News: The New Basement Tapes Release ‘Spanish Mary’
2 min read
(US) The New Basement Tapes – Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons) – today released the latest track from their forthcoming album, Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes.
Their T Bone Burnett-produced album, Lost On the River: The New Basement Tapes, was founded on a treasure trove of recently discovered lyrics handwritten by Bob Dylan in 1967 during the period that generated the recording of his original Basement Tapes. “Spanish Mary,” with lead vocals from Rhiannon Giddens, is accompanied by a new lyric video featuring Bob Dylan’s original handwritten lyrics that served as the basis for the song. “Spanish Mary” is also available as an “instant grat” download with an album pre-order both at iTunes and Amazon.
Rhiannon Giddens, who co-wrote “Spanish Mary” with Bob Dylan and sings the lead vocal, says of the track. “Out of all the lyrics I looked through for the New Basement Tapes project, the one for “Spanish Mary” attracted me first – here was a ballad, and I know ballads! It’s also set in the Caribbean, so I felt the deep African sound of the minstrel style banjo (circa 1856) was appropriate. It was an absolute thrill to get to set music to Dylan’s lyrics, what an opportunity! This project is marked with utter generosity from everyone involved.”
“Spanish Mary” follows the release of three previous tracks from the album:
– “Nothing To It” (co-written by Bob Dylan and Jim James, with lead vocals by James).
– “Married To My Hack” (co-written by Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello, with lead vocals by Costello).
– “When I Get My Hands On You” (co-written by Bob Dylan, Marcus Mumford and Taylor Goldsmith, with lead vocal by Mumford).
