Keep on Keepin' On

Like a bird that flew, on to part two!

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) - In which Bobby writes a movie soundtrack. This album is generally ignored because of Dylanologists' focus on his lyrics and the lack of them here. It's pretty good, though, if you just want to listen to pretty western stuff. Bob also appeared in the movie, so it is a minor goal of mine to see this movie. I should also mention that this is the album which spawned "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," one of the greatest classics of rock n' roll ever. "There's guns across the river waiting for ya!" I love that line. Also, but maybe this is just circumstantial, "Billy, you're so far away from home."

Dylan (1973) - Apparently this album was a cash-in by Columbia made up of outtakes with little input from Bob. I believe it, because it is a wholly terrible and unlistenable mess. Coming from me, that should mean something.

Planet Waves (1974) - Dylan reunites with the Band! Other than having one of the best names ever, the Band is probably best known for backing Dylan on his crazy European rock tour and the song "The Weight." You know that song; it was in Easy Rider, "Take a load off, Fanny..." Anyway, this album is kind of meh, but at least has some accordion on it.

Blood on the Tracks (1975) - Boy loses girl. I don't want to write much about this album because it is too good and too hard to write about. Just listen and maybe you will like it. When I got this album for Christmas (thanks, ma!) I ended up listening to it almost non-stop, especially while playing Mario Kart: Double Dash on a Gamecube borrowed from Bender, so the two will always be linked in my mind with the particular smell of our basement.

The Basement Tapes (1975) - This is made up of stuff recorded earlier with the Band or various members of it, anyway, in the basement of Big Pink, the house in upstate New York where some of the members of the Band were living communally during Dylan's self-imposed exile from the public. There's a lot of history there and it led to these mysterious recording sessions being some of the most storied in the history of rock. Why were they so mysterious? Well, like I said, Dylan was hiding from his adoring (and crazy) fans, but also he apparently never intended to make an album. Dylan fans are a different breed of bootlegger, though, and just can't sleep knowing that the man has ever said/sung anything that they haven't heard. Seriously, I am a little obsessed with the dude, but some of these people are crazy. So, the record company released some of the songs in order to at least make some money off the recordings, since his fans were listening, anyway. How is the album? Pretty fun. Dylan makes up words on the spot, singing songs about laundry, apple suckling trees, and Acupulco. The Band does its usual job of playing whatever instruments they have on hand to create a sound that's like how music used to be in a time that never existed. Pretty fun. There are rumors of more complete bootlegs, but I wouldn't know anything about that...

Desire (1976) - I wrote about this one before, I'm sure, but I'm not going to go look up the link. Screeching violin; thumping drums; travels to Mexico, Mozambique, and sinking volcanic islands; ruins of ships; kindhearted gangsters shot down in the street; prize fighters wrongly jailed for murder; Bob coming apart at the seams. The last of his great albums for a while.

Street Legal (1978) - I know I've written about this one before. If Desire is Dylan coming apart, Street Legal is him in pieces. It's awful and yet somehow listenable. His heart's not in it and he can't figure out how he used to do it, but he seems unconcerned with that. Still he runs into some things that work, like you might expect a down and out genius to do.

Slow Train Coming (1979) - In which Bobby finds religion. It's actually more like he re-finds it. He was always practicing a kind of harsh evangelism; "... if God's in heaven, overlooking his preserve, I know the men that shot him down will get what they deserve;" "I think you will find when your death takes its toll, all the money you had will never buy back your soul;" "and like Pharoah's tribe, they'll be drownded in the tide, and like Goliath, they'll be conquered." Now he is just being more specific about it. For as much as certain people I know might scoff at this album, it is actually pretty decent at being angry. Ok, "Man Gave Names to All the Animals" is stupid, but the title track is pretty cool, and "Gotta Serve Somebody" is good and references Bob's original name. Also, Lennon did his sardonic thing and responded with "Serve Yourself," so bonus points, as John would say.

Saved (1980) - Not so good...the title track is good gospel, though, if you like such things.

Shot of Love (1981) - I can't say I even like the title track to this, the last of Dylan's evangelical albums. "Lenny Bruce" is pretty alright, I guess. There are about a million outtakes for this album, which is a lot even for Bob.

I don't have the energy to push through the next few albums, which are generally not good, so I'll have to come back to this tomorrow. Expect more twists and turns along the road.