Customer Reviews

Good As I Been to You

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

One good thing about writing reviews is the fact that I am often compelled to pick up things I have ignored for a long time. When this album was released, I snatched it up, listened to it a few times, and proceeded to forget about it for some reason. Being less of a Dylan addict at the time, the fact that this album consisted basically of folk music accompanied by impeccable acoustic guitar did not strike me as very significant, and I was slightly disappointed that these songs were all covers. I was not used to this kind of Dylan music, and for that reason I believe this CD failed to captivate me at the time. Listening to it again now, I am amazed by this album's greatness. Acoustic guitar, harmonica, and Dylan's uniquely raspy vocal musings-that's really all Dylan ever needed, and Good As I Been To You is proof that what was true in the 1960s was just as true in the 1990s and will be true until Dylan's greatness is snatched away from this earth.

These songs are all mesmerizing, but Hard Times deserves special attention, as Dylan pours his heart and soul into the song. Arthur McBride is another incredible story-telling saga. Tomorrow Night particularly shows off Dylan's harmonica-playing, and the song's familiarity provides an opening for those seeking to appreciate this impressive album and proves once again that Dylan can in fact sing a love song with great feeling. Don't think that these tracks are all slow and somber anthems, though; a quick listen at Step It Up and Go will show you that Dylan can infuse tons of energy into folk music. Good As I Been To You is Dylan at his most natural, and one can only sit back and revel in the story-telling prowess of one of music's most influential and legendary performers.

Looking back on this album, I can't help but consider it the product of an exceedingly important phase in Dylan's evolution as an artist and musician, one in which he looked back to his roots and drew sustenance for the incredible comeback he would make in coming years. With the mixed success of albums such as Under the Red Sky, clearly it can be said that Dylan was floundering musically at the time this particular album was recorded. While some questioned his decision to record an album of covered folk and blues songs at this particular time, Dylan knew what he was doing, and what he was doing was reinventing himself yet again in preparation for hours and hours of incredible new music with which to delight fans and critics alike in coming years. I think many Dylan fans will now agree that this album keeps getting better as the years go by, but at the same time I can see where those unfamiliar with Dylan's musical progression might not warm up to it so easily for the simple fact that it will probably differ greatly from their expectations.

I grew up on Dylan... in fact, Dylan is my middle name. I was very intimate with his songs from a very early age. When I bought this album in the early '90s, I was still in high school. At first, I remember thinking that his voice was gone. I didn't think I could listen to the entire album. I struggled through it and put it on a shelf.

From time to time, I forced myself to listen to it. I don't know exactly when the change took place... I suppose I grew up a bit, musically. Good As I Been To You started to take shape. The guitar... the harp... the voice. All of a sudden, it meant something entirely different. It made sense. It all came together.

Now, fourteen years later, I listen to this album at least once a week. I will not hesitate to say that this is a great album. But, for some reason, it needs to grow on you. It builds up to some subtle crescendo. Then, suddenly, it will hit you like a ton of bricks. Dylan knew exactly what he was doing. This is his re-entry into greatness after a few years astray.

The guitar picking is incredible. His voice couldn't be more appropriate for the content. If you need more proof, just look at what the (rare) vinyl form of this album can fetch. I recently acquired the LP, and it is the most expensive one in my collection! Those 'in the know' really know what this album is worth.

Give it a try... then try it again. Let the guitar flow through you for a while. Sing along. Go ahead and try. It's not that easy. You'll soom see why this IS one of Dylan's greatest albums. I say that as a hard-core Dylan fan, so don't take it lightly.

Good As I Been To You brings classic songs of hope, dispair, and humor from a master of the art of telling stories through songs. This is the first of two self produced cover albums of songs that Dylan created, the second being World Gone Wrong. Good As I Been To You is nothing short of a masterpiece.

I am too young to remember most of what Bob Dylan is famous for, but I do love his music and the things it stands for. I own only some of the "essential" Dylan, but I believe that in years to come, Good As I Been To You will become more essential at each turn. Go ahead, buy Highway 61 Revisited, Blood on the Tracks, Blonde on Blonde, but don't forget to listen when Mr. Dylan gives you another glimpse at the music that inspired him. Such is the music on Good As I Been To You.

