Saturday, February 13, 2021

Mary Lee's Corvette Blood On The Tracks 2002

Audacity: a willingness to take bold risks.

Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks is one great record. This live performance by Mary Lee Kortes and her talented band from 2002 covers the record song by song in its entirety, and is both audacious and remarkably good. Of course the song selection is excellent, it is after all one of Dylan's finest, and one of the best breakup records of all time.

Kortes, for her part, has a strong voice with just a bit of keening edge that helps, especially on the more angry songs. The band is tight, the arrangements true to the original, and the recording is good, especially for a live outing. And how many more times are you going to listen to the original?

So, what are the best Dylan records? (Speaking of audacity!) 
Here's my list:
Bringing It All Back Home 1965
Highway 61 Revisted 1965
Blonde On Blonde 1966
John Wesley Harding 1967
New Morning 1970
Blood On The Tracks 1975
Desire 1976
Love And Theft 2001
Modern Times 2006

2 comments:

  1. street legal...scofted at by critic's but i think its in top 5 and the alternate of blood on the tracks is there too much better than the official release..early stuff i love best but....desire

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  2. I was tempted to include Street-Legal as I like it quite a bit also. The early pre-electric stuff is just too folksy for me. I know it is good. I admit that Desire is not quite as solid as the rest of the list, but One More Cup Of Coffee, Isis, Mozambique, Sara, and Hurricane are all good songs, and the record has an energy that is admirable.

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