Bob Dylan - The Best of the Original Mono Recordings
Record Label: Legacy Recordings/Columbia
Release Date: Oct. 19, 2010
Bob Dylan. Living legend. Honestly, what else needs to be written? There's no amount of hyperbolic assessments or flowery praise written in this editorial that will further cement the singer-songwriter's status in the minds of the American public. But, leave it to record labels to try anyway.
On Oct. 19, Legacy Recordings released The Original Mono Recordings, a package including eight of Dylan's albums in a limited edition box set of newly mastered mono versions, making this the first time these recordings are available on CD.
The music was also released on 180-gram vinyl. Also released on that date is The Best of the Original Mono Recordings which is the reason for this editorial.
Included on this disc are the social commentary pieces "Blowin' in the Wind," and "The Times They Are a Changin'," as well as the game-changing "Mr. Tambourine Man." But the most important aspect of this disc is the longtime fan favorite
"Positively 4th Street," which does not appear on any of the The Original Mono Recordings and was included on here so that Dylan junkies could have something tangible that traces back to Dylan's historic beginnings.
Also included on here is "All Along the Watchtower," which eventually found success with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and later the Dave Matthews Band. But it's here in this bare-bones two-minute arrangement that the potency of Bob Dylan really shines through. Moreover, on tracks like "Tombstone Blues," and the panged "Just Like a Woman," a side of Bob is shown that is barely seen. Raw, intimate, unhinged. Mono was good at capturing that and few were better at capturing the pangs and swells of emotion better than him. For that reason alone, this disc is worth picking up.
Three cheers to (arguably) the greatest songwriter of all time. Only one's I'd consider close would be Lennon/McCartney and Simon/Garfunkel, and they're both duos.
Three cheers to (arguably) the greatest songwriter of all time. Only one's I'd consider close would be Lennon/McCartney and Simon/Garfunkel, and they're both duos.
I'd rank them as such:
1. Lennon/McCartney
2. Simon/Garfunkel
3. Dylan
But it's really a toss up at all points for me, depending on mood. Productivity wise, I think Lennon/Mac take the cake along with Dylan, but lyrically Simon/Garfunkel. But genre bending, Lennon/Mac obviously. All depends, haha.
One of my professors wrote a book about why Dylan is one of the great singers of our time. And he was right. His voice is nasally, abrasive, and flat-out annoying ON PURPOSE so that his songs come across the same way, as he wrote them to.
One of my professors wrote a book about why Dylan is one of the great singers of our time. And he was right. His voice is nasally, abrasive, and flat-out annoying ON PURPOSE so that his songs come across the same way, as he wrote them to.
yes that is what all of the books seem to say. doesn't change the fact that when i listen to his voice it makes me want to listen to literally anything else. doesn't make me focus on the deep meaning of his lyrics, makes me despise him. each to their own. just don't think an argument can be made that he had or has any sort of vocal strength.
yes that is what all of the books seem to say. doesn't change the fact that when i listen to his voice it makes me want to listen to literally anything else. doesn't make me focus on the deep meaning of his lyrics, makes me despise him. each to their own. just don't think an argument can be made that he had or has any sort of vocal strength.
Well, as much as I respect that Dylan is not for you (he wasn't for me, either, for a long, long time), you could not be more wrong in saying that an argument can't be made that he has any kind of vocal strength. His voice is different, but you can't say it has no strength just because it doesn't appeal to you. In fact, in my opinion, almost all Dylan's songs are significantly weaker when sung by a singer with a conventional voice...I exclude most of The Band's covers, of course.
You could make an argument that 2010 Bob Dylan's voice lacks strength...he's pretty much treated his throat throughout his career like Michael Vick treated his dogs.
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