Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band, and the Basement Tapes

It's 1967, the Summer of Love, and Bob Dylan is holed up in Woodstock with a group of musicians once known as The Hawks, laying down a set of recordings that will soon turn the music world on its head. These recordings – the Basement Tapes – would not be released commercially by Dylan at first, but would emerge in the form of cover versions by acts such as The Byrds, Manfred Mann, and Peter Paul & Mary. Together, they would inspire a homespun, back-to-basics approach in the work of The Beatles, the Stones, the Grateful Dead, and many others, while also kick-starting the entire Americana genre.

In this fully revised and updated edition – published to coincide with a major new documentary about the Basement Tapes and the release of the T Bone Burnett-produced Lost On The River album – author and musician Sid Griffin is given unique access to a cache of more than 40 never-before-heard Basement Tapes recordings, allowing him to shine even greater light on this pivotal yet often misunderstood moment in popular music history.

Praise for the first edition of Million Dollar Bash:

‘Griffin is a soulful detective who frames his colorful, precise descriptions with revealing context.’ David Fricke, Rolling Stone

‘An exhaustive guide.’ Jon Savage, The Observer

‘A thorough, entertaining tale [told] in a style that’s part conversation, part journalism, part heroically detailed liner note.’ Sylvie Simmons, Mojo

‘Invaluable.’ Jason Draper, Record Collector