Bob Dylan. It historical significance today is that it filled in a blank spot in his career.
Who knows why these songs were included and not some others? I just chalk it up to the inscrutable mind of a genius at work. The album is not cohesive but many of the individual parts are brilliant. Just listen to it one song after another. It will be time well spent.
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Article comments
1 - JC Mosquito
Read Invisible Republic by Greil Marcus and you will appreciate this album even more.
2 - David Bowling
Greetings JC. If you want to read Greil Marcus at his best try to find his original Rolling Stone Magazine review of "Dylan." Yikes!