Search - Greg Brown, Lucy Kaplansky, John Gorka :: A Nod to Bob: An Artists' Tribute to Bob Dylan on His Sixtieth Birthday

In honor of Bob Dylan's 60th birthday--May 24, 2001--the singer-songwriters and roots musicians of Red House Records offer yet another homage to the master. The tracks here range from the memorable and sometimes profound to forgettable and pleasant. With the exception of Eliza Gilkyson, whose gossamer version of "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" opens the collection, the finest interpreters are the wise, time-worn voices who let the mysteries of Dylan's songs speak for themselves. Martin Simpson evokes the most heartbreaking tones of "Boots of Spanish Leather." Norman Blake and Peter Ostroushko (the only performers on the disc who have recorded with Dylan) see into the old-timey, almost 19th-century spirit of "Restless Farewell." Rosalie Sorrels, with her stately, burnished voice, gives perhaps the definitive version of "Tomorrow Is a Long Time." On the other hand, Lucy Kaplansky, Cliff Eberhardt, and John Gorka indulge in an earnestness Dylan mostly eschewed. --Roy Kasten