Very Good Plus Vol. 48: Dylan's Basement Tapes Acetate Reimagined

Organist (and recording engineer) Garth Hudson selected tracks from Bob Dylan and the Band's home-recorded Basement Tapes for an acetate likely in early 1968, to share with artists eager to record his newly penned songs. Most of the songs on the acetate, some as different takes, with additional Dylan tracks from the sessions plus songs recorded later (sometimes much later) by the Band were released officially as the Basement Tapes in 1975, with some songs overdubbed with additional instrumentation. The complete (or at least as complete as possible) set of Basement Tapes recordings were issued as The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 in 2014, stripping off any later overdubs. Soon after, the tracks from the original acetate were released as a stand-alone single LP for Record Store Day. I've always wondered if the songs were more thematically arranged (into a "fun side" and a more "serious side") and sequenced to flow more carefully in a sequence pleasing to the ear, what kind of album they would have produced if released in 1967. Well, it sounds pretty great! Tonight's show celebrates the (ahem!) 55th anniversary of the recording of these songs.