It's 1967, the Summer of Love, and Bob Dylan is holed up in Woodstock with a group of musicians once known as The Hawks, laying down a set of recordings that will soon turn the music world on its head. These recordings – the Basement Tapes – would not be released commerciallyby Dylan at first, but would emerge in the form of cover versions by ac ts such as the Byrds, Manfred Mann, and Peter Paul & Mary. Together, they would inspire a homespun, back-to-basics approach in the work of the Beatles, the Stones, the Grateful Dead, and many others, while also kick-starting the entire Americana genre.
In this fully revised and updated edition – published to coincide with a major new documentaryabout the Basement Tapes and the release of the T Bone Burnett-produced Lost on the River album – author and musician Sid Griffin is given unique access to a cache of more than 40 never-before-heard Basement Tapes recordings, allowing him to shine even greater light on thispivotal yet often misunderstood moment in popular music history.
