Emily's Albums A to Z

Listened: Thursday May 27

It’s handy for this project that the first 3 alphabetically-organized Bob albums I own are from very different Bob periods.

As is clear from the cover, Live 1964 is still very young Bob – he’s starting to shift into his psychedelic poetry period (Tambourine Man) but clearly the crowd at this show loves his protest singer period.

Immediately evident from this recording is how energetic and strong his voice is – even a couple of years later he became a lot more mumbly and the electrified instrumentation became closer to level with the vocal. Also notable is the frequent interaction with the audience (though I think he might be stoned at this show – he does a lot of giggling).

I’m still lacking Another Side of Bob Dylan and The Times They Are A’Changin’ on CD, so I particularly enjoyed being introduced to I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met), With God On His Side, All I Really Wan’t To Do, and Spanish Harlem Incident via this album.

It’s also fun to hear Bob and Joan Baez together at the height of their 60s fame. I’d never heard her song Silver Dagger, despite it being the big hit early in her career, and I really enjoy it. Though I must note I’ve never thought the two of them sing well together at all. Not sure if it’s dueling egos, two clashing styles, or relationship issues, but certainly at this period they can’t keep it together. Later on it’s somewhat improved (upcoming in Live 1975) but still not great. It’s odd that this is the case, since they are so closely associated in people’s minds and Joan did some great solo versions of Bob songs.

Listened: Thursday May 27

Bombay The Hard Way is a great album and it was a big indie hit back when it came out in 1998. Produced by Dan the Automator, it’s composed of mixes of old, mostly instrumental music from 70s Bollywood gangster or spy movies. There’s dialogue too, some in English, some in Hindi. I’ve never tested this as party music, but I think it would work well. It’s energetic, but still could be great funky background music.

Listened: Wednesday May 26

The Blue Trees is one of those albums I’ve had for years and haven’t listened to that much. By this point GZM were mostly out of their freaky, tripped-out period and this long EP is a lot of lovely guitar work, strings, and sweet singing. In addition to being freaky, they are also very talented musicians!

Listened: Wednesday May 26

Doing this project has made me notice how similar the Blonde on Blonde and Blood on the Tracks album covers are in terms of composition – a headshot of big-hair Bob – even though they’re 9 years and a few artistic universes apart.

By Blood, Bob is less experimental-sounding than Blonde on Blonde, which is neither good nor bad, but the songs are a lot more clear in story, relaxing, and beautiful for the most part. You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go is like a lovely poem, Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts is an exciting detective story, and Idiot Wind is enjoyable caustic. As a whole, the album is really cohesive.

Listened: Wednesday May 26

I have to start this review by saying I’ve always hated Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (aka Everybody Must Get Stoned). Potheads are the only ones who like it… it’s not a great song and it’s a crappy song to lead the album with!

I do love Visions of Johanna, One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later), I Want You, Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again, Just Like A Woman, and 4th Time Around.

I particularly love the lyrics from the latter song:

I stood there and hummed
I tapped on her drum and asked her how come
And she buttoned her boot
And straightened her suit
Then she said, “Don’t get cute”
So I forced my hands in my pockets
And felt with my thumbs
And gallantly handed her
My very last piece of gum

To me this always makes me think of a guy asking a girl what gets her off, she clams up and is too prudish to talk about it, so he gives up on being generous and suggests that they get down to the business of vanilla intercourse instead (gum = condom).

Otherwise, Blonde on Blonde is a lot of surrealistic rapping that’s fun to sing along to, but you really don’t know what the heck is being talked about most of the time. But that’s OK. Also I imagine the cover was quite shocking at the time – not a very complementary picture that’s also out of focus, which seems like a drug reference. I also had never noticed before – he’s almost wearing a keffiyeh scarf (a modern-day hipster accessory if there ever was one). Ahead of his time!

Listened: Wednesday May 26

The Black Keys are another band my coworker Jim recently introduced me to. They’re dirty, bluesy rock and occasionally the guitars sound like Creedence. I love the artificial ring wear on the album cover.

Listened: Wednesday May 26

I haven’t listened to The Beta Band’s self-titled album in years. As I sat down to write this entry, I remembered that you could tell the total Brit-nerds in America by how they pronounced the band’s name. It should be pronounced the way British people say Beta. Beeeeeeta. The Americans who said it this way were the people who knew their stuff.

This album is a strange amalgam of songs – rapping, very Pink-Floydian soundscapes, and something Wikipedia calls “folktronica”, which is “a blend of folk, electronic, rock, trip hop, and experimental jamming.”

I liked being reminded of the songs, but I doubt I will listen to it much. It seems dated to me.

Listened: Tuesday May 25

Márta Sebestyén is most famous for the beautiful Hungarian songs in The English Patient, though she’s had a long career besides that. On this collection of her songs, she sings in Hungarian, Slovak, English, and Hindi amongst others. Whatever the language, her voice is lovely, haunting, and not like anything I’ve ever heard before.

This CD actually belonged to my college roommate, but I inherited it when she moved to Nepal (she’s since returned but I still have the CD). The songs always makes me think of her.

Listened: Tuesday May 25

This album is of an entirely different nostalgia than the high school soundtracks I’ve just written about.

For context, Desmond Dekker was one of the first Jamaican stars recognized outside Jamaica (which, really, probably means he had a minor hit in England). It’s interesting to hear from this collection of songs where Bob Marley got some of his sound. Some of the very early Marley is of a similar musical style and the physical style of those early groups was more do-wop like Desmond (tailored nerd suits and close cropped hair, not hippie clothes and dreads).

007 (Shanty Town) has been referenced by many people over the years (“Dem a-loot, dem a-shoot, dem a-will”). Israelites, Problems, and Too Much Too Soon all have amazing beats and rhythms. Honor Your Mother and Father makes me laugh – a “cool” song about how you should respect your parents?

Now for the nostalgia – after college I went to Wales and England for 6 weeks to volunteer at some work camps doing historical and conservation projects. Desmond Dekker songs were definitely a big part of that trip. Ska, especially old-school ska, is mandatory listening in Britain. These songs make me think of the Welsh landscape, sleeping in a tent for weeks, and bouncing along country roads in a Lada with a shite sound system. But it all makes perfect sense – after all, it is island music, and isn’t Britain an island?

Listened: Tuesday May 25

Back in the Britpop wars of the early 90s, I was on team Oasis. Maybe the trashiness and unpredictability of the personalities involved on the Oasis side appealed more to teenage sensibility.

Whatever the reason, I don’t own any of Blur’s non-“Best of” albums. The Best Of makes me think I should. Everyone knows Song 2, which is a good song, but is super-overplayed. I love Charmless Man (British humor again), She’s So High (90s sound nostalgia), and On Your Own (epic singalong). My Amazon wish list got a lot longer after I got this album.