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

While I am a big fan of Dylan’s, I am not a fanatic and, in fact, I do not own any variation on the legendary “Basement Tapes.” What primarily drew me to this book was the fact that Sid Griffin, who I played with back in the day in the Unclaimed, is the author and I’ve been meaning to investigate his writings.

This book is beautifully done, with glossy pages, and tons of information, though almost no photos. What is does have is lots of information – background on Dylan’s life leading up to the basement tapes, including lots of speculation on his famous motorcycle crash (actually so much that it goes a little overboard), his move to Woodstock (including hows and whys), his work with the members of what would become the Band (then still the Hawks) and eventually to recording of the tapes.

Griffin goes into detail on each song (though he admits that there may be many more yet to be unearthed), with personnel, instruments played, equipment used, lead-ins, fades-outs and lots more. He dissects each tune and compares it to other versions and gives us a feel of the attitude at the time of the recording.     

        

Sid is obviously a huge admirer of the Band and goes into great lengths to describe their work with and without Dylan, including detailing the recordings that they did on their own during this time period in Woodstock. Also explained is the process in which these demos (as that is what they were – songs to hawk – pardon the pun – to other performers in order to keep money coming in while Dylan was laid up) were disbursed to others, and how they became bootlegs. Some of the original covers are talked about and there is an extensive discography of cover versions at the end. The official Basement Tapes release is analyzed, with mentions of which takes were used, what was overdubbed at the time (1975) and what other material was added besides the actual basement recordings.

Overall, a good, interesting read on this Holy Grail of Dylan material. There is some repetition throughout, but the writing is accessible, informal and informative. I have not read the other books on the subject, but this at least seems a good place to start regarding this period.