69
and the difference is worth noting. John Wesley Harding is
a tremendous record. Dylan’s father had died from a heart
attack, Dylan had gone home for the funeral, Sara had given
birth to the couple’s third child, Dylan was about to re-
emerge from the seclusion that followed his accident. There
was nearly as much pressure on him now as there had been
before the accident, and in a deliberate way, he responded
brilliantly. John Wesley Harding bestowed the world with
“All Along the Watchtower,” and that would have been quite
enough, but there was more: “The Wicked Messenger,” “I’llBe Your Baby Tonight” and others.
Nashville Skyline, however, released in 1969, was not
nearly as good and was even more “country,” with Dylan
suddenly affecting a faux twang in his singing. It spun off
the hit “Lay, Lady, Lay” and included that fascinating duet
with Johnny Cash on “Girl from the North Country,” with
the flat-as-a-pancake but still engaging “truuue love of
miiyyiiine” at the end, but the entire record had Dylan die-
hards scratching their heads. Was he heading into a decline,
his first slump since he started recording? If Dylan knewTHINK OF BIG PINK AS THE SUN STUDIOS
of the Catskills. Really: The Basement Tapes is
similar to Elvis Presley’s seminal Sun Sessions
in several ways. Here was a preternaturally
gifted American artist playing passionately
but off the cuff with his good friends—maybe
his strongest collaborators ever?—without,
necessarily, great expectations. (Okay,
Elvis was surely dreaming.. .) Life in the
basement at Danko’s house was so casual
that by the time, years later, it was decided to
release cleaned-up versions of the songs to
counter the multitude of bootleg recordings,
the boys found they hadn’t taken pictures
(besides those of the Band themselves,
outside the house). So they scuttled together
a sort of down-home, basement-variety
Sgt. PepperÕs cover shoot.ELLIOTT LANDY/MAGNUM
60-79 LIFE_Bob Dylan 2020 Retreat.indd 69 FINAL 1/13/20 4:27 PM