Music cassette tapes in Rock & Pop Music

"The Telluride Festival Tapes" (09/15/1992) Rock & Pop Various Artists, Flying FishContains 17 tracks. Recorded at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 1977 and 1979. Personnel: Vince Gill (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo); Sam Bush (vocals, guitar, mandolin, fiddle); John Hartford (vocals, guitar, fiddle); Doc Watson, Tim Goodman, Wayne Stewart, Joe Carr, Norman Blake (vocals, guitar); Peter Rowan (vocals, acoustic guitar, mandola); Roland White, Tim O'Brien (vocals, mandolin); Washboard Chaz Leary (vocals, washboard); John Cowan, Michael Coleman (vocals); Curtis Burch (guitar, dobro); Ray Park (guitar, fiddle); Dan Crary, Billy Constable, Merle Watson, Charles Sawtelle (guitar); Allan Wald, John Sholle (electric guitar); Skip Conover, Steve Weisberg (dobro); Doug Dillard, Alan Munde, Pete Wernick, Courtney Johnson (banjo); Bryan Bowers (autoharp); James Bryan , Byron Berline (fiddle); Nancy Blake (cello); Ray Bonneville (harmonica); Mark Cohen, Baird Banner (drums). Audio Remixers: Sam Bush; Richard Adler . Recording information: 4th Annual Telluride Bluegrass And Country Festival, Te (06/25/1977-06/24/1979); 6th annual Telluride Bluegrass And Count (06/25/1977-06/24/1979). Arrangers: Dan Crary; Bryan Bowers. This album features progressive bluegrass music performed at the Telluride Festival in Colorado by the likes of Sundance, New Grass Revival, Bryan Bowers, John Hartford, and Peter Rowan, among others. ~ All Music Guide

"The Basement Tapes" (09/13/1988) Rock & Pop Dylan, Bob, Columbia (USA)Bob Dylan/The Band: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Robbie Robertson (guitar); Garth Hudson (organ); Richard Manuel (keyboards); Rick Danko (bass); Levon Helm (drums). Recorded in the basement of the Big Pink, West Saugerties, New York between June and October 1967. The official release of The Basement Tapes -- which were first heard on a 1968 bootleg called The Great White Wonder -- plays with history somewhat, as Robbie Robertson overemphasizes the Band's status in the sessions, making them out to be equally active to Dylan, adding in demos not cut at the sessions and overdubbing their recordings to flesh them out. As many bootlegs (most notably the complete five-disc series) reveal, this isn't entirely true and that the Band were nowhere near as active as Dylan, but that ultimately is a bit like nitpicking, since the music here (including the Band's) is astonishingly good. The party line on The Basement Tapes is that it is Americana, as Dylan and the Band pick up the weirdness inherent in old folk, country, and blues tunes, but it transcends mere historical arcana by being lively, humorous, full-bodied performances. Dylan never sounded as loose, nor was he ever as funny as he is here, and this positively revels in its weird, wild character. For all the apparent antecedents -- and the allusions are sly and obvious in equal measures -- this is truly Dylan's show, as he majestically evokes old myths and creates new ones, resulting in a crazy quilt of blues, humor, folk, tall tales, inside jokes, and rock. The Band pretty much pick up where Dylan left off, even singing a couple of his tunes, but they play it a little straight, on both their rockers and ballads. Not a bad thing at all, since this actually winds up providing context for the wild, mercurial brilliance of Dylan's work -- and, taken together, the results (especially in this judiciously compiled form; expert song selection, even if there's a bit too much Band) rank among the greatest American music ever made. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine In 1967 Bob Dylan was recovering from his much-publicized motorcycle crash. To emphasize Dylan's startling fecundity, he laid down dozens of rudimentary demo recordings with backing from the fledgling Band. Eventually gaining an official release eight years later (with several delightful songs from a later Band session added), THE BASEMENT TAPES is a ragbag collection of alternately playful and serious acoustic-based songs that draw on a deep well of American tradition for their inspiration. Songs of the calibre of "Tears Of Rage", "Nothing Was Delivered" and "This Wheel's On Fire" on this ostensibly tossed-off masterpiece only serve to further underline Dylan's importance as a writer.

