Various Artists - Duluth Does Dylan
(Spinout)
Compilations are, by their nature, spotty hit-and-miss affairs. You have the tracks that shift units and those that fill the
slots between them. Tribute compilations are even more treacherous, as you have, generally, small bands covering songs
by a big artist, and, well, sometimes artists are big for a reason while others are small. And when you are talking about
untouchable artistic cred and gravitas, how much bigger can you get than Bob Dylan?
Additionally, covers are themselves tricky. How close is too close to the original? How different can one make it before
the song loses its essential quality that makes it coverable? Needless to say, those tracks which are most successful are
generally those where the band makes the song their own. However, it requires that the covering artist really have an
almost psychic connection to the original artist.
Why Duluth? Why Dylan? Well, back before Dylan was Dylan, he was Robert Zimmerman from Minnesota, born in
Duluth and raised an hour north in Hibbing. A friend of a friend's mother went to high school with young Bob, and
apparently, due to peer mistreatment, he has few kind feelings for the place. Perhaps that's why he now lives up the road
a pace from me, in Malibu, CA (how much further from Duluth, MN can you get?). The liner notes describe Duluth (on the
revisited Highway 61) as "pulled by international/urban and backwoods/blue-collar influences simultaneously." This is an
interesting way to view the music of Bob Dylan, who comes off as earthy, yet savvy--smarter than his audience but,
rather than condescend, he lets them in on an deeply personal vision of aching humanity. Do the artists on this compilation
reflect similar qualities? Well, it goes as no surprise that few artists can match Bob Dylan.
Mayfly's "It Ain't Me Babe" is a reverential, folky, deadly serious take on the tune. Though many so-called folk singers
may have been inspired by Dylan, few seem to have actually be influenced by him. Mayfly's track lacks the freedom and
wit of Dylan's songwriting and playing. In fact, many tracks on this compilation suffer from the same flaw. Sure "A Hard
Rain's Gonna Fall" is a dread-filled number and Both does not really have any other way to play it. However, "Don't
Think Twice It's Alright" has a nice ambiguity to it (is he remorseful about leaving his lover or not? Probably not.) that
Gild's Extreme-inspired funk-rock misses entirely. Same with Father Hennepin's "Girl From the North Country."
These contributors don't seem to think that Dylan ever had any fun. Even worse, they reduce his songs to single-level
texts--one interpretation and one only. If Dylan's music were actually such, who the hell would care about it nearly forty
years down the line?
There are some nice exceptions. Giljunko's "Quit Your Low Down Ways," though sounding an awful lot like Dylan
himself, is a jaunty, sly tune. Though their version doesn't sonically stray too far from the original, the attitude is hard to
fake (see above) and at least they get it. Even better is Black Eyed Susan's "Tombstone Blues," a loud and sloppy rocker
that also retains the fun and wit of the original. The Dames do full on rock version of "All Along the Watchtower" which
pretty much kicks ass (closer, though, to Jimi Hendrix's version, which, rumor has it, Dylan himself liked better than his
own original). The American Hip's "Country Pie" is an extended blusey-rock jam, which rolls along a strong groove. The
Black Label's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is a strange, reggae tinged number sung by a dude who seems to really
believe the recurring line that "everybody must get stoned." And Accidental Porn's "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" gets a nod
for nothing other than convincing me that they are actually the Wolfgang Press (which is not such a bad band to be). Low,
of course, are clearly heads and shoulders above every other act on this record, and by far the only musicians that can hold
their own against the titan. They have the appropriate gravity to pull off a major musical landmark like "Blowin' in the
Wind" without making it a cheap, flat shorthand (see Both's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall"). They present the tune by Alan
singing the melody, Mimi providing her perfect harmonies, accompanied by sparse strings and an occasionally strummed
guitar. Its sparse and haunting, like the original, but sparse and haunting like Low.
The ultimate test of covers (and, by extension, tributes) is whether they make one think "Hey, this is pretty good" or
"Hey, that Dylan song is pretty good." With a few exceptions, most of these songs reminds you of how good the originals
are without creating a place for themselves. (For an exceptional example of how to do a Bob Dylan cover, see PJ Harvey's
incredible take on "Highway 61, Revisited" from Rid of Me).
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