Is it Rolling Bob?: A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 10, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sanctuary Records
• ASIN: B0002JP3A6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,750 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #18 in Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > Comedic Music > Novelty Music
  • #29 in Music > Pop > Tributes
  • #55 in Music > World Music > Reggae > General

Track Listings

1. Times They Are A-Changin'

2. Maggie's Farm

3. Just Like a Woman

4. Lay Lady Lay

5. Gotta Serve Somebody

6. Knockin' on Heaven's Door

7. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

8. Subterranean Homesick Blues

9. Mr. Tambourine Man

10. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

11. One Too Many Mornings

12. Blowin' in the Wind

13. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

14. I and I [Reggae Remix]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bob Dylan's songs have been covered by everyone from the Byrds to Muzak. But performers from other traditions, unhampered by the original historic and social contexts and subsequent decades of awe-struck veneration, can just relax and sing their hearts out. Producer Dr. Dread has picked material from Dylan's Woody Guthrie-influenced early career ("Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol"), his anarchistic yet tender middle period ("Just Like A Woman"), and even his brief foray into born-again Christianity ("Gotta Serve Somebody"). Each selection is rhythmically revamped while the lyrics are sometimes reinterpreted via the Word according to Jah. But if the straightforward arrangements tend to mitigate Dylan's sly sophistication, his melodies, which so often took a back-seat to his poems, emerge in all their glory. Other than a rare, Dylan-sanctioned remix of a tune he recorded with Sly & Robbie, there are few earth-shaking revelations, but this engaging album is well worth owning. --Christina Roden

www.npr.org

The music inside is all Dylan, but it's performed by reggae artists. It's a tribute CD to Dylan.

"Bob Dylan was a protest singer and reggae is protest music" says record producer Gary Himmelfarb, a.k.a. Doctor Dread.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bob meets Bob, August 10, 2004

By 

A. B Hawley "cowboyal" (Mid-south, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Is it Rolling Bob?: A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan (Audio CD)

Jah is within I! Are you kidding me? A disc that combines my love of Bob Dylan's music with my love of reggae?! Lovefest. And just when it couldn't get any better, the second disc is version/dub! A lot of great reggae artist pitch in on this disc (Toots, Isaacs, Black Uhuru, Hammond) and do a great job. A bought this disc almost as a "novelty," but that really underrates it - it's a seriously good vibration. Enjoy!

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yes, It Is Rolling, Mon, September 29, 2004

By 

Larry White (AdultPop.com) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Is it Rolling Bob?: A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan (Audio CD)

This is yet another contradiction to our earlier assertion (in other places on this site) that tribute albums, as a rule, suck (we are flip-flopping once again). This is, in fact, another terrific one. Of course, in choosing to pay tribute to the greatest songwriter of our time, producer Dr. Dread has pretty much guaranteed the quality of the material. All that's left, then, is the quality of the performances and these are, at their worst, solid and, at their best (and we're thinking of the bitingly soulful version of Maggie's Farm by Toots Hibbert), transcendant. Although we were not familiar with more than half the reggae artists who perform on this cd, we probably should be. The vocal prowess of these performers is consistently amazing. Evidently,there are an awful lot of soul men in Jamaica, mon. It is also apparent how adaptable Dylan's music is to the spirit and rhythms of reggae. The song choices from Dylan's seemingly infinite catalogue are, for the most part, those one might expect to be performed by such artists-the popular (The Times They Are A-Changing, Just Like a Woman, Mr. Tambourine Man) and the spiritual (Gotta Serve Somebody, Knockin' on Heaven's Door). However, it is those choices that veer the farthest from the predictable we've most enjoyed. The same studio musicians (including reggae stalwarts Sly Dunbar and Earl `Chinna' Smith) were employed on most of the tracks, thus providing a coherence that tribute albums generally lack. However, that also results in a certain sameness to the arrangements, which detracts slightly from the music's kick. Once again, it is those songs that deviate from the relaxed reggae groove which have appealed to us most. The album concludes with Dylan himself and an all star band performing an electrifying remix of his own `I and I'-a perfect capper to an excellent cd.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An intruiging melding of styles, November 10, 2006

By 

Gavin F. Moodie (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Is it Rolling Bob?: A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan (Audio CD)

Reggae versions of other types of music often compromise both the genre and the original. I don't know whether this album is quite good enough to overcome that limitation to be enjoyed by fans of only reggae or Dylan, but if you are a fan of both, this album is a must.

I found some of the tracks genuinely enjoyable, and while it is very much a reflection of my personal taste, I thought the singers of other tracks rather mangled Dylan's inimmitable delivery. But I find all the tracks a lot of fun and enjoy hearing these different renditions of old Dylan favourites.

So good is this that I'm hanging out for a second volume of 'Is it rolling Bob?'.