- Code:
Name .:. Bob Dylan - Shadow Kingdom
Genre : Country
Source : CDDA
Type .:. Album
Artist : Bob Dylan
Label : Sony Music Catalog (Sony Music)
Titel : Shadow Kingdom
Tracks : 14
Playtime : 54:14
Size : 85,88 MB
Encoder : VBRNEW - LAME3.100 - V0
Quality : VBR kbps / 44.1kHz / Joint-Stereo
Bitrate : avg. 221kbps
[ Tracklist ]
01.When I Paint My Masterpiece 04:26
02.Most Likely You Go Your Way And IÆll Go Mine 03:33
03.Queen Jane Approximately 05:15
04.IÆll Be Your Baby Tonight 03:04
05.Just Like Tom ThumbÆs Blues 04:26
06.Tombstone Blues 05:00
07.To Be Alone With You 03:10
08.What Was It You Wanted 05:04
09.Forever Young 03:15
10.Pledging My Time 03:51
11.The Wicked Messenger 02:56
12.Watching The River Flow 03:00
13.ItÆs All Over Now, Baby Blue 02:50
14.SierraÆs Theme 04:24
Total 54:14 Min
As the credits rolled at the end of Bob DylanÆs
Shadow Kingdom livestream on July 18, 2021, thanks
were given to a venue called the Bon Bon Club in
Marseille û a place, Dylanologists swiftly deduced,
that had never existed. In 1962, however, a Bon Bon
ôsupper clubö in Philadelphia was the subject of a
court case with Pat Lynn Hackett, a folk singer,
accusing the owners of racketeering. HackettÆs right
leg had to be amputated after Eddie Nace, the Bon
Bon Club operator, pushed her down the staircase.
Her error, according to the New York Daily News, was
being ôsympathetic about a customer who had been
relieved of $700 by a B-girlö.
A real-life noir thriller from the dawn of DylanÆs
career. A location shrouded in enigma and subterfuge
(a Santa Monica soundstage being somewhat less
romantic). A livestream designed to be ephemeral, to
disappear like the smoke from all those cigarettes
after a couple of days. And what the subtitle
described as æThe Early Songs Of Bob DylanÆ,
reconfigured without drums to complement the liminal
atmosphere of director Alma HarÆelÆs visuals. The
Shadow Kingdom, it seemed, was not built to last.
The thing is, of course, that Bob Dylan songs arenÆt
quite so transient. At the end of The Philosophy Of
Modern Song, Dylan writes, ôMusic transcends time by
living within it, just as reincarnation allows us to
transcend life by living it again and again.ö This,
perhaps, is the key to Shadow Kingdom, and a decent
artistic reason û the commercial expediencies being
self-evident û why Dylan has chosen to release the
show as an album now. The old songs and vintage
effect might invoke a certain nostalgia, but the
juke joint ambience is more Lynchian than neat
historic reconstruction, and the songs sound little
like they used to do. ItÆs a dream Dylan
destination, but itÆs one which is, as per his
Philosophy, ôof a time but also timelessö.
Shadow Kingdom the album, then, turns out to be an
extremely useful addition to the Dylan catalogue,
and very much of a piece with his current
manoeuvres. Think of it as a companion to Rough And
Rowdy Ways, and that albumÆs ongoing tour: as if
Dylan were reinventing those æEarly SongsÆ in the
same silvery light, and getting them out of the way
before he hits the road again to concentrate on his
Latest Songs.
Four selections turn up on both Shadow Kingdom and
in recent live setlists û When I Paint My
Masterpiece, Most Likely You Go Your Way (And IÆll
Go Mine), IÆll Be Your Baby Tonight and To Be Alone
With You. And while the roadhouse rhythm of the
touring band is replaced by more of a stealthy
cantina sway û lots of accordion and acoustic
guitars, no piano or fiddle û thereÆs a clear
affinity. Songs hang in the air, implying rather
than asserting uncanny dimensions. DylanÆs voice,
again, is quite beautiful, with a control and nuance
so many thought heÆd lost.
ItÆs particularly impressive on What Was It You
Wanted, a cut from 1989Æs Oh Mercy that doesnÆt seem
especially æEarlyÆ until you realise it was recorded
27 years into DylanÆs career, and that 34 years have
subsequently elapsed. Dylan has long treated his
songs as standards, so compositionally robust as to
be infinitely malleable, but the gravitas here is
striking; as if the removal of the beats has removed
the song from linear time. Tombstone Blues, slowed
to a spectral recitation, sounds like it was written
the same day as Murder Most Foul, but a day thatÆs
hard to place in either 2020 or 1965. Pledging My
Time is the most ethereal of blues, a rendering of
tradition that seems to be broadcast from the spirit
plane. So weird; so lovely.
Further mysteries accrue. Musicians were listed at
the end of the livestream û among them Shahzad
Ismaily on accordion, and Big ThiefÆs Buck Meek,
though none of DylanÆs road band û but arenÆt
mentioned in the album credits. The music that
played under the filmÆs closing titles is here, a
desert sunset instrumental called SierraÆs Theme
that wouldÆve fitted neatly onto the _Pat Garrett &
Billy The Kid_soundtrack. Accordion, again, is key.
ôYou want to be piggy backed into another dimension
where your body and mind can be restored,ö Dylan
writes of Jimmy WageÆs Take Me From This Garden Of
Evil in The Philosophy Of Modern Song, and thatÆs
what Shadow Kingdom does, if not with quite the same
rockabilly vigour. Its brief 2021 run remains a
puzzle, but no longer an illusion: The Bon Bon Club
is open for business again, whenever we need it.
https://www.bobdylan.com
