2/7/12: Bob Dylan: The Basement Tapes

When it comes to the Band's tracks, I'm less troubled by the problem of authenticity than the problem of them kinda sucking.  It's hard to believe that the group backing Bob so creatively here could also "create" a song as tired and uninteresting as "Orange Juice Blues."  It's like Robbie Robertson didn't get it, or at least forgot it, when he put the album together... What makes Bob's songs special is not just that they're simple and old-timey.  It's called strangeness, Eli.

The Band does "Ain't No More Cane" well, but I cannot stand their originals.  They're all blues songs.  You've heard them before.  They're all about this girl and that girl and going down to someplace.  Whoop dee doo.  If Bob writes a "stereotypical" blues basher, he's at least sure to put in something about getting orange juice spilled on him.

I'm glad Robbie Robertson tidied up the Basement Tapes.  He didn't pick a single bad Bob song for his final set (though "Crash on the Levee" doesn't do much for me); he picked a whole lotta outstanding ones, too ("This Wheel's On Fire," "You Ain't Goin Nowhere," "Million Dollar Bash," "Goin to Acapulco," "Apple Suckling Tree," etc).  But did he really think "Katie Been Gone" was worthy of being placed near "Tears of Rage"?  C'mon!