This Lost Shark has been on a real Dylan trip of late. I recently read Million Dollar Bash, which examines Dylan’s time with The Band and the recording of The Basement Tapes. And while it was by no means the greatest book I have read on Dylan (in fact I found alot of it to be really poorly written and its facts slightly questionable), it has inspired me to revisit The Basement Tapes and for that, it was worth the read.
The Basement Tapes sessions are the stuff of myth. Cut on a home tape recorder in mid-late 1967, the recordings capture Dylan, Danko, Robertson, Manuel, Hudson and Helm high on friendship and invention. And it shows… listen to the songs todayand they still have that current of discovery pulsing through them.
And after reigniting my interest in The Basement Tapes, I dusted off my copy of Before the Flood and man, does that album capture some outrageously good moments. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine) will send a shiver down your spine. Dylan hollers and The Band drive the song along with an urgent groove. Other highlights for mine are It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), Highway 61 Revisted and Blowin’ in the Wind. And The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is achingly beautiful.
So with all this Dylan/The Band goodness circling in my head, you can imagine how excited I was when I came across this recording of Dylan and The Band at the Isle of Wight in 1969, five years before the recording of the Before the Flood concert.
This is Dylan’s first live show after the infamous motorcycle accident in 1966 and captures the first live performances of many of the songs from John Wesley Harding (an album that is underrated in the Dylan canon). It is not quite the full concert but the sound is surprisingly clear… and it comes complete with downloadable artwork. Who could ask for more!?
So Dylanophiles… I did have a link on here to download it, but I have decided to take it down as the suppliers of the original link I downloaded it from asked me not to advertise it due to their server being unable to handle the rush and the second link I put up seems to be… well after some research I decided I did not want to advertise that particular link. ‘Nuff said.
But, if you would like a copy, leave me a comment and I will email it to you as a zip file + send links to the artwork online (safe download).
Now, how does it feel?
