Dylan: Remasters of War

ECENTLY, Columbia Records re-released 15 CD's by Bob Dylan, remastered and with artwork restored. This was long overdue. Dylan is without a doubt one of the major figures in music, period. He is as important as Elvis or Hendrix or the Beatles, and if you're not familiar with his body of work, I will help you wade through the discs and enjoy some amazing music.

I'm not going to attempt to review all 15 discs, due to space concerns, and also because my wife will kill me if I played them all! She's a pretty good sport when it comes to some of my more esoteric artists (Pretty Things, James Gang, David Bowie) and even enjoys the odd Jeff Beck track. But I'm not gonna push my luck...

I think I'll critique one from the 60's, one from the 70's, and one from the 80's. Each decade has its masterpieces and its dogs, so I'll pick some that are probably somewhere in the middle.

JOHN WESLEY HARDING (1967) is one of the most influential recordings by anyone—this whole genre swimming around called Alt-Country begins right here. This was Bob's first LP following his 1966 motorcycle accident. Released during the Psychedelic Era, it was startling in its simplicity and was the antithesis of the times' emphasis on volume, druggy lyrics, and stupid band names. (Peanut Butter Conspiracy??? See what I mean?) Classics such as the title cut and "All Along the Watchtower" have a drive and intensity without a stack of Marshalls behind them. This remastered version really allows the listener to hear the crack Nashville studio cats burn as Bob spins some of his best yarns: the characters seem to leap from the speakers into your imagination and hold up well under repeated listenings. Two acts who took a hard listen to this record and recorded versions of these songs? Sure, everybody knows Jimi Hendrix' masterful "All Along the Watchtower," but he also covered "Drifter's Escape" as well. Even Bob performs "AATW" in the Hendrix style today! (Not so well known is the Faces' take on "The Wicked Messenger" on their 1970 LP, FIRST STEP. Rod Stewart--yes, the same Rod trying to turn himself into a Dean Martin for the SUV crowd today--tears into the song with grit while Ron Wood and Co. rock the house.) JOHN WESLEY HARDING is one of Bob's least-cited masterpieces. Check it out! I can't say enough about this one. GRADE: A

PLANET WAVES (1974) was recorded in three days as Bob and The Band were preparing for his first tour since 1966. That's right, THREE DAYS!!! In the same amount of time it takes most bands today to even FIND the studio, Bob and the Boys cranked out a pretty damn good record. "On a Night Like This," "Tough Mama," and "You Angel You" rock nicely, and "Wedding Song" is as intense a love song as any he ever wrote. Of course, the backing from Robbie, Levon, Rick, Garth and Richard is superb. Again, the remastering lets you hear how a BAND really works -- I'm sure most of these were recorded in very few takes. The cliché "they don't make 'em like that anymore" certainly applies. And you probably couldn't get as good a result from today's groups even if you locked 'em in a room on Friday and took away their Suds and Supermodels and said "See Ya on Monday!" GRADE: A-

INFIDELS (1983) was a comeback of sorts after pissing off just about everybody with his three-year diet of religious material. (However, the last of those albums, "Shot of Love," was closer in style to this LP than the two previous ones.) Enlisting Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and the then white-hot Jamaican rhythm duo of Sly and Robbie, with former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor on guitar for extra muscle, Bob tears through some of his most biting material. "Jokerman," "Union Sundown" and "Neighborhood Bully" are killers both musically and lyrically. And "Sweetheart Like You" and "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight" are still great make-out songs. Not to belabor the point, but the sound on this new version is outstanding: the space between the instruments really gives the music a crunch on the rockers and a smoothness on the love stuff. GRADE: A

That's about all I have for ya on this subject. The great thing about these three discs is that they will be easy to find should you be interested: most people will be buying the Highway 61's and Blonde on Blondes and leaving these for YOU!! I'm looking forward to the next round of reissues that I hope will include the first LP (BOB DYLAN), the classic NEW MORNING, and the aforementioned SHOT OF LOVE. I promise the next column will be a bit more on the ranting side--I will be talking about the frenzy of crappy releases for the Xmas market that just makes no sense. Some cynics might say "all of them," but I won't go there...

G2 the G

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