Customer Reviews

Red on Blonde

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No one ever pretended Bob Dylan had a pretty voice, but he did do definitive versions of his songs. So why should we pay money to hear a bluegrass artist do covers that sound markedly different from Dylan's originals?

Because the real magic of Bob Dylan's music is that it is so malleable. Every important song he wrote has more than one meaning, more than one interpretation, and his body of work has been a gold mine for intellectual musicians looking for a strong voice to adopt.

Mercifully, Tim O'Brien avoided the best-known Dylan tunes like Blowin' in the Wind or Mr. Tambourine Man. This isn't just a greatest hits retrospective; it's a cohesive artistic statement, like Blood on the Tracks or John Wesley Harding. One could imagine Dylan himself running Tombstone Blues up against Farewell Angelina, mustering little-known pieces like Oxford Town to keep the listener's attention through the middle portion, and crowning the sequence with Forever Young and Lay Down Your Weary Tune.

Yet for this artistic integrity and loftiness, it's still an album you can listen to more than once. The bouncy upbeat tunes on most of the tracks carry you along easily, and even when the pace slows on songs like Wicked Messenger or Masters of War, the flawless ensemble playing and clear vocals make you want to continue listening.

This piece is a worthy addition to the body of work of Tim O'Brien, but it's also a wonderful statement for Bob Dylan. And it's a highly pleasing, satisfying addition to the CD collection of any fan of either artist.

Tim O'Brien's all bluegrass recording of Bob Dylan songs has a clever title-- I assume he is referring to his own reddish hair-- but more important than a catchy phrase is O'Brien's renderings of thirteen titles that span Dylan's songwriting career from 1963 to 1989. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the music of the protean Dylan works well in a bluegrass setting complete with mandolins, banjo, fiddle, harmonica and guitar of course. After all, Dylan over the years has dabbled in country music ("Nashville Skyline") and has recorded with the likes of Johnny Cash.

Of the thirteen songs included here, my favorites are "Farewell Angelina," "Man Gave Names To All The Animals," "Oxford Town," and "Lay Down Your Weary Tune." In his excellent notes, Mr. O'Brien pays tribute to Joan Baez and her arrangement of "Farewell Angelina," saying that she "may be Dylan's best interpreter." (I would suggest it may be a toss-up between Ms. Baez and Judy Collins.) Even though O'Brien suggests that "Man Gave Names to All The Animals" is from Dylan "at his silliest," the song for me has a great beat and makes me smile. "Oxford Town" of course is about James Meredith's integrating the University of Mississippi. O'Brien at times sounds a little like Dylan here. "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" is a beautiful hymn-like song with the backup singers adding beautiful harmonies.

This CD is everything you hoped for and then some.

This bluegrass homage to Bob Dylan is surprisingly lively and fresh and (oddly enough) one of O'Brien's best, most straightforwardly bluegrass-y solo albums. Scott Nygaard, Jerry Douglas and others pitch in on this good-natured album, spearheaded by the longtime Hot Rize mandolinist, who has since gone on into more high-concept blue/newgrass terrain. Here, O'Brien connects with Dylan's original old-timey influences, straightening out some of the kooky kinks Dylan had put into folk music, back in his 'Sixties heyday, and transforming classic tunes such as "Maggie's Farm" and "Tombstone Blues" into straightforward, galloping bluegrass breakdowns. Nice to hear this music coming full circle back to its roots!

This album was NOT Tim O'Brien's attempt to make Dylan's music more pallatable (which seems to be what some reviewers are saying), but rather "to find a batch of Dylan tunes that could be given an old-time string band treatment" as he explains in his liner notes.

A couple nights ago I saw O'Brien perform at a bluegrass festival in Lincoln. While his set was dominated by material from his two recent Celtic-influenced albums (1999's The Crossing and 2001's Two Journeys), he performed two songs from Red on Blonde: "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" and "Subturranean Homesick Blues," the latter which he introduced as a kind of bluegrass rap complete with Mark Shatz's ham bone body percussion. [I also used the opportunity to get an autographed copy of this album.]

