Bob Dylan – “Tupelo” (John Lee Hooker Cover) (Stereogum Premiere)

Bob Dylan - Basement Tapes reissue

Bob Dylan – “Tupelo” (John Lee Hooker Cover) (Stereogum Premiere)

Bob Dylan - Basement Tapes reissue

For years, The Basement Tapes, Bob Dylan’s 1967 recordings with the Band, went unreleased; the heavily bootlegged album only saw release in 1975. And many of the songs that they recorded together still haven’t seen release, but that’s about to change. There’s a deluxe six-CD reissue of The Basement Tapes coming next month, and it includes songs that have never seen the light of day. We already posted one of those songs, the rockabilly pastiche “Dress It Up, Better Have It All.” Now we’ve got another, a cover of blues great John Lee Hooker’s talking blues song “Tupelo.” The original is a harrowing talking blues song about a flood destroying a town. Dylan and the Band used Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy” riff and played around with the lyrics, which Dylan couldn’t quite remember. Listen to their version below.

Other tracks from the release are streaming today, too: Listen to “900 Miles From My Home” at Spin, “Yea! Heavy And A Bottle Of Bread” at Brooklyn Vegan, and “Ain’t No More Cane (Take 2)” at Death & Taxes.

The Basement Tapes reissue is out 11/4 on Sony Legacy.

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