This is the granddaddy of all shared, unreleased recordings by a major artist. Some of these were first released on the Great White Wonder bootleg LP back in 1969, and numerous versions have been released around the world since then. A two-LP version was released by Columbia Records in 1975 that included 16 Dylan/Band recordings and 8 by the Band alone. All of the Dylan/Band material underwent major overdubbing prior to release, and the recordings contained in this torrent are not the takes that were overdubbed for the commercial release.

This has not been on Dime for awhile. Since it is of unequaled importance to 1) the community of music collectors and 2) a milestone in the evolution of two extraordinary artists, I thought it should be available again for awhile for the benefit of those who are new to this music. These files were originally torrented on EZT in 2004 and nothing has been changed except for adding this brief intro.

For background info on the mythos of these recordings check out:

1) http://www.punkhart.com/dylan/reviews/basement_tapes.html, John Howells essay on this 5-CD set (condensed onto 4 CDRs in this torrent by the original seeder. (also available here: http://theband.hiof.no/articles/genuine_basement_tapes_vol_1-5_howells.html).

Re: sound quality - this is from the John Howells essay: "The music is all available here on five CDs called The Genuine Basement Tapes, and genuine they are. No overdubs and no cleaning up - just the way they were recorded. Some tracks cut off just as they get going, others begin in the middle of verses, and others are merely tryouts that never got beyond the initial runthrough stage. Some of it is in very clear mono, and some is distorted and full of hiss, but mostly the sound is superb. Many people have complained about the stereo sound, with Dylan's voice on one channel and most of the instruments on the other (much like the early Parlophone Beatles albums), but I actually like this sound myself. I get to hear Dylan's voice in isolation and Garth Hudson's organ is much more prominent. Also, some of the harmonies that weren't apparent on the official album and early bootlegs can now be heard for the first time."

He also links to an update and index by Les Kokay, sorting out which tracks have been released officially, which are on this series, and which came outlater on the Genuine Bootleg Series [http://www.punkhart.com/dylan/disco/basement-kokay.html].

2) http://theband.hiof.no/albums/basement_tapes_ln.html (original liner notes by Greil Marcus)

3) http://theband.hiof.no/books/invisible_republic.html Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's basement Tapes - Greil Marcus's book, published in paperback in 1998. It is reviewed here [http://www.unomas.com/reviews/book/reviews/item012.html] and here [http://www.bostonreview.net/BR22.5/riley.html].

From this second review comes this quote from Tim Riley: "Invisible Republic has an invisible agenda: the make the sixties respectable again. But there are whole worlds of music here that are still unavailable and difficult to find even if you collect bootlegs and plug into Dylan forums on the Internet. So Marcus falls prey to another exasperating clich: he writes about music so rarefied that few will ever hear it."

We can remedy this by sharing it to all who are interested. There are moments of profound genius scattered throughout these discs.

Below is the original info file from the EZT torrent:
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Bob Dylan - A Tree With Roots (Scorpio GBS 67)
(The Genuine Basement tapes Revisited)

4 discs

Original silver discs -> WAV (EAC secure mode) -> FLAC (level 8)

This is, imho, the best Basement Tapes collection available. Both White Bear and Scorpio
released versions of this title. This is the Scorpio release.

For more information and artwork, check out: http://www.bobsboots.com/CDs/cd-t13-R1.html
Note that the tracklisting on the packaging contain a few errors.
The correct tracklisting is as follows:

Disc one
1) Lock your door *
2) Baby, won't you be my baby *
3) Try Me Little Girl *
4) Young but daily growin' **
5) Bonnie ship The Diamond *
6) The hills of Mexico *
7) Down on me *
8) I can't make it alone *
9) Don't you try me now *
10) One for the road
11) I'm alright *
12) One single river *
13) People get ready *
14) I don't hurt anymore *
15) Be careful of the stones you throw *
16) One man's loss *
17) Baby ain't that fine **
18) Rock salt and nails *
19) A fool such as I *
20) Silhouette *
21) Bring it on home *
22) King of France *
23) Nine hundred miles *
24) Goin' down the road *
25) Spanish is the loving tongue **
26) Po' Lazarus.
27) Santa Fe * (c)
28) Instrumental Jam
Disc two
1) On a rainy afternoon *
2) Come all ye fair and tender ladies ***
3) Under control *
4) Ol' Roison the beau **
5) I'm guilty of loving you **
6) Johnny Todd **
7) Cool water **
8) Banks of the Royal Canal **
9) Belchazaar (take 1)
10) Belchezaar (take 2)
11) I forgot to remember to forget her
12) You win again,
13) Still in town still around
14) Waltzin' with sin
15) Big river (take 1) **
16) Big river (take 2) **
17) Folsom Prison blues **
18) Bells of Rhymney *
19) I Can't Come In With A Broken Heart *
20) I'm a fool for you - false start & take
21) Next time on the highway
22) Tupelo
23) Quit kicking my dog around
24) See you later Allen Ginsburg two takes
25) Tiny Montgomery (c)
26) The Spanish song (take 1)
27) The Spanish song (take 2)
28) I'm your teenage prayer
Disc three
1) Four strong winds
2) The French girl (take 1) (c)
3) The French girl (take 2) (c)
4) Joshua gone Barbados
5) I'm in the mood for love
6) All American boy (c)
7) Sign on the cross **
8) Silent weekend * (c)
9) Don't ya tell Henry * (c)
10) Bourbon Street * (c)
11) Million dollar bash (take 1) (c)
12) Yea heavy and a bottle of bread (take 1) (c)
13) Million dollar bash (take 2)**
14) Yea heavy and a bottle of bread (take 2)**
15) I'm not there ** (c)
16) Please Mrs Henry ** (c)
17) Crash on the levee (take 1)** (c)
18) Crash on the levee (take 2)**
19) Lo and behold (take 1) ** (c)
20) Lo and behold (take 2) **
21) You ain't going nowhere (take 1) * (c)
22) Too much of nothing (take 1) ** (c)
23) This wheels on fire ** (c)
24) You ain't going nowhere (take 2) *
25) I shall be released ** (c)
Disc four
1) Too much of nothing (take 2) **
2) Tears of rage (take 1) (c)
3) Tears of rage (take 2)
4) Tears of rage (take 3)
5) Quinn the Eskimo (take 1) (c)
6) Quinn the Eskimo (take 2)
7) Open the door Homer (take 1) (c)
8) Open the door Homer (take 2)
9) Open the door Homer (take 3)
10) Nothing was delivered (take 1) (c)
11) Nothing was delivered (take 2)
12) Goin' to Acapulco (c)
13) Gonna get you now
14) Wildwood flower
15) See that my grave is kept clean
16) Comin' round the mountain
17) Flight of the bumble bee
18) Confidential to me
19) Odds and ends (take 1) (c)
20) Nothing was delivered (take 3)
21) Odds and ends (take 2)
22) Get your rocks off ** (c)
23) Clothesline saga ** (c)
24) Apple suckling tree (take 1) (c)
25) Apple suckling tree (take 2)
26) All you have to is dream (take 1) *
27) All you have to do is dream (take 2) *

Tracks marked with (c) have been copyrighted to bob dylan by dwarf music.
* Remastered from a superior version of the source tape utilized on the 5cd set
** Remastered from an alternate source tape to that on the 5cd set
*** Not included on the 5cd set
All other recordings have been remastered from a brand new state of the art
analog to digital transfer of the original cassette sources utilized on the GBT 5cd set.
Songs have been rebalanced and EQ'd where appropriate