Search - Bob Dylan :: Coll 4: Nashville Skyline / New Morning / Harding

Three Outstanding Records in One Collection

Zachary Hackett | Reno, Nevada | 10/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is a great shot of Dylan circa 1970 or so on the cover of this box set. He's leaning on the back of an old black car, Guitar in hand wearing that same hat he had in that photo on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. In fact this photo looks like it came from the same session. Only in the Post shot the backgroud trees are green, somebody used Photoshop on the cover of this box and made 'em red. A great, eerie looking affect. Or maybe the shot was later in the day and the sun was going down. I don't know, but the cover of this box alone is worth the price as far as I'm concerned.



John Wesley Harding - Gritty, Course, Driving and Stark, with a Bit of Country



When this record came out a lot of Dylan's fans were upset, because that singer of songs so complex with images that stayed with you long after the song had end, seemed to have gone country. But it didn't long before they realized that the complexity was still here, even thought the backing musicians had changed. The stories, those incredible stories were still here. Just give a listen to "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" and you'll see what I mean. And the word weaver is still doing his magic here as well, again listen to "Frankie & Judas."



Yes, gone are the rock musicians, replaced by country guys, Charlie McCoy on bass, Kenny Buttrey on drums and they help Dylan deliver a kind of haunting sound that has lasted through the years, making this record sort timeless, holding up as well now as it did way back then.



My personal favorite on this masterpiece of music is "As I Went Out One Morning." To me it seems like Dylan is singing about America and how Tom Paine would be so disappointed if he were alive today. And what would Rock have been like had Jimi not been able to cover the excellent "All Along the Watchtower." Then there is that landlord, that wicked messenger, that lonesome hobo and that escaping drifter. Mr. Dylan conjures images with words the way Van Gogh did with a brush. This album, though a change, is one of the best.



Nashville Skyline - Country Bob, but Still Incredible



This record opens with a haunting version of "Girl from the North Country," which Dylan sings with Johnny Cash. Haunting to be sure, because any song sung by Mr. Cash was haunting, but this one, with Dylan using his new countrified voice was even more so, spooky. This song alone is worth buying the album for. "Girl" is followed by the instrumental "Nashville Skyline Rag," which I've heard said is a reworking of the instrumental "The Cough Song," which first appeared on the "Stealin'" bootleg. I don't know if that's true, but it's a doggone good guitar piece.



And, of course, everybody knows "Lay Lady Lay" which was kind of a top forty hit and is still played on classic rock stations all over the world. It's a good song, but I like "I Threw it All Away" and "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You," better. This is a country album. "John Wesley Harding" with its country musicians leaned that way, but "Nashville Skyline" got all the way there and Dylan would stay country for two more records (some would say three), then he'd burst back on the rock scene with a vengeance. Still, country or not, this is a five star piece of work. Yes, Dylan did country, but he did it very, very well.



New Morning - Like Dylan Himself, This Record is so Hard to Define



After JWH and Nashville Skyline (which I like a lot), Dylan came out with Self Portrait. There are a few gems on SP but a lot of it was considered pretty lackluster when it came out. However three decades later and I have to admit, I play it all the way through on occasion and I enjoy it, even that corny version of S & G's "The Boxer". Anyway it appears that Colombia was in a hurry to get something out after SP to buck up what they must have thought was Dylan's sagging career, so they came out with this excellent album.



For me New Morning works in every way possible. I love the music. I love Dylan's voice here. I really like the lyrics and the background singers just seem to add to the whole mix. Yeah, a few records down the road they might seem to get a little Motownish, but here they just add to the overall haunting, spooky, bluesy and maybe even a little jazzy feeling of this record. And you know what, there is even a little C & W here. Like Dylan himself, this record is so hard to define."

Mr. D Reinvents Himself for These Three

Stephanie Sane | from the Asylum | 10/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""John Wesley Harding" is another of those Dylan records that belongs in the top five. My dad told me that everybody was taken completely by surprise when "JWH" came out. Bob Dylan had come back from his motorcycle accident completely reinvented, but I don't know why his fans were so blown away, he'd reinvented himself once before, they should have just accepted it, or at the least gotten used to it, because Mr. Dylan has been reinventing himself for a long time now. Anyway this record was recorded with county musicians and has a country flavor to it, even though the songs like "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest," "All Along the Watchtower," "Down along the Cove" and the rest of the masterpieces on this album are anything but country. That'll come though, because Dylan reinvents himself still again for "Nashville Skyline."



Reinventing himself still again, Mr. Dylan has released a true country album with "Nashville Skyline." Gone are any hints of Dylan the protester, Dylan the rocker. This is pure country, purely enjoyable too. "Lay, Lady Lay," is the big hit from this album, but the eerily, haunting remake of "Girl From the North Country," done with the late Johnny Cash, is the song that sets the mood for this too short CD.



My dad says that when "New Morning" record came out that once again Dylan's fans were disappointed. I don't why though, because I love this record. Mr. D. plays a lot of piano on it and maybe he's no virtuoso, but he's plenty good. "If Not for You," made into a huge hit by Olivia Newton John and on of the best songs on George Harrison's "All Things Must Past," triple LP, is one of the best songs on the record. "Father of Night," is a gospel type number that tells or warns us, depending on your point of view, about Dylan's Christian period that we'll see a couple records on down the road. Dylan is different on this record, but then he's different on most of his records. He's not of those artists that's boringly the same, album after album, Dylan keeps growing and changing, sometimes we like him, sometimes we love him and sometimes we hate him. He's the poet of three generations and "New Morning has some of his greatest poems on it,



Reviewed by Stephanie Sane"

Three Outstanding Countrified Records

Tiffany Ann | Black Diamond Bay | 04/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"John Wesley Harding - A Little Country, But Still a Rocker



What a change for Bob Dylan. First he was a folk singer, than a hard rocker and now it seems he'd turned direction, going a bit country. However, don't make any mistake, just because he's got country musicians, this is still a rocker and it's one of my top five favorite Dylan records. "John Wesley Harding" is sort of a western ballad that will have you stamping your feet. "As I Went Out One Morning" is a country rocker with a message. So are many of the other songs on this record.



Nashville Skyline - What a Shocker



Wow, what a shocker this record must have been when it came out. The opening song, a reworking of the lovely "Girl from the North Country" is nothing like the original. Sung as a duet with Johnny Cash, this song, like the rest of the record, is pure out and out country. Country all the way. But that's not necessarily bad. Dylan is great when he does folk, he is great when he does rock and he is great when he does country. I really love the instrumental "Nashville Skyline Rag," which kind of reminds me a bit of "The Cough Song," from Bootleg fame. I play this record an awful lot, usually right after I play JWH, in fact I have those two records on the same playlist on my iPod along with "New Morning." These records, for me at least, are very uplifting. I know back then, maybe a lot of Dylan's fans didn't think so, but I bet they all appreciate them now. I know I sure do.



New Morning - It's Like Nashville Skyline married John Wesley Harding



For me this record seems like a blend of "Nashville Skyline" and "John Wesley Harding." That's probably the best way for me to describe it and the blend works well. The first few times I listened to it I had a hard time with the female back up singers, but I'm used to them now, hardly hear them. I think "Time Passes Slowly." It does pass slowly, then like Dylan says, "it fades away. But this record will never fade away for me. I just love it. If you get a chance go to see the Gypsy and get a copy of this CD, you won't be disappointed."