Customer Reviews

Sebastian Cabot Actor: Bob Dylan Poet

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

How on earth does one review such a thing as this? It's not really camp, for I have the impression that no one intended this album as a put-on. Yet the collision is so improbable, so jolting--Sabby Cabot reciting Bob Dylan over a delicate string ensemble--that you keep listening because you can't believe what you're hearing. It may help if you're at least in your 40s or 50s, for then you'll remember who Cabot was: Mr. French from the 60s sit-com "Family Affair" and among the voice-artists for Disney's "Sword in the Stone" and "Winnie-the-Pooh." Even then, however, you'll likely shake your head wondering, "What were they thinking?" Take it for what it is, however--a genuine oddity, unintentionally hiliarious and too long out of print--and, like me, you'll be glad you paid the price. In Amazon's parallel CD universe Sir John Gielgud recites the works of Johnny Cash, while Dame Judi Dench covers Mick Jagger. I'd buy them all and love every weird, impossible moment.

KICKING ASS and taking NAMES! This CD is so awesome, I can hardly believe it.
And they thought when Dylan "went electric" was mind-blowing and revolutionary.
This was surely the inspiration for Metal Machine Music.

Sebastian makes these songs a lot more fun than Dylan; he blows Dylan out of the water! Dylan never tried to do a re-make of A Family Affair, which PROVES that he knew he could never top The MAN, Sebastian.

There's some liners here but they're like reading.

The best cuts on this are the overblown Who Killed Davey Moore? (where'd Sebastian get a tape of that to cover? he must've had connections.)
The version of It Ain't Me Babe, is where Sebastian proves his machismo more than any other. He tells her to go lightly from the ledge, and laughs at the thought that he's supposed to gather flowers for this chick, come each time she calls, and die for her? HA! Not Sebastian. He knew who was The MAN!

Then there's his macho version of Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, one of my Favorite Dylan songs ever. This version outdoes Trini Lopez's wonderful crooning version, and Mike Ness's fantastic venom-filled version. Here, Sebastian has only to say "'s alright". That's right, she ain't even worth saying "It". He don't care!

Quit your lowdown ways is interesting: he sounds at times like Walter Brennan, and slips into a Howlin' Wolf thing for a few seconds! Surprising, I don't remember that! (he also, in Who Killed Davey Moore, sounds like the Man In A Hurry from the Andy Griffith show (Robert Emhardt).

Like A Rolling Stone. Um, this is the only version of this song that doesn't have the frightening aspect that Dylan's (or Hendrix's) have. I wonder how Dylan or Hendrix would've been narrating Winnie The Pooh.
This album gives pause to meaningful insights like that.

And Mostly They Sing. Hmm, an original. Well, thats it, false advertising! Nah, it's his, um, tribute to the folk singers and protesters of the day. A SHEER ACT OF REBELLION!!! FREEDOM!
Freedom is what Sebastian doing this album is all about.
This album is the sixties Personified!

FREAKS and Counter-culture protesters UNITE! Power to the People! My name is BLUEBOY, dammit!

But, if you've got the original Stereo vinyl album, HANG ON TO IT!!
For some dumb reason, this masterpice is in Mono! This will surely spark a never ending-debate like that of the first four Beatles' albums in that awful, flat mono sound. You don't treat masterpieces by artists of such caliber as Sebastian Cabot or The Beatles this way!!!!

Recommended for fans of ... someone, I forget who.

This recording was so severely maligned in the rock press that I knew it would be good. Seriously. Except for the one non-Dylan track, "And Mostly They Sing," this is a different, interesting, and sometimes artful take on eleven Dylan songs.

I'm not making a case that this is a classic, but it has its very worthwhile moments. I think the opening track, "Who Killed Davey Moore," is the most effective on the album. Cabot's dramatic reading is powerfully evocative, and "Seven Curses" comes in a very close second.

For the uninitiated, don't let the negative buzz that always surrounded this album keep you from listening to it. Remember that even the "Rolling Stone Record Guide" in its first edition rated Dylan's outtakes album, "Dylan," with a bullet. These recordings still sound fresh, despite being 40+ years old, which has as much to do with the quality of Dylan's writing as it does with Sebastian Cabot's interpretations.

It's hard to tell who the target audience for this straight re-release (no bonus tracks) of MGM's 1967 album featuring Sebastian Cabot's performances of 12 Dylan songs. Here's my three categories:

1) Fans of the late-Sixties TV show "Family Affair." [Cabot was the stately butler Mr. French. Some of you may also remember him as the narrator of the Disney animated versions of "Winnie the Pooh" stories.]

2) Bob Dylan completists.

3) Recreational drug users.

4) Any combination of the above.

After listening to Cabot's readings of these songs (there is musical accompaniment--usually strings--but he never really sings), there is little to offer the average listener beyond the recordings' kitsch value. Cabot doesn't really butcher any of these songs; the main problem is the sameness of the delivery--only "Who Killed Davey Moore" shows any real emotion. At least when Rhino Records released the GOLDEN THROATS series (including a couple of Cabot's performances), they offered some variety by adding Leonard Nimoy, Jack Webb, William Shatner and Mae West into the mix. After 12 tracks of Cabot's uninspired delivery, you'll need to rinse your ears out with BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME or HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED. [Running Time 27:07]

Simply the best Dylan ever!

Cabot at his best!

Recorded when he was as popular as Justin Bieber but a lot more sexy.

Hotttttttttttt! Just look at the album cover photo. The cane and hanky, Wow thats hot!

Ask Sissy or Mrs Beasly!

Back in the day (1968) when I was a senior in high school, a hip, young student teacher brought this album into our class as the centerpiece of an English lesson that she had put together. We were blown away! I mean, Silas Marner, Beowulf and then Dylan! In all seriousness, it showed me another way to look at lyrics and gave me a deeper appreciation for Bobby Z.

I first heard this album in the 60's, so it takes me back every time I listen to it. It's fun to either concentrate on meaning or to sit back and just go with the flow of the delivery.

I became a Sebastian Cabot fan in the early '60s when he played Dr. Carl Hyatt on "Checkmate." When the guy who grew up to be Dr. Demento brought this album over to the house in the late '60s and played it, I laughed so hard that my sides ached for days. I have not a bit of doubt that Mr. Cabot's tongue was so firmly in cheek that it's a miracle he could speak.

I'd been looking for this for years but gave up before the turn of the century. I just received it, and it's as funny as I remember it -- even without herbal enhancement.

First thing you have to know the original music to get enjoyment out of this humorous release.

It is often mentioned that Sebastian Cabot played Mr. French in Family Affair. What has not yet been pointed out is that he also played the devil on an episode of The Twilight Zone, and listening to this one can easily imagine what is playing on the sound system in Hell. Any fan of John Waters movies will love this.

It is unlike anything else ever recorded, and, hey, it is more consistant than a lot of Dylan albums...