Everybody wants to pigeonhole Bob. They've been doing it for 40 years. He's not gonna stand for any of that.

If this album was done by anyone else, it'd be his best. Just listen to the fingerpicking! The singing! So WHAT if he didn't write these songs! They are HIS--he made them that way! Yeah, it's not original material and it's not his "best," whatever that means, but that's like walking away from a sunrise muttering "Yeah, well, I remember that sunrise last year when there was a pink cloud blocking most of the sun and there were these beautiful rays that shot through and this one was only red and gold..." Sheesh.

After reading the critiques below: I didn't say it was his best...I said if this were anyone elses' album it'd be HIS best. Downgrading this album because he didn't write the songs is as absurd as giving one star to Leonard Bernstein for conducting Beethoven's 9th because, "after all, it isn't his own brilliant composition like West Side Story and Bernstein is such a great composer that the least he could do for me was write some original music," blah blah blah...

It's perhaps not so strange that critics have taken the heat off Dylan - he's past knocking. But I would expect those who shell out for their CD's to be a little more honest. This is a better-than-recent release - good close-up mic, a collection of "standards", a go-for-it attitude from the man himself, and yes, by the standard set by recent releases from Bob, this is a refreshing return to a more rootsy Dylan. But it's not THAT good. Remembering the towering achievements of this spokesperson and craftsman puts this offering in a lower category than the 5 stars I see littered about this site. I love Dylan - his music, his resilience - his delivery of Arthur McBride - and I know he has more than this to offer. If you buy it, you are buying authentic Dylan for sure. It's just not his best.

I've been reading the reviews of this album, and I can only say PLEEEASE! If you like it, fine, but to say this is the first Dylan album anyone should listen to, or to even suggest it is one of his best is absolutely ridiculous. If this were the first Dylan album someone was exposed to, chances are Dylan wouldn't acquire many new fans. I happen to like the album, but an album of old folk songs sung in a voice that is rougher and more ragged than Dylan's voice usually is, is strictly for the diehard fans among us.

I remember the posters that hung in the record shops when this came out...it seemed Dylan had picked the ugliest possible shot of himself; it was only after playing it that I realized it was just his way of saying, "This is me and who I am...take it or leave it."
I play this record all the time (the only real stinker is his version of Howlin' Wolf's "Sittin' on Top of the World" - he should have known that there was nothing new anybody could ever bring to that song), and the highlights are "Arthur McBride", "Jim Jones" and "Canadee I-O" with Jim Jones being one of his best cuts ever. The variety in Dylan's singing and the genuine joy and unforced emotion he brings to these songs marked this album as the turning point into this last great stage of his career. It would seem that with this and the followup "World Gone Wrong" (which is much darker and more painful in its beauty) he reached down and re-discovered what it was we all loved about the guy in the first place.

mr. dylan again reinvents himself and again stirs a revolution. all right, so it's not newport and, no, not as many people were paying attention in 1992 when this album hit the stands, but it sent shockwaves through the musical world. bob dylan had gone back acoustic! this collection of folk songs and blues is powerful from start to finish, with mr. dylan reminding the world that he is an incredible musician, not just an icon. his guitar work is impeccable and his singing as eccentric as ever, but moving in its emotionalism. you feel the plight of the ballads' characters (highlights: frankie and albert, blackjack davey, and the chestnut, froggie went a-courtin'). the blues sound like they are right from the delta (check out "sitting on top of the world," in particular). mr. dylan's return to his roots reveal they are deep and healthy. enjoy the record!

I only wanted to write a review because I read few that were kind of tepid, and in my version of the world Bob Dylan records are either noble failures or the best records ever made, they all get 5 stars in my view. This view strains rationality but it's how I feel, and he has certainly been industrious in supporting it all these years.

He works hard and a large group of us appreciate it, but the truth is I never listen to any of the records made before this one, but I listen to this one a lot and always like it. Actually, I listen to everything after this one frequently, as if they just came out. I think this was the start of Dylan's new life, an oddly parallel second life beginning with great versions of songs from very different folk sources.

I love this! When I listen to these songs - I feel like I am being sucked into the stories of all of the songs! I love this!