I'm Not There

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-01-12 rating:
Why!!?? And what's the reason for!!!
First I must congratulate myself on a thoughtful and rather clever title. Not mine I hasten to add! Like a lot of Bob Dylan lines you'll find one to fit practically any given situation. Try it out. It's quite bizarre. That's the greatness of 'His Bobness' though. Already I digress. Back to the rekkerd - as our American friends say. This is truly awful. Why anyone thinks this is good stuff is beyond me. And I'm 6ft 2ins!! They all sound like bad impersonations of bad impersonations of Bob. And believe me, they are!! Listen people - I'm a Bob afficianado, and when I hear these dire warblings (Going to Acapulco an exception for some reason I can't explain) I feel very very depressed. Like a lot of people I laughed the first time I heard the record. But not for long. It is quite funny for maybe a couple of plays only. Then I became angry. Consignment to the tip ('dump' for our American friends) was the next move sadly. Well, that's it for good or bad. I'm off to Acapulco.
Other than that - it was quite good.

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review by: date: 2007-12-10 rating:
Noone Does Dylan Like Dylan.
By their very nature, tribute compilations like this can be very hit and miss affairs.Getting different acts to cover others songs , even when focussing on one particular artist can produce varying degrees of success.To do so with Bob Dylan, who has displayed so many styles, ranges and persona over so long a career is further fraught with danger.For example few can match Dylan's own vocal snap and bite and authentic bluesy backing on such tracks as "Maggies Farm" or "Tombstone Blues", or duplicate his delivery on "Wanna be Your Lover" or "Please Crawl Out You Window".As a previous reviewer has mentioned "Watchtower" is just too obvious, whilst "Times" is played with such a straight bat (especially when compared with the recent Bryan Ferry version) as to be almost dull, and personal favourites like "Ring Them Bells" or "Cold Irons Bound" are but pale imitations, stripped of the power Dylan gave them.However that doesn't mean they are without virtue, (a great song is still a great song), and neither does it detract from the good tracks on offer on these discs, of which there are plenty.
Often it is the songs done quite simply that sparkle."Lonesome Death" and "When The Ship Comes In" being fine examples.As is Ramblin' Jack Elliott's ramblin' "Tom Thumb's Blues".Even the cover of a cover "Moonshiner" with it's haunting "the whole world's a bottle, and life is but a dram ..." ending, comes close to matching the intensity of Dylan's 1963 offering, and Blonde on Blonde wild mercury sound is obtained with the awesome "Stuck Inside of Mobile" and a "Just Like a Woman" which imitates the mathematical phrasing Dylan sought in live performances circa 1966.Other highlights include "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" and "Goin' To Acapulco" where Glen Hansard and Jim James respectively merely accentuate the melodies already present in the Basement Tapes versions.Likewise JW Hardings "As I Went Out One Morning" and "St. Augustine" (another personal favourite) use what was already there in the fairly uncomplicated originals to good effect.A hint of violin in a simple "Simple Twist", and the use of spanish horns in "One More Cup Of Coffee" add to the song instead of trying to override it and are all the more special for it.Even the opera amid Willie Nelsons "Senor" only boosts the latin flavour of the song, and Antony and the Johnsons deserve only praise for their take on "Heaven's Door".It may take a few listens to appreciate but in turning the tune into almost a funeral dirge they only seek to compliment the lyrics.
What these CD's reveal of course is that noone can better the originals.The best example is shown with the title track, Sonic Youth's valient attempt not able to build up in the intense way Dylan and The Band manage.Even a superbly performed "Pressing On" (another favourite!) doesn't make the hairs on my neck stand on end like Bob manages in the way he sings the line "it runs in my veins", but that just shows the genius of Dylan, and that is exactly why such tributes exist at all.

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review by: jerard1 date: 2007-12-01 rating:
Superior and not so superfluous
Does the world need yet another album of Dylan covers? Well, it turns out that this offering isn't bad at all. If the test of a good cover is that it makes you hear the song anew, altering your perspective on what you thought only Dylan himself could have conveyed, then there are enough here that pass with flying colours. Stand outs include Willie Nelson's spine-tingling Senor and Tom Verlaine's Cold Irons Bound.

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review by: Billyjay date: 2007-11-29 rating:
When Its Good Its Really Good , When Its Not...
I have to admit I was expecting a lot from this album. Since I'm a big admirer of Bob Dylan's work, and have always liked the idea of interesting new takes on time worn classics, it all looked very promising. Especially so upon seeing the calibre of some of the artists involved in this project(although cool points deducted for the inclusion of Jack Johnson(who actually does OK!)).

Unfortunately the material is very variable in quality with the overall tendency toward the mediocre or poor. I guess part of the problem is that the artists here are competing with both Dylan and the numerous people who have already released successful covers of Dylan tracks.

