Expecting Rain

Whether all these really are "throwaway" isn't really the point but I'm sure you know what I mean. A lot of us were a little dispappointed that ERKs was treading very familiar ground musically after an impression had been formed through early previews that the sound was moving away from this direction. In fact, that may well still be the case and it still seems probable that this type of track will be less representative of the new record than those of the last decade were of their respective albums. That said, how does it bear up against the likes of:


Tweedles
Lonesome Day Blues
Cry A While
Rollin' and Tumblin'
Someday Baby (MT take)
Levee
My Wife's Hometown
Jolene
Shake Shake Mama

My early impression is that ERKs fares very well against most of the above. Better than most even? LDB's and itself would be battling for top spot in my book.


Views?

Amnesty International instantly regretted asking Bob Dylan for his personal selection of songs for their anti-torture fundraiser.

Now that's funny!

If i was to put those tracks onto a cdr, my non-dylan mates would love it.

all those tracks are killer blues. bob has a natural feel for the blues.
don't be dunking your buddies underwater with amnesty watching.
(footnotes and sources not required as im doing this post as maybe bob )

Of these songs only Lonesome Day Blues qualifies as a great Dylan song. That said, ERK seems to belong to the upper half of the list despite the blaring lack of originality.. The rest of the list is very so so..

for me, 'cry awhile' and 'lonesome day blues' are good-to-excellent (especially in their original studio versions- that change-up in the rhythm on the studio version of cry awhile is fantastic).. the rest of the others on that list range from 'ok' (my wife's hometown' ) to "really not interesting at all and why does he play this song so much in concert" (levees gonna break, rollin and tumblin, even tweedle dee..) Let's not forget 'honest with me' as ok-at-best bluesy song that's been wildly overplayed in concert- by now he's probably played it more often then 'blowin in the wind'!

'early roman kings' , for me, is in that upper tier along with cry awhile and lonesome day blues--- but still probably not one of the stronger tempest songs, if the early reviews can be believed...

I wouldn't put Honest With Me in that bluesy category- more of a straight rocker?

I love Rollin' and Tumblin' and I don't care who knows it.

Me tooooooooo!

Cry A While rules

If you call "Cry A While" so, so song then I must strongly disagree with you. Most blues songs on L&T are superb, top notch. But I must agree with Modern Times blueses, they are embarassing at least. "Together Through Life" has fantastic natural live-jam feel that makes it for me.



Thank you, you are right, it smokes.

So where does ERK rank Devy?

Tweedles - great zero sum lyric saves this, plus Campbell/Sexton did enough in the studio to make it interesting

Lonesome Day Blues - love the beginning which is Howlin' Wolf, but then the lyric's not focused enough to keep my interest, just goes on forever

Cry A While - lyric's not bad and it's got crazy rhythm so it doesn't drag like some others

Rollin' and Tumblin' - after the initial shock of hearing Dylan manage the vocal, the lyric drags the song down (I'll take several other versions over Dylan's)

Someday Baby (MT take) - way too long, I'll stick with Muddy Waters

Levee - I tolerate this somehow

My Wife's Hometown - it's a pretty funny lyric and Hidalgo adds a wink by quoting Little Walter so I don't mind this

Jolene - not bad, but lyric never bit

Shake Shake Mama - not bad, lyric never bit

Nothing against blooze or against Dylan singing blooze but lyric has to be quick and stick like a good blues lyric; it's a genre that really favors lyrics but you need some punch lines or it gets real boring

Does ERK hold your interest Henry? Enough punch lines in there? Where does it rank? Can it hold a prayer to your favoured tracks as cited above?

It's more the boring ass way in which his touring band plays the blues that I have issues with.

the band plays according to bob instructions. they have to play to bob vocals, they have no say in the matter.

Lonesome Day Blues
Cry A While
Early Roman Kings

The rest can x off back to the woman and dog that just left and died.

In the 3 songs above we have the perfect encapsulation of ModBob - a squinty-eyed loverman ninja, horny as all hell and getting medieval on the ass of any poor bastard stupid enough to cross him.

Completely agree. Those are the three i listen to by choice on that list. The others, i will listen to if i stop paying attention to what's playing.

Well I finally put it to my car stereo today so I had some time to listen to it on my way to work. And I tell you the lyrics are great. Music is OK, but it's the lyrics that lift the song. If the rest of the album has lyrics of that standard then we are about to witness a masterpiece.

There's a judge on almost every Bob album. Simpson is one of the most bumptious and contemptible.

I respectfully suggest SSM-deniers turn up the volume. It just rocks and swings so hard - one of his great, late performances. Even my metal-loving son is taken aback by the guitar attack.

Why hasn't he given it live? An 8 minute replacement for H61, with Charlie and Stu off their leashes??!!

He sounds like Rolf Harris' wobbleboard on this song.

Welcome back Mr Shoeless Hunter!! How the hell are ya?

Compared to the late Son Seals, J. C. Smith, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and countless other blues musicians, Dylan's work after Time Out of Mind is pretty weak--dull arrangements, too many verses, laughable posing. A few of the bluesier songs on Together Through Life avoided his typical weaknesses. If Tempest is that good, I'll probably buy a used copy at some point. If it's more of the crap on Modern Times, I'll skip it. Time Out Of Mind was a good modern blues album, but I don't think he has any more such music in him.

son seals who i met, jc smith and alvin younglood heart wouldn't know how to write the stuff on bob albums. believe me that if the could they would.

Cry Awhile in it's original form was classic. Of late it is a bland vanilla blues.