The Basement Tapes was recorded in 1967, but not released until 1975, after The Band became popular and Dylan took on a commercial and critical resurgence. The simple, live in the studio feel of The Basement Tapes gives it that charm that The Band kept throughout their albums and this features some of Dylan's most enduring yet underrated songs.
One of the most emotional and beautiful songs Dylan ever wrote on this album is Goin' To Acapulco. It predates the Spanish-esque flavour of Desire's Romance In Durango but has the nonsense style lyrics Dylan still wrote in the post Blonde on Blonde period. The harmonies Dylan sing with Rick Danko and Richard Manuel in the chorus are just heavenly.
As a sidenote, I felt it was used to perfection in the great, unfortunately underrated film I'm Not There during the funeral scene in the Billy section of the movie. The Tex-mex/tejano/mariachi influenced Calexico did a really good job with it.
The Basement Tapes is a collection I come back to again and again to discover new surprises and old favorites. The sound of epic musicians making music for themselves, not for the 'NEXT EPIC RECORD'. 'Goin' to Acapulco' is one that took me a long time to appreciate, seemed a bit too draggy initially, but it's now a favorite.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, PLEASE tell me what redeeming qualities you find in 'I'm Not There'. On paper it sounded like intriguing experimental filmmaking, but all I saw was pretentious twaddle. I'm open to any suggestions as to why that movie should be considered as anything more than a nonsensical failure pretending to be 'deep'.