A new, massive box set released Friday documents Bob Dylan’s whirlwind year of 1965 and 1966. While this compilation offers many examples of how masterpieces emerged in the recording studio, it also brings fans perhaps the greatest incomplete song in Dylan’s canon. Continue reading
Here’s a review of the most important songs every music fan should hear from Bob Dylan and the Band’s new “Basement Tapes” box set. Continue reading
Nearly 50 years after a batch of rogue home recordings transformed the pop-music world, Bob Dylan has finally released a box set of the legendary “Basement Tapes,” including nearly all of the songs set on tape with the Band in Woodstock, N.Y. area. After all this time, the only real surprise here might be taking in how important these recordings wound up being. Continue reading
The latest installment of Bob Dylan’s archival release, “The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969-71),” seeks to reverse opinions on one of the most reviled periods in Dylan’s creative life. Unfortunately, Dylan’s assistants obscure the true treasures of this period. Continue reading
Like the hobbled hero from some Hollywood movie, a clearly ailing Levon Helm rallied his strength during Tuesday night’s performance to give those who gathered at a downtown Milwaukee casino an enthralling lesson in American roots music. Continue reading
Once, Robbie Robertson was a rare ’60s musical triple threat: guitar ace, songwriting visionary and master orchestrator of talent. Now, his new solo album, “How To Become Clairvoyant,” is easily the most vanilla creation of his solo career. Continue reading
After years of exile from the pop mainstream and enduring nearly every hardship imaginable, former Band drummer Levon Helm won a Grammy award and other critical notices for an unplugged, roots-oriented album in 2007. Unfortunately, Helm’s brand-new disc reveals a lapse into harmful old habits. Continue reading
A diverse roster of faded rock legends, country music idols and modern-day hitmakers have come together on a new tribute album to pay respect to ’60s country-rock granddadies, the Band. Soundbytes’ David Hyland lets readers know what kind of shape this album is in. Continue reading
With last week’s Bob Dylan documentary still fresh in listeners’ minds, a brand new box set devoted to seminal ’60s combo (and former Dylan sidemen) the Band seeks to reemphasize this largely forgotten group’s place in rock history. Boasting five CDs, one DVD, David judges the weight. Continue reading
May’s batch of new releases from veteran artists brings into question the maxim of “respect your elders”. Continue reading
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