He leans into the microphone, and lets loose a stream of nonsense…

The musicians, who were Dylan’s backing band on his last tour, try to anticipate where this brand-new composition is going. Hudson hits “record” on the tape recorder, and Dylan begins tentatively strumming. Not with a new tour, or album, but with a batch of original songs…intended to be given away to other artists. Now he’s ready to dip his foot in the water again, but he’s going to do it his way. A motorcycle accident sidelined him, and the enigmatic songwriter decided to use his injuries (the extent of which is shrouded in mystery) as an excuse to go off the grid for awhile. Dylan has not recorded or toured since the previous spring. At the center of the group of informally arranged musicians, with a short haircut and a 12-string acoustic, is Bob Dylan. Rick Danko and Robbie Robertson strap on a bass and electric guitar, respectively.

Garth Hudson settles in behind his Lowrey organ, Richard Manuel parks himself on the piano bench, or maybe the drum stool. The intention is to make demo tapes, and the recording rig is simple - a Nagra tape recorder, an Ampex mixer, and three microphones (although many decades later this set-up will be hotly disputed by audiophiles on internet forums.) One by one, the band wanders in. The instruments and recording equipment are set up in the basement of the big pink rental house on a rural woodsy road, just as they had been for several weeks.

They byrds discography