The usual maxim with covers is 'if you are going to do it, do something different(Hendrix: 'All Along The Watchtower') or do it better(Sandy Denny's rendition of 'I'll Keep it With Mine)and preferably try and do both(The Byrds 'Mr Tambourine Man' perhaps?). Too many of the artists here are content to plod through a 'straight' reading of the original(Eddie Vedder + MDB actually choose to 'cover' the Hendrix version of 'All Along the Watchtower') and those that try something different often sound rather half-hearted(or just fail)in their efforts.
Some of the track selection appears, at first glance, inspired, I was particularly looking forward to 'Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll' but Mason Jennings removes all the spirit and soul from the song.

OK so why three stars, not one, or two? Well there are some genuinely excellent tracks on the album. I'm not going to give a 'track by track' but a few standouts are: `Goin' To Acapulco' - Jim James & Calexico, `Pressing On' - John Doe, `You Ain't Goin' Nowhere' - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova and, of course, probably the best track on the album `I'm Not There' - Bob Dylan with The Band, which, to my knowledge, has only been available in bootleg form prior to this.

You could certainly trim this down to one CD, just don't expect to fill the disc! However even some of the failures are interesting and I do feel that the best here would certainly justify the purchase of this record.



review by: date: 2007-11-03 rating:
The Question Of Cover. If You Cannot Bring Good News Then Don't Bring Any?
Taking on the words & music of Bob Dylan can do favour to both the song and the artist involved. The consistent successes of both The Byrds & The Band immediately come to mind. Those were perfect marriages; the capable musicians took the great songs ("My Back Pages", "Nothing Was Delivered", "Tears Of Rage", "When I Paint My Masterpiece" & so on) adding something of their own & producing interpretations of lasting value.

Covering Dylan has however been a minefield of considerable failure & embarrassment for some. William Shatner's theatrical reading of "Mr Tambourine Man" steps forward here (can we really buy the "it's so bad, it's good, the cult of kitsch" idea?). Even the involvement of acknowledged great musicians seems no guarantee of success; the attempted "Blowin' In The Wind" by Duke Ellington, although most probably a mere consession to fad & fashion at the time, may best be described as "quaint".

It appears to this listener at least that the validity of such "tribute" collections, which after all this here is as well as the official soundtrack of the film, depends not only on the choice of songs (maybe avoiding the obvious, bringing to the fore the unjustly neglected), but also the quality of imagination of those involved, their willingness to take a chance or two with their charges. We know that the songs are great already; we now require the contenders to add a little special magic of their very own as well.

We probably do not want yet another gung-ho rock out "All Along The Watchtower" such as the one opening proceedings here. The somewhat effete warbling "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" which (nearly) closes this collection is certainly not essential listening & definitely superfluous to our needs. These two songs have already been notably over-done; their simple, but attractive three & four chord cycles seeming irresistible to many would-be interpreters; but, hey, enough is enough, chaps.

On the brighter side however I'm pleased to report that between those two offerings here are many many unexpected treasures to be found. More than competent & pleasingly imaginative performances throughout make this double CD well worthy of investigation. On such cover-version sets as this it seems the individual efforts may be divided into three types . . . (1) the very good, the interesting, (2) the perfunctory attempt, the pale copy of the original, (3) the downright dismissible, even laughable. Luckily here there are plenty plenty of the first group to reward & hold the listener & only two or three of the last.

The "old guard" folks here, including Roger McGuinn (one of the early Dylan cover agents with The Byrds in 1965, of course), Willie Nelson, Los Lobos & Tom Verlaine (wow!) put in honourable performances on excellent tracks, all expanding the musical palate of the originals. Former Television man, Verlaine, it should be mentioned is also part of one of the "house bands" featured, the finely-named Million Dollar Bashers who also boast within their ranks current long-serving member of Dylan's band, bass player Tony Garnier.

There is such a wide variety of grand style on display here & the calibre of the songs, stretching from 1964's "The Time's They Are A-Changin'" to 1997`s "Cold Irons Bound" cannot be denied. There are many tracks that immediately hit the spot. Karen O gives us a bubbling, high spirited "Highway 61 Revisited" complete with slide guitar courtesy of Mr Verlaine and appropriate "police car" effects present & correct. Jeff Tweedy offers a heartfelt, desirable "Simple Twist Of Fate" while the brass-laden "Goin' To Acapulco" by Jim James is extremely impressive with it's controlled power.

The aforementioned Tom Verlaine ticks all the right boxes, unexpectingly slowing down "Cold Irons Bound" with formidable success. There is most soulful credibility in the renditions by Mark Lanegan, John Doe & Sutjan Stevens. The version here of "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window", a favourite song of mine, is given a forcefully rocking treatment by The Hold Steady & even the "old-timers" Richie Havens & Ramblin' Jack Elliott (especially Jack) deliver the goods with gusto.

Finally, of course, there's the strange & compelling title song performed by the man himself accompanied by The Band (you can forget Sonic Youth, sorry). It makes me yearn for more excellent "Basement Tapes" material that is left shamefully hidden, without official release. (Come on, Columbia/Sony, how about it?) That, however, is another story. To conclude, what we have here with this film soundtrack is an album well worth investigating. You probably can't hope to like it all there being 34 tracks in total with such diverse musical landscapes, but in general this is very good news.

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