Are O'Brien's treatments of these songs an improvement upon the originals? I don't think that was his intent--and in the end does it really matter? O'Brien says in his liner notes, "It's one more chance to survey Dylan's output and hopefully enjoy it in a new way." If you enjoy old-time music with lots of mandolin, fiddle and banjo, you'll enjoy this heartfelt offering. O'Brien also hints at a "Volume Two"--I can't wait. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Although Tim O'Brien is one of America's top songwriters, there certainly is nothing wrong with his paying tribute to another writer, particularly one who has defined not just American music but music of the 20th century. Sometimes, we can do without interpreters of song but O'Brien is a musical genius and he brings something special to Dylan's music. Imagine a wonderful cake with a frosting worthy of the filling.

My husband and I love his music. Our kids request this CD more than any other. It is nice to drive in the car and listen to something all of us enjoy.

Tim O'Brien's selection of reinterpreted Dylan tunes delivers plenty of strong moments.

O'Brien has chosen an interesting set of songs for this CD. There are 3 major multi-CD retrospectives of Dylan's work: Biograph (the best), The Essential Bob Dylan, and the 3 Greatest Hits CDs. 6 of O'Briens 13 selections appear on none of those sets. O'Brien has chosen from the whole of Dylan's catalog, from "Freewheelin" to "Oh Mercy" while using unique criteria: "Freewheelin" isn't represented by the familiar 'Blowing in the Wind' or 'A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall' but the less familiar 'Masters of War' and downright obscure 'Oxford Town'. From the classic "Highway 61 Revisited" we get not 'Like a Rolling Stone' but 'Tombstone Blues'; from "John Wesley Harding" not 'All Along the Watchtower' but 'The Wicked Messenger'. Indeed, most of the selections will be unfamiliar to casual fans of Dylan's career.

O'Brien makes this unusual selection work - ironically, 'Forever Young', probably the most widely recognized song on this CD, is also about the least interesting cover. 'Maggie`s Farm' was probably a poor choice as well - the snarling contempt of the lyrics simply fits Dylan's straightforward rock arrangement better than O'Brien's traditional stylings. But the strong entries outnumber the weak: 'Farewell Angelina' is a straight performance of a beautiful song, 'Senor' is superb, 'Everything is Broken' is a fine cover of a strong song from Dylan's less prominent later work. 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' is done marvelously as a sort of bluegrass rap, a choice which works perfectly, as do the strong picking and fiddle on 'Tombstone Blues'.

For some who can't get past Dylan's questionable voice, this will be a more accessible introduction to the man who is probably the greatest living songwriter. Dylan fans will enjoy hearing familiar songs presented skillfully from a fresh slant.

i heard this while camping out in the low-rent campground at the escoheag, rhode island roots and zydeco festival. at 2am, i couldn't sleep, there was a drunken argument in the next tent going on and on about a glass or something...and from another tent, gorgeous bluegrass covers of dylan tunes. including a mainly-acappela version of 'subterranean homesick blues'. i was knocked out. got back to civilization, tired from too much dancing, and found the cd here, and bought it. (tim and mollie o'brien played at the festival.)

The purchase of this CD, I unashamedly confess, came from my Dylan curiosity. Having had 'Lo & Behold' from McGuinness/Flint/Coulson & Dean devote an entire albumn to some of Bob's less well known 60s material, what could a bluegrass boy come up with over similar terrain? Well, nothing as bluesy as the aforementioned, successful translations.But the answer is absolutely thrilling. I never tire of O'Brien's treatment of these songs, 'Farewell Angelina', the rap version of 'Subterranean Homesick blues', the whacky,'Man Gave Name To All The Animals',and a definitive version of,'Forever Young'. The whole CD is an infectious pleasure. He mentions the possibility of taking a second bite at Dylan's catalogue & I hope the response to this effort encourages that. Subsequently, I followed his musical course back to Ireland, on 'The Crossing', which is every bit the equal of 'Red On Blonde'; a superlative set of original, traditional, and borrowed material. Joining him on this course, amongst a host of legendary folk musicians, was Paul Brady. Not an Irish blood relative, but a musical one to be sure. It struck me what accord O'Brien's sweet tenor has with the Brady I first heard in the late 70s before he shifted from singing, pretty much, traditional or traditionally-inspired songs. What company!

This eclectic mix of Dylan's work from the early 1960s to the late 80s is imaginative and beautifully done.