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Bob Dylan 'fully realized'By W ALLY CONGERStaff WriterI want to talk about Bob Dylan and how I missed him when he shot through L.A. with The Band earlier this year and how I love his new live album. These things seem more important to me now than a Supreme Court ruling on Dick's tapes or any other damned l. king, mainly because Dylan's become such an integral part of my life in just the past few weeks.Oh. he's always been there, but he's tended to fade and take focus* fade and take focus. Now, he’s in focus and filling my head with crazy things.Like the cavalry, Dylan always arrives ontime. 11 Before the Flood, his new live LP with The Band, found its way to my turntable early this week, and it s stayed there.! dunno. I've said this before, that Lofi Angeles makes me a little big schizoid. Things catch up with me after a while, and my mind getszapped into a nullified state where 1 don't knowmy ups from my downs. It really gets bad in summer, and I was just beginning to creep into it when the Dylan album showed up, High times.* Before the Flood is the highest experience 1 can offer you right now. It is Bob Dylan fully realized. It is Dylans moment of self-actualization. Maybe he's always had hie roots in country western and maybe he got his start as a folksy little cafe singer, but if you know anything at all about Bob Dylan, you know that he always wanted to be a rock roll star,■ “i - ‘I ftL'h I (-I fe |«i li m i»*. * *» # h.fla I u i,j 6-- - » lT k *\» k. fc**. I » ™ ;p T W J- i J ■ * M-mThe Band must take a lot of the credit here. Critic Robert Hilbum has aaid that The Band might be the beat American rock band, and maybe he's right. Moat importantly, The Bend 13 responsible for the new arrangements of these familiar Dylan tunes. Secondly, they back up Dylan's vocals beautifully.All Along the Watchtower” rocks with the best of them, including Hendrix's electric version of that song some five years ngo. And it doesn't lose any of its spine-crawling significance in the translation.Let as not talk falsely now...” ft still works after six years, and it still strikes deep, particularly to someone like myself, who suffers foom the paranoia of L.A, There must be someway out of here.,,”' It’s claustrophobic.There’s some Band material on this LP, too, and it’s all very well performed, ' The Weight'1 will always remain, one of my favorites, as will Stage Fright. Only one member is new. something called Endlesa Highway.” but these versions of old tunes are very fine and not at all disappointing-.However, Dylan’s the star, and I'm tempted to say something rediculous like that this is the best Bob Dylan album ever. Well, no, it isn't. But what is is. is the first real Dylan thing that’s emerged in Lhe 70s', and we can be thankful forthat.Bob Dylan is bringing it all back home with Before the Flood.
Newspaper Details
Los Angeles Summer Sundial
Los Angeles, California, US
Thu, Jul 18, 1974
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
GB 26 Jan 2023
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