Bob Dylan and The Band – Bessie Smith

This song was on the Basement Tapes and one of my favorites on that album. When I wrote the Bessie Smith article for Lisa…I forgot all about it. CB brought it up on my Bessie Smith post the other day. I completely forgot about it.

The Basement Tapes was a collection of recordings made by Bob Dylan and The Band in 1967. These recordings took place in the basement of a house known as “Big Pink,” located in West Saugerties, New York, where members of The Band lived at the time. It was released in 1975.

The story behind The Basement Tapes is quite interesting. In 1966, Bob Dylan had been involved in a motorcycle accident and retreated from the public eye to recover. During this period, he began recording informal sessions with members of The Band, then known as The Hawks. These sessions were largely acoustic, featuring Dylan and The Band members playing a mix of original songs and cover tunes in a relaxed, informal setting. It was mostly recorded by Garth Hudson the keyboard player for The Band.

Many of these songs were bootlegged through the years and received a lot of attention. This release included songs like “The Mighty Quinn,” “I Shall Be Released,” “This Wheel’s on Fire,” and “Tears of Rage,” among others.

Robbie Robertson and Rick Danko wrote this song and it wasn’t about Bessie Smith’s life but he used her to symbolize the blues and their respect for her. It incorporates her name into a broader narrative while celebrating her.

The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard Album Charts, #15 in Canada, and #18 in New Zealand in 1975.

Bessie Smith

Bessie was more than just a friend of mineWe shared the good times with the badNow many a year has passed me byI still recall the best thing I ever had

I’m just goin’ down the road t’ see BessieOh, see her soonI’m just goin’ down the road t’ see Bessie SmithWhen I get there I wonder what she’ll do

All the crazy things I had to tryWell I tried them all and then someBut if you’re lucky one day you find outWhere it is you’re really comin’ from

I’m just goin’ down the road t’ see BessieOh, see her soonI’m just goin’ down the road t’ see Bessie SmithWhen I get there I wonder what she’ll do

Now in my day I’ve made some foolish movesBut back then, I didn’t worry ’bout a thingAnd now again I still wonder to myselfWas it her sweet love or the way that she could sing

I’m just goin’ down the road t’ see BessieOh, see her soonI’m just goin’ down the road t’ see Bessie SmithWhen I get there I wonder what she’ll do

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

37 thoughts on “Bob Dylan and The Band – Bessie Smith”

  1. Great song. I love the keyboard! According to Wikipedia, while Bessie Smith was included on “The Basement Tapes”, there are different versions where the song was actually recorded.

    Sound engineer Rob Fraboni reportedly said the recording took place in 1975 at The Band’s Shangri-La studio in Los Angeles, as “The Basement Tapes” was being prepared for official release.

    The notes for the 2000 reissue of the Band’s fourth album “Cahoots” maintain “Robbie [Robertson] is certain that ‘Bessie Smith’ was recorded sometime between their 1969 second album and Stage Fright”, the group’s third album, issued the following year.

    I guess at the end of the day what matters the most is the great outcome of the recording!

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    1. Yes there were different versions of it and I read where Bob had a completely different song call Bessie Smith lol. They were hot with Bessie Smith back then.
      Yea it is a good song.

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    1. Yes it did…as Christian said they recorded different versions of it later to make it sound better but yea…great band and song. Whenever Danko sings…I listen…With no disrespect to Neil Young…but they are my favorite Canadian export lol.

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      2. This is a strange album Randy…like how many versions of You Ain’t Going Nowhere are there and others…that is why I didn’t want to go down that path.
        You know what? You are correct…the other sites I’ve went to say Robbie Robertson and now I see Danko…well it’s fixed now…arggggg…thank you though.

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      4. Thanks Randy. Our band did You Aint Going Nowhere….and then I suddenly found a million versions…finally I just went by the Byrds version lol. Don’t get me wrong…I love hearing different versions of songs…someone could make a post on just that.

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      6. YES!!! You know that would be cool Randy….a post on artists really…covering their own songs….but would it be development of their songs? Either way it’s cool.

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      7. Yeah there’s a surprising number of own covers out there, of course the longer you’re around the more opportunities, duets, acoustic versions etc. not to mention singer songwriters that weren’t the first to record their own songs. Man you’re giving me ideas!!

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      8. Good! I liked The White Album rerelease because they included demos of many of the songs….you get to see the development of them…like this album. How they got from A to B to Z

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    1. I need to check that out…she is good on anything she does. Thanks Randy…yea I knew about the different versions but I missed the Danko co-write

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      2. Yes and Sloan is on their way…along with that band you featured that I really liked…damn I can’t think of their name now! But I’ll go back through your posts and find them.

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