"The Basement Tapes" (09/13/1988) Rock & Pop Dylan, Bob, Columbia (USA)Bob Dylan/The Band: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Robbie Robertson (guitar); Garth Hudson (organ); Richard Manuel (keyboards); Rick Danko (bass); Levon Helm (drums). Recorded in the basement of the Big Pink, West Saugerties, New York between June and October 1967. The official release of The Basement Tapes -- which were first heard on a 1968 bootleg called The Great White Wonder -- plays with history somewhat, as Robbie Robertson overemphasizes the Band's status in the sessions, making them out to be equally active to Dylan, adding in demos not cut at the sessions and overdubbing their recordings to flesh them out. As many bootlegs (most notably the complete five-disc series) reveal, this isn't entirely true and that the Band were nowhere near as active as Dylan, but that ultimately is a bit like nitpicking, since the music here (including the Band's) is astonishingly good. The party line on The Basement Tapes is that it is Americana, as Dylan and the Band pick up the weirdness inherent in old folk, country, and blues tunes, but it transcends mere historical arcana by being lively, humorous, full-bodied performances. Dylan never sounded as loose, nor was he ever as funny as he is here, and this positively revels in its weird, wild character. For all the apparent antecedents -- and the allusions are sly and obvious in equal measures -- this is truly Dylan's show, as he majestically evokes old myths and creates new ones, resulting in a crazy quilt of blues, humor, folk, tall tales, inside jokes, and rock. The Band pretty much pick up where Dylan left off, even singing a couple of his tunes, but they play it a little straight, on both their rockers and ballads. Not a bad thing at all, since this actually winds up providing context for the wild, mercurial brilliance of Dylan's work -- and, taken together, the results (especially in this judiciously compiled form; expert song selection, even if there's a bit too much Band) rank among the greatest American music ever made. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine In 1967 Bob Dylan was recovering from his much-publicized motorcycle crash. To emphasize Dylan's startling fecundity, he laid down dozens of rudimentary demo recordings with backing from the fledgling Band. Eventually gaining an official release eight years later (with several delightful songs from a later Band session added), THE BASEMENT TAPES is a ragbag collection of alternately playful and serious acoustic-based songs that draw on a deep well of American tradition for their inspiration. Songs of the calibre of "Tears Of Rage", "Nothing Was Delivered" and "This Wheel's On Fire" on this ostensibly tossed-off masterpiece only serve to further underline Dylan's importance as a writer.

"The Tape of Only Linda" (10/25/1994) Rock & Pop Loud Family, Alias RecordsPersonnel: Scott Miller (vocals, rap vocals, guitar, classical guitar); Ken Stringfellow (vocals, guitar, background vocals); Paul Wieneke (vocals, piano, toy piano, keyboards, background vocals); R. Dunbar Poor (vocals, background vocals); Zachary Smith, Zack Smith (guitar, 12-string guitar); Waxy Bill Dupp, Bill Dupp (harmonica); Jozef Becker (drums, tambourine, percussion, drum programming); Kid Shaline (background vocals). Recording information: Avy Studios, Menlo Park, CA; Brilliant Studios, San Francisco, CA; Dave Wellhausen Studios, San Anselmo; Music Annex, Menlo Park, CA. Loud Family's first album, Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things, was obviously born of Scott Miller's fondness for the aural mix-and-match of the editing and mixing process. On the other hand, the group's follow-up, The Tape of Only Linda, reflects the work of a band that had spent some time on the road and came back playing tighter, harder, and louder than before. The sonic montage that dominated Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things is almost entirely absent; instead, this album goes for a live sound, with the group stretching out on longer tracks dominated by the guitar work of Miller and Zachary Smith, and while Miller's trademark melodic sense is very much in evidence, this is the closest thing to a straight-ahead rock album in his repertoire. (Even the album's semi-acoustic finale, "Ballet Hetero," has a surprisingly tough melodic undertow.) While Miller has traditionally dominated the songwriting process on his albums, The Tape of Only Linda reveals a greater sense of collaboration with his musicians; six of the ten tracks find him co-writing with other members of the band, and two songs are even sung by keyboard player Paul Wieneke (whose vocals don't fare quite as well as Miller's self-described "miserable whine"). Dark, heavy, and with more than a bit of sneering cynicism in its lyrics, this is the most atypical of Loud Family's albums; it's also one of their best. ~ Mark Deming The title of this 1994 release refers to a notorious bootlegged tape featuring Linda McCartney's off-key vocals, recorded during a concert by a mischievous techie. The obscure reference is fitting for Scott Miller, who named the Loud Family after a cinema verite TV special from the early '70s. Obviously, Miller's penchant for in-jokes and pop cultural arcana is unrivaled in rock, but fortunately, so is his gift for the gorgeous pop hook; one listen to "Hyde Street Virgins" will leave power pop fans grinning from ear to ear. The first true group effort by the Loud Family (its predecessor grew out of a solo project,) THE TAPE rocks harder and more consistently than the group's first release. Relatively straightforward riff rockers like "Baby Hard to Be Around" and "Soul Drain" feature muscular guitars blending with chiming keyboards and Miller's wispy but evocative tenor. Of course, he can't completely resist aural trickery on "Marcia and Etrusca," which employs a churning, acid-house beat. The lyrics are fascinatingly obscure--with their inverted puns and references to Jacques Cousteau and "the science of losing by one," evidence of a unique sensibility at work. The closer, "Ballet Hetero" has a stately, shimmering beauty.