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Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


So few of rock's greatest songwriters have had the true artistry to tell a story, to weave an image, to touch a visual nerve in the mind's ear and eye. John Lennon of course with "Julia," "God," "In My Life," "Norwegian Wood," and more. Even Don McLean with "Vincent" and "Miss American Pie". Nilsson with just about everything. Randy Newman too.

In their prime, each could evoke imagery that tickled the ear's imagination. But none equaled what Bob Dylan did for their craft. Though now in his later years, Dylan's early works -- with their poetic ruminations -- touched a chord with a country undergoing a puberty of sorts. We were growing up from the pale and squalid '50s, and recovering from the assassination of JFK (a cure brought on largely by The Beatles' arrival in America just three months after the President was murdered.) And with this transformation, America embraced a louder voice -- one calling for change, and one seeking an intellectual curiosity once ignored. Enter Bob Dylan, a crooner with questionable range and vocal chords (Simon, Paula and Randy would likely -- and stupidly -- have panned him in an early round on American Idol).

A year younger than Ringo and John, and a year older than Paul, Robert Zimmerman was born in the chilly suburbs of Minnesota (not Brooklyn as many critics have mistakenly claimed) in 1941. By the age of 18, Zimmerman had changed his name to Dylan (in honor of the poet Dylan Thomas) and landed on the Minnesota folk scene, or what little there was of one. Two years later, he was headed to New Jersey to pay a get-well call on his idol Woody Guthrie who had been ill. He played in some dives in NYC's famed Greenwich Village, quickly getting discovered by Columbia Records. His first album (self-titled) in 1962 had few of his own compositions and went largely ignored. He found his niche in 1963 with "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan," which consisted of a great album jacket and some of his first protest songs.....including "Blowin' in the Wind." By now, every Moondog knows that the song features nine questions about freedom, war, life and death. Following that later in the album is one of my favorite Dylan songs -- "A Hard Rain A Gonna Fall," which was written in the world-famous Village Gate in NYC about injustice, suffering, warfare, and perhaps pending atomic crisis. (A month after the song found airplay, JFK was embroiled in the Cuban Missile Crisis.) With a Hard Rain, Dylan was on the attack. And a movement was born. Even more so, a songwriter with a gift rarely matched was fast gaining prominence from his early cult days to poetic super stardom.

Fast forward to "Blood on Tracks," specifically Dylan's "Idiot Wind," which intoned: "Down the highway, down the tracks, down the road to ecstasy. I followed you beneath the stars, hounded by your memory....." Dylan's career had hit its peak in ecstasy, with tracks that picked up where "Rubber Soul had left off nearly nine years prior. That was 1974. He had already released two of rock history's greatest albums 10 years earlier -- "The Times they are a Changin" and "Highway 61 Revisited." He had even felt the influence of The Beatles with his "Bringing It All Back Home" album, featuring a song that Nilsson would later cover ("Subterranean Homesick Blues" and its famous line "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowin'"). And of course, he'd find his way to Madison Square Garden with George's Concert for Bangladesh.

So much history by the time he spilled his blood on the studio tracks. Without question, most critics agree that "Blood on Tracks" is among Dylan's finest albums, if not his best work with songs that are truly intimate and specific to the point. Why not -- his marriage had crapped out and he just finished touring with The Band (still fresh from their Big Pink days). Amazon.com offers the quintessential review line: "These are songs of 'images and distorted facts,' each expressed through 'tangled' points of view, and all of them blue."

With Dylan's "struggle through barb wire" and his concern that "the sun" was "sinking like a ship" just "like his heart," listeners wanted to meet him in the morning as the song title suggested. Maybe to share pain. Maybe to relate. Maybe to discover why pain even existed. As poignant as that revelation was, none was more moving than "Tangled Up in Blue." Pure storytelling, Dylan launched the album with lines we can never forget: "Early one morning, the sun was shining; I was laying in bed, wondering if she had changed at all...." Later in the song, he finds out just how much. The "she" had become a stripper and asked Bob, "Jimmy, don't I know your name?" A pain that we've all felt -- where a true love in our mind has been discovered not to have loved back. We can see (and feel) that moment -- utter despair, embarrassment and ultimately anger in a dimly lit dive bar. Moments later, she tells Bob that he looks "like the strong silent type." Sadly remarkable that even after she had brought him home, the stripper still didn't recognize this lost love. All of us might admit that we replay the song again and again to see if there are any clues as to how Dylan got so "Tangled Up in Blue."

If every song on the album is a story, then "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is a novel. Playing at nine minutes, at the outset of it, Dylan quickly detaches himself immediately about the cabaret being "quiet except for the Dylan in the wall" (meaning jukebox). It's a catchy little ditty about the murderous brutality of vanity, love and greed. With the line: "Big Jim was no one's fool; he owned the town's only diamond mind. He made his usual entrance, looking so dandy and so fine," the stage was set for Jack's con -- and how he'd use Rosemary and Lily to get his plunder. With the Dylan "in the wall" keeping up and "no one paid it any mind," the dye was cast for Lily to kill her lover Jim who was married to Rosemary. As both women plotted, their sights were firmly planted on the smooth Jack of Hearts. ("She was with Big Jim, but she was leaning with the Jack of Hearts.") In the end, it was Rosemary who is convicted to the gallows for thrusting a pen knife in Big Jim's back. And what of Lily? Well, Dylan hints that she did it ("washed all the dye from her hair). Sure, she thought of Rosemary on the gallows, "but most of all, she was thinking about the Jack of Hearts."

The album takes a pensive turn from there with "If you see hear, say hello," a beautiful romantic ballad that recalls "Norwegian Wood". "She left here early last spring, she's living there (Tangiers) I hear.....She might think I've forgotten her; tell her it isn't so." Of course the truth is that she probably would have preferred that he did forget her ("To think of how she left that night still brings me a chill"). The guilt the listener feels almost personifies as their own, regardless of what tore these lovers apart. From there, Dylan next sings of "another lifetime -- one of toil and blood, where blackness was a virtue and the road was filled with mud" in "Shelter from the Storm". Perhaps the metaphor for the entire album, this song delves into the pain of Bob's blood on tracks, much in the way that Lennon's entire "Plastic Ono Band" did with just about every track. For some reason Dylan doesn't end with this tune. He dives into "Buckets of Rain," which stands as an anti-climatic finish. We hear of Dylan's bucket of tears. By the time we get to Bob's tears, we're covered with so much of his blood that it's hard to hear about hips and fingertips bringing him misery. But we can overlook that for all that came ahead of the album's finale. So, other than that questionable finish, it's how the album progresses with its tangled blue life that turns into a "simple twist of fate" which will make us lonesome when Bob goes.

Though just 10 songs, Dylan's "Blood on Tracks" tells a lifetime of stories and shares a collection of emotions that we can all attach to. Despite its pain, the colorful depiction of imagery and the gentle guitar strums prompt us to play this album over and over -- even 31 years after its release. Bob would later follow that album with more brilliant work (including "Desire" -- featuring "Hurricane," "Isis" and "Joey"), but rarely found the same great stride that "Blood on Tracks" delivered. Sure, his career would evolve in paths similar to Paul Simon, breaking new ground and evolving more great stories, with more great imagery. But truth be told, "Blood" remains Bob's quintessential work -- an amazing feat for a career that began in 1962 (the year I was born). If you don't own "Blood on Tracks," borrow it from a friend and you'll be sold. At the very least, you'll hear vestiges of your life sung by a man that probably would have been overlooked by American Idol.

And that just goes to show where music has evolved today....to the point that an artist and storyteller and poet in the magnitude of Bob Dylan might missing out on today's commercial success if his career was only now in its infancy.

Thankfully, his career has roots in our entire lifetime. Bob's vocal range has dimished to the point of unintelligibility, but his legacy lives on his poetry. If you are an XM Satellite Radio listener, you can hear from Bob there every week. Give that a listen, but have "Blood on Tracks" playing nearby to provide the right context for the DJ on the air.
6/27/2006, 12:09 am Link to this post Send Email to LarryG   Send PM to LarryG
 
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Re: Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


Bravo Larry, great job and thanks for the review. I put on the disc before reading it.
A few weeks ago we went to a friends house for a Memorial Day picnic and she had BOTT playing. She said her son Sam had wanted to know what the fuss about Dylan was so she was playing the disc for him. He's about 14 I guess. Sam told me he didn't think Dylan was a good singer, I laughed and said "That's the 1974 Dylan...you should hear him now..". Then I told him the key to figuring out Dylan was listening to the words. Like you said Simon, Paula, and Randy wouldn't get it....

I was 17 years old when this album came out and remember in the Rolling Stone review Jann Wenner called Dylan "our greatest living singer". This was a few years before "Ringo the 4th" came out so we could forgive Jann that transgression of overlooking Ringo.

I do think this album goes hand in hand with Desire, sort of like the Beatles' Revolver and Pepper.

Have seen Dylan 4 times. Twice he was brilliant and twice it was painful. One of the brilliant times was in May 1976, he brought the Rolling Thunder Review to Fort Collins (and where I was going to college).
This show was filmed and shown on ABC and also was released as a live album "Hard Rain". Titled such because of the constant downpour that day.

Last week The Kid and I went down to catch a Rockies game, on the drive over I put in "Slow Train" and tried to explain to my son that that was the beginning of Bob's born again period.

The other brilliant Bob show I saw was in January 1980 and Bob was playing only Slow Train songs and songs from Saved (which wouldn't be released until June of that year.

---
Be nice to America.

Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
6/27/2006, 2:22 am Link to this post Send Email to Steve A   Send PM to Steve A
 
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Re: Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


Thanks Steve, I'm glad you liked the write-up. I had a year to write it....Believe it or not, I own the Hard Rain live album (on vinyl) and think I can hear you cheering in the background.....

I'm a big fan of Desire. After Blood, I rank it in Dylan's top 5. (That Top 5 list has about 20 albums on it, with a lot of ties for top five.) Though even less tracks than Blood, these songs might not be as personal as they are informative narratives. How could we not feel for Joey Gallo being shot down, or Rubin Carter being falsely tried? Or maybe we want the exotic mystique of what we can find in Mozambique or Black Diamond Bay. Or a date with Isis's destiny. The imagery is endless. Perhaps the most beautiful and poignant song was Sara, of which Bob sang of another love lost.

A great historical and legal footnote about Desire: This album and tour around it granted freedom to Hurricane Carter. If not for the awareness that Dylan generated, Rubin would have surely died in prison.
6/27/2006, 8:04 am Link to this post Send Email to LarryG   Send PM to LarryG
 
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Re: Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


Dylan did not play "Hurricane" that day in Fort Collins, remember feeling disappointed about that. The pre-concert LP they played over the stadium loudspeakers was none other than "Magical Mystery Tour". I remember it because the guy I went to the concert with was my roommate and his girlfriend (I of course had no date). Anyway my roomie was a "Dylan guy" and me the "Beatles Guy". I remember when the first notes of MMT was heard I rubbed it in to him and said something along the lines of "see, Bob has good taste".

---
Be nice to America.

Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
6/27/2006, 8:57 pm Link to this post Send Email to Steve A   Send PM to Steve A
 
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Re: Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


new Bob-"Thunder on the Mountain", ok so it's not "Scattered Manure", but it'll do.

Thunder on the mountain, and there's fires on the moon
A ruckus in the alley and the sun will be here soon
Today's the day, gonna grab my trombone and blow
Well, there's hot stuff here and it's everywhere I go

I was thinkin' 'bout Alicia Keys, couldn't keep from crying
When she was born in Hell's Kitchen, I was living down the line
I'm wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be
I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee

Feel like my soul is beginning to expand
Look into my heart and you will sort of understand
You brought me here, now you're trying to run me away
The writing on the wall, come read it, come see what it say

Thunder on the mountain, rollin' like a drum
Gonna sleep over there, that's where the music coming from
I don't need any guide, I already know the way
Remember this, I'm your servant both night and day

The pistols are poppin' and the power is down
I'd like to try somethin' but I'm so far from town
The sun keeps shinin' and the North Wind keeps picking up speed
Gonna forget about myself for a while, gonna go out and see what others need

I've been sittin' down studyin' the art of love
I think it will fit me like a glove
I want some real good woman to do just what I say
Everybody got to wonder what's the matter with this cruel world today

Thunder on the mountain rolling to the ground
Gonna get up in the morning walk the hard road down
Some sweet day I'll stand beside my king
I wouldn't betray your love or any other thing

Gonna raise me an army, some tough sons of bitches
I'll recruit my army from the orphanages
I been to St. Herman's church, said my religious vows
I've sucked the milk out of a thousand cows

I got the porkchops, she got the pie
She ain't no angel and neither am I
Shame on your greed, shame on your wicked schemes
I'll say this, I don't give a damn about your dreams

Thunder on the mountain heavy as can be
Mean old twister bearing down on me
All the ladies in Washington scrambling to get out of town
Looks like something bad gonna happen, better roll your airplane down

Everybody going and I want to go too
Don't wanna take a chance with somebody new
I did all I could, I did it right there and then
I've already confessed - no need to confess again

Gonna make a lot of money, gonna go up north
I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth
The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf
For the love of God, you ought to take pity on yourself

9/6/2006, 10:44 pm Link to this post Send Email to Steve A   Send PM to Steve A
 
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Re: Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


Image :mool: :handjob:

---

9/8/2006, 8:47 pm Link to this post Send Email to Ratmannnn   Send PM to Ratmannnn
 
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Re: Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


quote:

Steve A wrote:

Jann Wenner called Dylan "our greatest living singer". This was a few years before "Ringo the 4th" came out so we could forgive Jann that transgression of overlooking Ringo.
--------------

:-)
9/11/2006, 11:00 am Link to this post Send Email to verticalwoman   Send PM to verticalwoman
 
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Re: Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


did I say that? wow-another original thought of my own.
9/12/2006, 8:03 am Link to this post Send Email to Steve A   Send PM to Steve A
 
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Re: Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


 Politics aside, you are a clever kind feller with Great musical taste and a stud mule in the sack!

---


"Me and Mrs Jones, we got a thang going on"
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Re: Dylan's Blood on Tracks reviewed


 :mc:
9/28/2006, 3:35 pm Link to this post Send Email to poil2   Send PM to poil2
 


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