The stars and more come out to salute Bob Dylan
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Various Artists, “Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 years of Amnesty International (Fontana/Universal). 4 stars.
There’s probably not another artist alive or gone who’s racked up more tribute albums than Bob Dylan.
Even by those standards though, this is a mountain of music to listen to.
Saluting Dylan and the 50th anniversary of the human rights organization Amnesty International comes this four CD set (also available on digital) featuring 75 newly recorded Dylan songs by a total of 80 extremely eclectic players.
The performers range from 1950’s folk icons to artists with their roots firmly entrenched in the 2010s. Through it all, what comes through is the beauty, poetry and mysticism of Dylan’s work.
There are a multitude of highlights, starting with Disc 1 and The Avett Brothers’ “One Too Many Mornings,” which utilizes Johnny Cash’s recordings of the song; My Morning Jacket’s “You’re a Big Girl Now;” Sting’s “Girl from the North Country;” Mark Knopfler’s “Restless Farewell;” The Gaslight Anthem’s rockin’ “Changing of the Guards;” and Brett Dennen’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.”
Superstar British singer Adele kicks off the second disc with a live version of “Make You Feel My Love,” while other Disc 2 standouts include Elvis Costello’s “License to Kill;” Oren Lavie’s “4th Time Around;” Sugarland’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with you;” and yes, that’s Miley Cyrus doing a decent folk/country rendition of “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.”
Disc 3 features some fascinating selections, none more so than Sinead O’Connor’s “Property of Jesus;” Paul Rodgers and Nils Lofgren teaming on the majestically obscure “Abandoned Love;” My Chemical Romance’s torrid take of “Desolation Row;” and Fistful of Mercy’s “Buckets of Rain,” sung in an arrangement Dylan himself should have tried during “Blood on the Tracks.”
Only on the fourth disc do things get a little shaky and even then there are some stellar moments. Even Rachel Wood’s sultry “I’d Have you Anytime,” is highly imaginative, the Dave Mathews Band sparkles on of their favorite live cuts “All Along the Watchtower,” and Dierks Bentley offers some bluegrass twists to “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power).”
However the normally reliable Carolina Chocolate Drops come up short on “Political World,” and other tracks by the likes of State Radio and David Bedingfield’s digital only “Man in the Long Black Coat,” give the first twinges of thought that maybe this should have been a three-CD set instead of stretching it out to four.
No matter, it’s still priced so reasonably it’s a bargain, with the four-CD version going for $24.99 or $19.99 digitally.
Songs to download: “You’re a Big Girl Now” “Property of Jesus.”
Rating Scale: One Star (poor) to Five Stars (a classic).