Album Reviews

So closely does the cover vibe provided by Ted Croner’s iconic cover photo “Taxi, New York at Night” mirror the music on the album, you have wonder if the cover choice was inspired by the music, or vice-versa.

The blurry vision of a late ‘40’s Chrysler taxicab epitomizes the vibrant ‘noir look and feel of New York City back then, even to a child, even to one who lived in Minnesota but could only imagine New York City. It doesn’t matter if the child first saw the photo in 1950 or 2006.

Producer “Jack Frost” (Dylan), realized he didn’t have much to work with in terms of his artist’s physical instrument, which began life sounding like an old man and now late in life sounds like a really old man. So he’s surrounded the singer with soft, distant, lilting musical gestures, even on “Thunder on the Mountain,” the Chuck Berry-like opener.

Whether generated by drums or guitars, the textures are soft, delicate and distant. Rhythms churn smoothly on smooth, Teflon bearings, fleshed out by delicate curleque melodic lines. It’s not yet rock, it’s sort of country-swing with a hint of blues. It’s the street sound of post WWII urban America just waking up and about to experience baby boomer energy.

Every song Dylan croaks and gurgles through sounds like it could be an album closer, despite the uptempo shuffles, yet despite his vocal weakness, the intimacy of the delivery and Dylan’s undiminished ability to inhabit his creations, aided by the sympathetic arrangements and production, brings each tune to three dimensional life. Only on the final song, “Ain’t Talkin’” does the finality hinted at by the others, reach true closure.

Dylan’s quotes “Rollin’ and Tumblin’,” musically and lyrically, taking full writing credit, as he does for a few other tunes with familiar musical and lyrical content. He’s done this before, but, one might argue, it’s in the nature of folk music. A New York Times article published in September of 2006 shortly after the album was released discusses a disc jockey’s discovery that some of Dylan’s lyrics bear “…some strong echoes to the poems of Henry Timrod, a South Carolina based civil war era poet who died in 1867.

An Albuquerque, New Mexico-based disc jockey discovered the connection according to the article. Scott Warmuth astutely defended Dylan by saying “You could give the collected works of Henry Timrod to a bunch of people, but none of them are going to come up with Bob Dylan songs.”

He’s right. Whatever he lifted, who else could drop “I’ve sucked the milk out of a thousand cows” in the middle of a verse? Later in the boastful song he sings “Gonna go up North, make a lotta money…”

Despite all of the musical and lyrical sideswipes, it all comes together as Dylan’s creation, with tremendous help from the backing band.

My sources tell me the recording was ProTools and that a 1” analog master sourced from the digital mix existed for possible use cutting the vinyl. However, it wasn't used, per Dylan’s instructions so that both LP and CD were mastered from the digital source.

While the mastering was done by Greg Calbi at Sterling, which certainly could have cut a lacquer, there’s no Sterling stamp and the name “R. M. LoVerde” is etched in the “dead wax” area, meaning it was cut at Sony Studios (RIP).

In any case, while the sound is not as transparent and airy as it probably could be, the less than sparkling top end and softened transients serve the music well. I don’t have the CD, as I’m not considered worthy by Sony Music to receive any promos, so I bought the nicely pressed and packaged double LP set and I don’t regret it. This is an inviting, atmospheric Dylan album; a late career statement with substance.

For a more detailed, scholarly analysis, please read Roger Hahn’s feature story on the homepage.