...when bob'n his bike'n th'road went their different ways back in summer'66 it effectively ended bobs wild mercury sound'n out there pharmaceutical dabblin's to make way for more reflective 'n downbeat times...tired o' bein' heralded as spokesman for th'disaffected NOW generation he went into a small town vibe 'n let th'rocknroll madness that was gettin' wilder every day passby...to pass th'time by summer'67 bob was playin' some ol'toons'n writin' new songs with th'band in th'house now known as big pink...these new songs marked a total change in sound with a rootsy lost generation/depression era folk music (non commercial) jammin' groove goin' on, just diggin' whatever came up'n lettin' th'tape capture th'moment...some o' these songs got sent to ol'london towne by bobs manager in th'hopes someone would wanna record them if'n bob didn't...at first they were just known as 'th songs on th' tape' 'n as more 'n more scenesters 'n underground layabouts heard them they made a copy'n in th'end they became th' (mythical) basement tapes...this set is a mighty fine soundin' (true original but cleaned, not tweaked like alotta reissues both mersh 'n boot) 4disk blowout that any bobcats'n heads will need to get cosy with cos in a way this is th'end o' th' 60s as a hyper acid drenched hippy incantation 'n a return to a more beatnik vibe with th'world seen as a place that needs changin' but from outside normal channels, it needs to be changed without th'realisation that its been changed, lysergic confrontation needed to be seen as th'government experiment to subvert thought that had been takin' place in th'preceedin coupla years...these tapes changed th'way'n sound o' prime movers th'fab4 'n th'stones as evidenced by those combos waxin's from 68 onward (white album/beggars/letitbe/bleed) 'n in wider terms got country rock/laurel canyon poets/pubrock (brinsley schwarz) off 'n runnin'...th' aftermath o' these tapes still resounds in this day'nage (though in much distorted unconscious way)with 'authentic'roots/world music/americana all vyin' for a slice o' wedge but these 're just apparitions fed on, by 'n for consumption, any life in these was squeezed out many a long year since, so it all sounds th'same, a kinda one size fits all digital squeal...th'tapes're a well cool lobeful 'n a good way to start off th'day or by reverse a good groove for when th' downpresser man is seemin' to loom large as can be th'way o' th' world these days with th' nonstop babble o' media duplicity tryin' to wear free thinkin' cats out o' existance...transports heads to a slower world more inkeepin' with true vibrations o' th'spirit...a cornerstone o' beat activity along with harry smiths anthology/on the road/clellon holmes 'go'/kuchar bros. flix...on no account should this release be confused with th'wax from columbia o' th' same name (that was indeed nothin' more than some record co. slight o' hand trickery)...