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Music Review: Gotta Serve Somebody - Gospel songs of Bob Dylan"
Often disregarded as a "phase" that led to poor music, Bob Dylan's gospel period from 1979 through the early 1980s is generally
ridiculed by most critics and fans. When Dylan first took his new gospel songs to the stage in San Francisco in 1979, he was nearly
booed off the stage by angry fans expecing to hear Dylan's earlier hits. "Gotta Serve Somebody - The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan" ought to
help put to rest any notion that Dylan's gospel songs lack merit. As you'll hear on this album, Dylan's gospel songs are some of
the finest ever written.
This collection brings together a who's who of gospel talent. Kicking things off is Shirley Caesar who absolutely rips through an
unbelievable version of "Gotta Serve Somebody". Dylan himself even rewrote the "you may call me Zimmy" verse and is on the record
as saying he thinks this version of the song far surpasses his own.
Next up is Lee Williams and the Spiritual QCs with "When you gonna Wake Up?". A tight band and tight harmonies make this an outstanding
rendition of a great Dylan song.
"I Believe in You" is what many consider (along with "In the Garden" and "Every Grain of Sand") to be the best of Dylan's gospel tunes.
It has always been my favorite and Dottie Peoples turns in a stunning rendition. The song has previously been covered by Sinead
O'Connor and others but People's take brings the passion the song deserves. When she kicks into the last chorus of the song with
a gut-wrenching growl and her tight band rising to a crescendo, the spirit moves. Amazing.
The Fairfield Four turn in an acapella rendition of "Are you Ready" reminiscent of the Blind Boys of Alabama's work on the "Oh Brother
Where Art Thou" soundtrack.
Next up is the Sounds of Blackness doing "Solid Rock". This recording should have been so much better.
It reunites the original band that played the tune on the "Saved" album back in 1980. The band is tight and the choir is good and they have
a great arrangement to work with. The problem with this song sadly is the mixing... the choir is up so loud that it distracts and just
doesn't sound quite right.
The next track is probably the album's low point as Aaron Neville turns in an overdone version of "Saving Grace". He sings it about like
Christina Aguilera would, bending and turning his voice every time he opens his mouth. More restraint would have served this song better.
Helen Baylor turns in a wonderful version of "What can I do for you?" backed by an awesome choir arrangement. This call and response song
is far better in this setting than Dylan could ever pull off.
The Chicago Mass Choir turns in a Kirk Franklin-esque rendition of "Pressing On", a timeless song that is just classic gospel. This song
sounds like it could have been written 75 years ago or yesterday and I suspect 75 years from now they will say the same thing.
Mighty Clouds of Joy turns in the version of "Saved" that Third Day wishes they could have done on their "Offerings" album. When the
chorus hits with a full on gospel-country beat, this song becomes a highlight of the album. The rendition is faithful to Dylan's original
version, complete with honky-tonk piano and B-3.
Rance Allen is next with "When he Returns". The highlight here is the solo B-3 accompaniment by Christopher Byrd... wonderfully simplistic.
The album concludes with an absolutely BIZARRE recording from Bob Dylan and Mavis Staples of "Change my way of Thinking".
This song was recorded with Dylan's current touring band and sounds teriffic. Dylan starts it off, growling his way
through the first verse but then, the band grinds to a halt and this exchange is heard:
DYLAN - Hey look, someone's comin' up the road boys
MAVIS - Hey there Bobby!
DYLAN - Hey, it's Mavis Staples
MAVIS - What's up. Bobby, you got a nice place here.
DYLAN - Welcome to California Mavis.
MAVIS - You got a nice place here.
DYLAN - Yeah, it is. You can sit on this porch and look right straight into Hawaii.
And then...
DYLAN - Mavis, I got the blues.
MAVIS - oh no. Don't tell me you got the blues.
DYLAN - I been up all night layin in bed got insomnia reading Snoozeweek.
MAVIS - Oh.. Snoozeweek. That ain't gonna get rid of no blues. Let's do some singin.
And then the band kicks back in to finish the song. It's a bizarre exchange but comes across as hilarious, especially when Dylan says
"Snoozeweek". Great stuff.
If you have never checked out Dylan's gospel music before, this is the place to start. Fantastic singers (which face it, Dylan isn't) turn in
fantastic versions of fantastic songs. You can't ask for much more than that on an album.
Review by Greg Adkins
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