Four live performances by The New Basement Tapes – Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons) – are being released today on Vevo. The performances were captured by director Marcus Haney at the band’s one-and-only concert performance in November at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Los Angeles. The four performances are:
Reenergized by their reunion for numerous media appearances eight-months after recording the Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes album, Costello, Giddens, Goldsmith, James and Mumford rehearsed more than 20 songs over two days and decided to perform one full concert for fans and invited guests. This historic performance came together on 24-hours’ notice and the result was a two-hour plus show that included special appearances from Haim and Johnny Depp, both of whom guested on the studio album. The release of the four concert clips follows the November release and success of both the album, produced by T Bone Burnett and the Showtime documentary, Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued, directed by Sam Jones.
The multimedia project was founded on a treasure trove of recently discovered lyrics handwritten by Bob Dylan in 1967 during the period that generated the recording of his original Basement Tapes. Embracing an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with the 26-year old Bob Dylan, Burnett and the artists – dubbing their collective The New Basement Tapes – convened in March at Capitol Studios in Hollywood to write and create music together for the long-lost Dylan lyrics. Dozens of new songs were completed and recorded by The New Basement Tapes during a two-week period, with the artists swapping instrumental and vocal roles on the tracks throughout the marathon sessions. The album is available at all physical and digital music retailers, including Amazon (CD: http://smarturl.it/TNBT_AmzCDDLX. Vinyl: http://smarturl.it/TNBT_AmzLP).
The accompanying documentary presents an exclusive and intimate look at the making of Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes set against the influential and historical cultural backdrop of Bob Dylan’s original Basement Tapes. Information regarding airdates for Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued can be found on Showtime.com (http://www.sho.com/sho/reality-docs/titles/3411641/lost-songs-the-basement-tapes-continued#/index).
Bob Dylan’s original Basement Tapes have fascinated and enticed successive generations of musicians, fans and cultural critics for nearly five decades. More than a hundred songs were recorded by Dylan and musicians who later became The Band in the basement of a small house in upstate New York in the summer and fall of 1967, including many Bob Dylan future classics such as, “I Shall Be Released,” “The Mighty Quinn,” “This Wheel’s On Fire,” “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” and “Tears Of Rage.”
Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes is a music event 47 years in the making. The album celebrates the discovery of never-seen Bob Dylan lyrics from that legendary 1967 period and marks a creative highpoint for the album’s participants – Burnett, Costello, Giddens, Goldsmith, James and Mumford – who have brought them to life nearly 50 years later. As Burnett explains, “What transpired during those two weeks was amazing for all of us. There was a deep well of generosity and support in the studio at all times, which reflected the tremendous trust and generosity shown by Bob in sharing these lyrics with us in the first place.”
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