Bob Dylan: A Tree With Roots 3 & 4 (The Genuine Basement Tapes Remastered)

And in the end...I've uploaded this one too. So now just go listen to I'm not there, what are you waitin' for? C'mon.

A Tree With Roots Vol. 3
A Tree With Roots Vol. 4

And at last I've made it: I've re-upped Vol 1.
Hope it'll last.

Bob Dylan & The Band: A Tree With Roots 1 & 2 (The Genuine Basement Tapes Remastered)

I don't know if there is any need to go and explain what the basement tapes are (btw, after dylan's famous motorbike accident -probably an exaggereted one- his Bobness himself decided to take some time for himself, some time in the country -Woodstock was the place, just playin' round with The Band some old american music -some would call it Americana these days- and improved some new tunes, the most of it in a totally free way, with no push whatsover), but the fact is, and this has to be stated clear, the basement tapes which later got to be released through Sony were never intended to be for the public audience and, more important to us, they were just the tip of the iceberg.
Meaning there were loads of songs (and songs and songs...) left in Dylan's archives (want me to name one? The stuning "I'm not there", which gave the name for Todd Haynes's bizarre biopic last year), and all of that soon came out labelled as "Genuine basement tapes", a 5 CDs collection full of interesting material though not lacking flaws(i.e. the recording quality being the major one, and then, well, maybe too many takes or some not-so interesting short bits or sketches of songs, but hey, de gustibus...).
So what is "A Tree With Roots" then?
Quite easy to tell: the same genuine tapes, remastered, but with an order which kind of tries to make some sense out of the mass of pretty random music compositions. All of it compressed in a 4 volumes edition, and here am I giving you the first two (what'll you find in these? I'd say some little gems like Lock your door, Bonnie ship the diamond, or Dylan and the Band covering Bells of rhymney...but these are just some of my faves, and there are 58 in here, so knock yourself off and your own ones). And wait for 3 & 4 (with Going to Acapulco, the now famous I'm not there and the very core of the basement tapes, I'd say)

Want to to know more on ATWR? Check this page here (for the complete tracklist, the story and some notes). Or wiki for the whole story behind the basement tapes.

Enjoy, enjoy.
Next (ça va sans dire): Vol. 3 & 4.

A Tree With Roots Vol. 1 (New Link)
A Tree With Roots Vol. 2

(Re-Up) Lal Waterson & Oliver Knight: Once In A Blue Moon

...and this is what I wrote when I firs posted it:

This is step 2 in my mission of digging into british folk(rock)music. After step 1 (Shirley Collins some weeks ago. And that one won't be my only post on her) this is on one of England's most talented songwriters, the late Lal Waterson. She was co-founder of the Watersons (altogether with her siblings Mike and Nora), a band that mostly sang english tradionals acappella.
A couple of months ago I went through some of the Watersons' catalogue (both the bands' and the solos', i.e. Norma's, Mike's, but also Martin Carthy's) but I was soon won by this "Once In A Blue Moon", with some of the best acoustic guitar playing I've ever listened to and with simply a masterful songwriting skill (the initial At first she starts, with that pizzicato that is pure magic, and Cornfield, dramatic and evocative and as close to blues as english folk can get -not close musically speaking: it is a matter of suggestions, of evoked sensations).
But there is so much excellent music in here that citing one single song is maybe a shame. So these two are just the ones that are striking me the most at the moment. I could give you different titles in 5 minutes.
If you want more there's also from her (with Mike) the much acclaimed "Bright Phoebus".
By the way, Oliver Knight is her own son.

PS
If any of you has the "A bed of roses" album please upload it (i can't find it).

More on Lal Waterson @ FoxyTunes

Once In A Blue Moon