Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band, and the Basement Tapes

Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band, and the Basement Tapes
by Sid Griffin

Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band, and the Basement Tapes
List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $11.44
You Save: $8.51 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.52 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Sid Griffin
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-01
ISBN: 1906002053
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Jawbone Press

Book Reviews of Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band, and the Basement Tapes

Book Review: Put it on the iPOD, not in a museum case
Summary: 4 Stars

Navel-gazing homage to the master. Griffin provides brief historical setting for the Basement Tapes, no more is needed because everyone who will approach this book is likely to know the basic bones of the story-meteoric folk career deflected by plugged-in mayhem with various backing groups, settling on the Hawks for the amphetamine- and electro-angst-driven '66 British tour, then the motorcycle crash while drying out and decompressing in bucolic Woodstock.

Then Griffin gets serious, documenting (as best as anyone is likely to be able to ever do, unless The Dylan himself speaks, which he seems unlikely to do this far down the road) the physical settings for the recordings, the recording equipment used to capture the gutbucket Americana sound, the typical comings and goings of the musical suspects, and the sequence and locations of the recordings--locations plural, because as Griffin's detailed document makes clear, the "Basement" was actually at least three separate locations in Woodstock, with possibly some before and later additions to the tape mix.

With the stage now thoroughly set, Griffin steps through the known and named songs on the Tapes (many more have never been made public either officially or bootlegged), attempting to reconstruct the sequence of recording and the performers on each recording. These recordings were not studio pristine in technology and documentation, since at least initially they were not intended for public consumption, so Griffin's work consists of lots of assumptions, guesswork, detective work, and logical deductions not backed up by known documentation.

The navel comes into view here. Regardless of the purpose of the recordings (some were used as demos for copyrighting and distribution to other bands to cover, others appear to be rehearsal work, others to be drunken jams) and the technical quality of recordings and the music, the artistic value of the music was apparent then and now, so why do we need to establish academic-level standards of documentation? The music stands on its own. Let it stand.

Put it on the iPOD. Crank it up. Don't put it in a museum case.

Still, Griffin provides a valuable service in documenting the redirection of Dylan as a songwriter of ever-greater strength, depth and introspection, and the birth of The Band's Americana sound from the Hawks bar-band blues and R&B, both with and without Dylan during the Basement sessions. And he writes with as much good sense and good humor as you'll find among Dylanologists, so the Bash is worth a place beside the iPOD.

Summary of Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band, and the Basement Tapes

Million Dollar Bash tells the story of the basement tapes, a strange series of recordings made by Bob Dylan when he went on the lam?in the summer of 1967. Remarkably, these casual sessions kick-started the entire Americana genre and produced some of the most revered and misunderstood songs in Dylan's catalog. Author and musician Sid Griffin begins the story in 1966, when Dylan first discovered his interest in electric music. Griffin then examines the tapes in detail - he analyzes the music, discusses how and why it was made, and speculates over who joined Dylan in making it. As he tells the story, Griffin ponders the question that has intrigued Dylan fans for nearly 40 years: why were the tapes so different from the music Dylan had made up to that point? This important book examines a major turning point in music history and inquires into?a group of songs that were enormously influential at the time of their creation and that have been prized by musicians and fans ever since.

Dylan, Bob Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Dylan, Bob Books
Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews ImageBob Dylan: The Essential Interviews
by Jonathan Cott
Wenner; Published: 2007-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes ImageThe Old, Weird America: The World of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes
by Greil Marcus
Picador; Published: 2001-09-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.51
Price in other shops: $15.00
Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina ImagePositively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina
by David Hajdu
North Point Press; Published: 2002-04-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.41
Price in other shops: $17.00
Dylan on Dylan ImageDylan on Dylan
by Bob Dylan, Jonathan Cott
101 DISTRIBUTION; Published: 2009-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.74
Price in other shops: $14.99
The Songs He Didn't Write: Bob Dylan Under the Influence ImageThe Songs He Didn't Write: Bob Dylan Under the Influence
by Derek Barker
Chrome Dreams; Published: 2009-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.69
Price in other shops: $23.95
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties ImageA Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties
by Suze Rotolo
Broadway; Published: 2008-05-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops: $22.95
The Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan (Cambridge Companions to American Studies) ImageThe Cambridge Companion to Bob Dylan (Cambridge Companions to American Studies)
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2009-04-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.97
Price in other shops: $24.99
Forever Young ImageForever Young
by Bob Dylan
Ginee Seo Books; Published: 2008-09-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.96
Price in other shops: $17.99
Chronicles: Volume One ImageChronicles: Volume One
by Bob Dylan
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005-09-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $15.00
Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973 (Cappella Books) ImageRevolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973 (Cappella Books)
by Clinton Heylin
Chicago Review Press; Published: 2009-04-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.40
Price in other shops: $29.95
Similar Books and other products
Sugar Mountain-Live At Canterbury House 1968 (CD/DVD-A) ImageNeil Young - Sugar Mountain-Live At Canterbury House 1968 (CD/ DVD-A)
Release date: 2008-12-02; Music CD
Best price: $10.87
Price in other shops: $21.98
Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music ImageTwenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music
by David Meyer
Villard; Published: 2008-09-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.66
Price in other shops: $18.00
The Basement Tapes ImageBob Dylan & the Band - The Basement Tapes
Release date: 2009-03-31; Music CD
Best price: $10.97
Price in other shops: $19.98
Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8 ImageBob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8
Release date: 2008-10-07; Music CD
Best price: $14.29
Price in other shops: $22.98
Together Through Life (Deluxe Edition) ImageBob Dylan - Together Through Life (Deluxe Edition)
Release date: 2009-04-28; Music CD
Best price: $15.04
Price in other shops: $26.98
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties ImageA Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties
by Suze Rotolo
Broadway; Published: 2008-05-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.00
Price in other shops: $22.95
Dirt Farmer ImageLevon Helm - Dirt Farmer
Release date: 2007-10-30; Music CD
Best price: $11.50
Price in other shops: $16.98
Legendary Sessions: Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited ImageLegendary Sessions: Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited
by Colin Irwin
Billboard Books; Published: 2008-01-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.91
Price in other shops: $19.95
I'm Not There ImageOriginal Soundtrack - I'm Not There
Release date: 2007-10-30; Music CD
Best price: $9.03
Price in other shops: $19.98
The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 ImageThe Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965
Sony; Release date: 2007-10-30; DVD
Best price: $8.25
Price in other shops: $19.98
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories