Growing up in the 70's I remember listening to the radio,
usually in the car, while my mother hauled us around on her daily errands. I
knew all the words to the popular songs, even the really bad ones. It wasn't
until I moved past my heavy metal phase, then my new wave phase, that I began
to venture into new musical ground. The blues, folk and jazz started to find their way into my collection
and I found myself eventually looking at older musicians. That is where I
discovered, to my amazement that a rather large percentage of the music I remember
from the 70's could be contributed to one man...and it wasn't Paul Williams.
All Along the
Watchtower, Like a Rolling Stone,
Blowin' in the Wind, Lay Lady Lay, Knockin' on Heaven's Door... They were all songs I loved but I
never knew they were the work of one man, Bob
Dylan, a man that up until this point, I had dismissed as a wack-job from
the 60's with a voice that, well, I could never even make out what he was
saying back then.
Initially I preferred the versions I heard from Jimi
Hendrix, Eric Clapton and others, hell, everyone had done a cover of Bob's
tunes somewhere along the line. Eventually I became drawn into the soulful.
emotional and heartfelt versions Bob did on his own. Then I started to listen
to his less than spectacular shots of the 80's and 90's. There was always a
spark of genius but little more.
Then in 1997 Time
Out of Mind came out and Bob
Dylan had changed. The music was wider, deeper and more soulful than all
but his earliest work. I was hooked again and in 2006 Modern
Times shared equal time in my car CD with Tom Petty's Highway
Companion for nearly a year. It was a masterpiece that I couldn't get
enough of.
On May 5th, Dylan's new work, Together
Through Life came out, I have listened to it several times already and
although I find it a slight step back from Modern
Times, I am far from disappointed. Dylan
delves into a darker place here, brushing closer to death than before, both the
idea of his mortality and the loss of others. If You Ever go to Houston and My
Wife's Home Town look at murder, either barely escaped or heavily
threatened. Life is Hard and Forgetful Heart come from a nearness to
the grave and a you get a sense that Bob can feel the icy breath of death on
the back of his neck.
Together
Through Life includes more southern style accordion than his previous
work and it is provided by Los Lobos' David Hidalgo while Tom Petty's, Mike
Campbell sets the mood with his amazing talent on guitar.
Together
Through Life may not make it through a year in my car but it will
likely get me through the summer. Pick it up along with any of the last 4 Dylan
albums and you will quickly understand why Bob
Dylan retains the crown as both poet and songwriter. Besides, when I listen
to Bob now, I can always understand what he is saying.