Of all the musical icons of the 60s that have been forced down my throat over the years by Baby Boomer radio programmers, Bob Dylan is probably the one whose work I dislike the least. While I find much of the “poetry” of his song lyrics to be incoherent gibberish, he can sometimes turn a good phrase and occasionally even write a whole song that is good.
String Swing “Things Have Changed” (Bob Dylan)
For some reason there are lots of jazz covers of Bob Dylan songs and most of them are terrible. This one is great, it makes the song sound like it always was a New Orleans jazz standard.
Nicole Nordeman “Gotta Serve Somebody” (Bob Dylan)
I like a good gospel song but Christian rock leaves me cold. None of it makes me want to dance. Bob Dylan’s Christian music is some of the worst stuff he’s ever written, although it’s head and shoulders above most of the Christian rock music out there. It was when I came to that realization that I started to have some respect for Bob as a songwriter.
Pacific Ocean “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (Bob Dylan)
The singer on this one is none other than actor Edward James Olmos. I guess the music thing didn’t work out for him so he turned to acting. On the whole I think he made the right decision, but this is a pretty good organ-driven 70s arrangement. And his voice isn’t bad either.
Joan Osborne “The Man In The Long Black Coat” (Bob Dylan)
My neighbor used to be in a band with Ms. Osborne long before she found more widespread popularity. He’s lost touch with her, which is a damn shame. I’d love to have a drink with her sometime. Here she takes one of Dylan’s lesser-known songs on a creepy and disturbing journey.
Bob Dylan “Long Black Veil” (Lefty Frizzell)
This is a stately version of the old standard and it features some great pedal steel work. I just love how Bob’s garbled vocals have no relation to the rhythm or melody of the music he’s playing.
Re: Christian rock.
I agree that most of the stuff that ends up on Christian radio is awful and even more formulaic (especially in the lyrics) than stuff on Top 40 stations.
But, just as there’s a wonderful indie movement in mainstream music, there’s also a decent indie movement in Christian music. That’s where you’ll find great songs that don’t always, in the span of four minutes, go from expressing doubt and heartache to joy and praise. I don’t think that makes the artists any less Christian, but it definitely makes them less radio-friendly.
Thanks for the note Shaun. Who are some of these indie Christian bands?
Personally, I think the Beatles are the most over-hyped ’60s band. But I’m almost always alone in that fact. But, like Bob Dylan, even though I don’t think they are all that great in themselves, I find their covers to be pretty darn good. I guess it’s good that bands like them so that we can get their interpretation rather than being forced into the original. I think my favorite Dylan cover is Ministry doing “Lay Lady Lay”.
I’m right with you on the Beatles, Beth. I also agree that for a lot of those 60s icons the covers are better than the originals. I had originally had that Ministry song in this week’s post but I cut it to make room for something else.
The Beatles are NOT overrated. You probably just haven’t had that epiphany yet that shows you why they were so highly rated in the first place. For me it was listening to Abbey Road all the way through for the first time. The thing was, because The Beatles are so popular you don’t actually ever have to listen to any of their records all the way through – and I hadn’t done so before. It’s definitely worth while checking out all The Beatles stuff that doesn’t get played on the radio.
Enjoyed all of it . . . except the one sung by Bob Dylan. Blech.
My husband tells me that Bob has a Christmas CD coming out…hmmmm…I’ve never found him very cheery…is it possible that I need to hear him covering others music to finally appreciate him?
I like the redesign of the site, feels “sharper” if that makes any sense.
Love the blog, thank you for all the posts I’ve read and all the posts I’m looking forward to reading!
Thanks for the kind words, Slappy. Glad you like the new design. I wanted something sharp, like the name Dirk Diggler.