Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes a collaborative album project from Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons) and producer T Bone Burnett, will be released November 11 on Electromagnetic Recordings/Harvest Records. The album was recorded in March at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, where the artists and Burnett convened for two weeks to write and create music for a treasure trove of recently discovered lyrics handwritten by Bob Dylan in 1967 during the period that generated the recording of the legendary Basement Tapes.
An extensive pre-order campaign for Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes begins today with a diverse array of album packages and configurations:
- At digital retailers iTunes and Amazon MP3, fans can pre-order the album as a 20-song deluxe or 15-song standard edition and instantly receive “Nothing To It” from the album, plus four more “instant-grat” tracks during the weeks leading up to the album’s release.
- Physical versions of the album can be pre-ordered from Amazon.com in both the deluxe and standard CD editions, as well as a 180-gram virgin-vinyl two-disc set.
- Beginning October 28, fans will be able to preorder the 180-gram virgin-vinyl two-disc set at their local independent retailer (participating stores to be announced), and in turn receive a limited-edition 10″ vinyl EP containing the five “instant grat” album tracks, one of which will be exclusive to independent stores for one week prior to any other retail availability.
There are also a number of bundled offerings being made available Direct-To-Fan exclusively through The New Basement Tapes Official Music store. These include:
- A limited-edition box set of the album that includes the deluxe CD, the 180-gram virgin-vinyl two-disc set, six photographic portraits of the artists, five prints of the newly discovered Bob Dylan handwritten lyrics, an album cover lithograph and the deluxe digital album.
- A limited number of vinyl test pressings, autographed by T Bone Burnett.
- Fans who pre-order a bundle may also add their names to a limited-edition poster.
A lyric video for “Nothing To It” has been released today on Vevo that features Dylan’s actual handwritten lyrics inhabiting a surreal animated cityscape. The album will be accompanied by a Showtime documentary premiering on November 21, titled, Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued, directed by Sam Jones (the Wilco documentary, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart). The film will present 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.
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.”
The complete track listing for the 20-song deluxe edition of Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes is as follows:
| 1. Down On The Bottom |
2. Married To My Hack
3. Kansas City
4. Spanish Mary
5. Liberty Street
6. Nothing To It
7. Golden Tom – Silver Judas
8. When I Get My Hands On You
9. Duncan and Jimmy
10. Florida Key 11. Hidee Hidee Ho #11
12. Lost On The River #12
13. Stranger
14. Card Shark
15. Quick Like A Flash
16. Hidee Hidee Ho #16
17. Diamond Ring
18. The Whistle Is Blowing
19. Six Months In Kansas City (Liberty Street)
20. Lost On The River #20
