Shakespeare is reckoned to have coined countless words and phrases that had never been previously used in the English language. He was the bard who led us on that \u00b4wild goose-chase in search of the \u00b4green-eyed monster\u00b4 and left us all \u00b4in a pickle.\u00b4 Nevertheless, how much I treasure Bob Dylan and how privileged I feel just to have lived in roughly the same time-frame. Is it only a simple twist of fate that has Dylan similarly playing Shakespearian linguistic games that leave us all tangled up in blue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevertheless Dylan\u00b4s eightieth birthday, as celebrated on Sky Arts tv reminded me exactly why I won\u00b4t admit to anyone, even myself, how deep my admiration for Dylan really is. All my doubts about his live performances were confirmed by the repeat of his 1993 30th<\/sup> showbiz anniversary, or some such, gig that was utterly shambolic. To be fair, Dylan himself was conspicuous only by his absence, and on this edit only stepped on stage to join in one chorus performed by the thirty or forty strong stellar names who had gathered to praise the king. Many poor performances drowned the very few good ones, of which Chrissie Hynde\u00b4s was one of the very best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet in an earlier programme we had been presented with a thoughtful, insightful and informative interview with Chrissie Hynde, (left)<\/em><\/strong> interspersed with her version of nine Dylan songs. That her covers were respectful did not deter her from giving them her own interpretations and the musical and production values she brought to them on recording demonstrated the regard in which she held the songs. They were, it has to be said, songs that had seen her through a lonely lockdown year, that subsequently provided her with a recording project to undertake with her lead guitarist James Walbourne and Tchad Blake in the producer role. The mutual respect between these three main protaganists shone beamed through the Sky One tv documentary footage the recording proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The subsequent album, Standing In The Doorway contains Sweetheart Like You, that Rolling Stone describes in its four star review of her album as \u00b4an understated and somewhat sexist song off Dylan\u2019s 1983 LP Infidels, Hynde sings the following lyric plainly as written \u2014 \u201cYou know a woman like you should be at home, that\u2019s where you belong\u201d \u2014 but manages to play up the schmaltz of the chorus, \u201cWhat\u2019s a sweetheart like you doing in a dump like this?\u201d showing she has the upper hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rolling Stone acknowledges that \u00b4she also gets the inherent humour of Infidels\u2019 track Don\u2019t Fall Apart On Me Tonight, a gorgeously selfish love song on which she sings, \u00b4Don\u2019t fall apart on me tonight, I just don\u2019t think I can handle it\u00b4, in a way to make whoever the song is directed at clean up his act so as not to bother her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She and Walbourne even gave the song an easy, gospel-rock vibe in place of Dylan\u2019s Sly & Robbie\u2013driven reggae rhythms, which fits the way she handles the patter better than a straight cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interpretations of a song don\u00b4t have to turn them into a foreign language and Rolling Stone notes how when she approaches the breakup drama of Blood On TheTracks\u2019 song, You\u2019re a Big Girl Now, \u00b4she replaces the jazziness of the original with Stonesy acoustic guitar and sings the lyrics with knowing sarcasm. Even better, her \u201cwhoooaa\u201d breaks in the chorus sound sultry rather than pained, the way Dylan sang them, and she replaces the harmonica solo with church organ\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kory Grow joined Rolling Stone’s staff in 2014 and reports on music, movies, TV and culture. He also writes reviews, news and criticism. Previously, he wrote for Revolver, Spin, Guitar World, The Village Voice and other publications. During his time at Rolling Stone<\/em>, he’s interviewed Ozzy Osbourne in his dressing room, Metallica in their tuning room, David Lynch behind a replica of Twin Peaks’ Red Room and David Gilmour in a trailer behind the amphitheater at Pompeii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most recently he asserted his belief that Chrissie\u00b4s take on what has become the title track of this album, a moody standout from Dylan\u2019s 1997 comeback Time Out of Mind, \u00b4retains the ethereal, Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, throwback vibe of Dylan\u2019s recording but on her own terms. She draws a deep breath before singing, \u00b4You left me standing in the doorway crying under the midnight moon,\u00b4 in a way that shows true apprehension, and her personal expression heightens the cover. And it\u2019s the way she pares the words of Tomorrow Is A Long Time, and lines like \u00b4If tomorrow wasn\u2019t such a long time, then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all\u00b4 with just a backdrop of acoustic guitar and woodwinds in a way that makes it a fitting lockdown anthem.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like all the Rolling Stone contributors, Kory writes beautifully but I am surprised that, like many of the reviewers of this album, he has not more clearly highlighted the wonderful contribution of Grammy Award-winning producer\/engineer\/mixer Tchad Blake, who came on board to finalize the tracks<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best rendition here, according to Kory at Rolling Stone is Blind Willie McTell, Dylan\u2019s brooding Infidelsout-take, \u00b4which ties America\u2019s history of slavery with America\u2019s music, the blues. Walbourne plays piano, harmonium, acoustic guitar, and mandolin on the track in a way that captures the seriousness of the song without letting it drift into melodrama, while Hynde deftly navigates the horror of the lyric with a voice that falls somewhere between weeping and sighing. It\u2019s also one of the prettiest recordings she\u2019s ever made.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s most striking about Standing in the Doorway. <\/em>suggests Mr. Grow.<\/em> is \u00b4how easy the recordings came to Hynde and Walbourne. The Pretenders have always been underrated covers artists, going back to their first single, a cover of the Kinks\u2019 Stop Your Sobbing, and Hynde has always had a rare knack for figuring out what she has in common with the soul of a song and playing that up. When you add in the fact that she and Walbourne had a little extra time to make the record during lockdown, that they realized that tomorrow didn\u2019t have to be so much of a long time and that they could find comfort in Dylan\u2019s works, it seems Dylan was right: lonesome means nothing at all\u00b4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The documentary shown on Sky One clearly illustrated the high performance, production and mixing values that were at play in the making of Standing In The Doorway. The late contribution of Tchad Blake (and family) and his use of \u00b4found sounds\u00b4 was pivotal and the documentary perfectly captured the mutual respect and easy friendship between these protaganists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The results are, says Glide magazine, \u00b4a stripped-down mix of guitar, organ\/piano, chimes, and restrained vocals, exploring a range of Dylan songs with a pleasant focus on his early eighties output as five tunes are originally from the Shot of Love or Infidels recording sessions\u00b4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/aata.dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/photo-1-chrissie-hinde.jpg\")
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