| In the liner notes to “Tell Tale Signs”, Bob Dylan is quoted as saying: ““Time Out Of Mind” was me getting back in and fighting my way out of the corner. But by the time I made “Love And Theft”, I was out of the corner. On this record [“Modern Times”], I ain’t nowhere, you can’t find me anywhere…” My first reaction upon hearing “Together Through Life” was exactly that – “he’s done it and left the building” – but of course that’s not true. Even for someone scarred for life from early exposure to Finno-Ugric music, the shock of David Hidalgo’s ever-present accordion wears off after a couple of listens, and once the subtle hooks in the deceptively simplistic lyrics (co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter) start to sink in, you realize you’ve got what you paid for. You even get a political song in “It’s All Good” – it’s been what, 20 years since Dylan last released one? As he himself sneers in that John Lee Hooker-style closer: “It’s hard to believe, but it’s all good!” My impression of Dylan’s Tallinn show was that these days, he is improvising more with phrasing and rhythm than with the actual lyrics. Picking up a collection of Dylan interviews not long after, I found that as far back as in 1984, he had told one interviewer: “Maybe on the records it’s in the lyrics, but in a live show, it’s in the phrasing and the dynamics and the rhythm. It’s got nothing whatsoever to do with the lyrics…” Thus, the greatest success of “Together Through Life” might well be that Dylan has finally managed to transfer his live approach to the studio. Having produced his own albums since 2001’s “Love And Theft” under the alias of Jack Frost, Dylan’s complaints about the shortcomings of modern recording technology still surfaced with the release of “Modern Times” in 2006. This time, he ought to be happy: he has successfully defeated the overly crisp digital machinery, producing an album which sounds as if it was taped in the days when Sam Phillips & Co. used to mic the room instead of the individual instruments. You may not hear what everybody is doing all of the time, but you can hear it where it matters – and above all, you hear the organic sound a band makes, hear the music instead of the notes. An interesting sidenote: after the public uproar Dylan faced upon hijacking “Rollin’ And Tumblin’” on “Modern Times”, Willie Dixon now gets composer’s credit for “My Wife’s Home Town”. Natural enough, as it really is a 1:1 copy of Dixon’s “I Just Want To Make Love To You” – whether the new lyrics “I just want to say that Hell’s my wife’s home town” are an improvement on the original is of course open to debate. However, opening track “Beyond Here Lies Nothing” is credited to Dylan, and yet it’s instantly recognizable as Fleetwood Mac’s “Black Magic Woman” or, better yet, as Peter Green’s inspiration for that one: “All Your Love” by Otis Rush. Dylan’s “Jolene”, on the other hand, is not the Dolly Parton song, recently revamped by The White Stripes. Instead, it bears a close resemblance to Sonny Boy Williamson II’s “Don’t Start Me To Talkin’”, a tune Bob Dylan himself performed on the David Letterman TV show in 1984 as if to rub in his refusal to be interviewed by the famed talk show host. But enough trivia – if you like Bob Dylan and you like the blues, chances are you’ll like this album. If you prefer covers versions of Dylan songs to the originals and are fond of 80’s rock, you may be in for a major disappointment indeed. ANDRES ROOTS Bob Dylan: Together Through Life. Columbia, 2009 Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Mike Campbell (guitar, mandolin); David Hildago (guitar, accordion); Donny Herron (steel guitar, banjo, mandolin, trumpet); Tony Garnier (upright bass); George Recile (drums) Producer: Jack Frost Links: Bob Dylan website and MySpace Back to Main Contact: admin (a) blues-finland.com © 2006-2009 Blues-Finland.com / BluesWebzine.com |
 |
 |
|
 |
| THE INTERNATIONAL EDITION OF BLUES-FINLAND.COM |
 |
| It’s All Good: Bob Dylan 2009 8 May 2009 “Well there’s reasons for that And reasons for this I can’t think of any just now But I know they exist.” – “My Wife’s Home Town” After the brilliant “Time Out Of Mind” and “Love And Theft”, the less impressive “Modern Times” and the astonishing “Tell Tale Signs”, Dylan offers up “Together Through Life”, a new concept album of blues and ballads. And it’s good, too. |