I had never heard of The Hold Steady before I listened to their version of "Please Crawl Out Your Window." The seeds of Bruce Sprinsgteen's "Santa Ana" can be heard in Dylan's original but they become even more obvious with THS' arrangement, particularly Craig Finn's vocal.
Of course, I had heard of some of the artists on this set and some of those known (to me) quantities turn in great performances. The aforementioned Lanegan turns in a dark, intense, menacing version of "Man In The Long Black Coat." If anyone is going to pick up the mantle of Johnny Cash, Lanegan is it. Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy doesn't stray far from the original on his fine, if unremarkable, performance of "Simple Twist of Fate." Roger McGuinn and The Byrds may not have ever made it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were it not for their perfect covers of Dylan songs. With "One More Cup of Coffee," McGuinn proves he's not lost his touch. He may have a more intuitive feel for Dylan's music than anyone besides the man himself. The Black Keys take "The Wicked Messenger" and make it their own. Dylan fans won't easily recognize the tune and BK fans might not be able to tell it from one of the band's originals.
Taken in parts, I'm Not There has introduced me to some artists I didn't know before and made me eager to change that. It's also provided me with new renditions of songs I already liked. On that level, it's a strong addition to my CD library. Taken as a whole, the greatest achievement of the soundtrack may be the way it reveres the songs without becoming another tired artifact of Dylan worship. I'm Not There is highly recommended.
Article comments
1 - Donald Gibson
For the record, Dylan considers the Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower" to be the definitive one, too. Even now, when Dylan plays it live, it's the Hendrix arrangement.
And to hear how Cat Power can rearrange a Dylan song and still make it work, check out her take on "I Believe In You," from her latest album, Jukebox.
2 - Glen Boyd
Dylan actually rearranges and reinvents his own material in concert all of the time. So much so, that when you hear him play the songs live, it often takes a minute or two to figure out what song is acually being played.
The Hendrix arrangement of 'Watchtower' does remain failrly constant (Neil Young has been known to play this live too), but even there it gets tweaked from time to time.
-Glen
3 - Josh Hathaway
Yeah, Donald, I know Dylan is pretty fond of Hendrix's version of it and when I saw him in Nashville he performed it in a style not too dissimilar from Hendrix's brilliant version.
I am glad you commented here, sir, because I figured you might be someone who could recommend a starting point for Cat Power. Would you start with Jukebox and work backwards, or where should I go?
Mr. Glen, you're 100% correct that Dylan often reinvents his songs. I remember reading an interview with Roger Waters where he said he quit going to see Dylan because he got tired of trying to figure out which song he was playing.
4 - Donald Gibson
For Cat Power, start with The Greatest. It's brilliant and gorgeous. And it won the 2007 Shortlist Music Prize.
5 - Mat Brewster
I'll second the praise for Cat Power. I started off with Jukebox and it took me several listens to care for it, but I dig it more and more each time I listen. I've not listened The Greatest all the way through yet (just got it actually) but what I've heard is really good.
6 - Mark Saleski
Los Lobos: screw the compilations. get Kiko and Colossal Head. trust me.
7 - Josh Hathaway
Thanks for the suggestions, Sirs Saleski and Gibson. I went to SatanBestBuy to look for these along with two other new releases. Here's a shocker: they didn't have them in stock. I'm about to send Amazon more money, and that's all right with me.