I Shall Be Released - Covers Of Bob Dylan 1963-1970 (Clamshell Box)

ボブ・ディラン名曲の様々なアーティストによる名カバー集3CD『I Shall Be Released - Covers Of Bob Dylan 1963-1970』!

ディランのサウンドがフォーク、ブルース、ロックンロール、カントリー、サイケデリアなど様々なジャンルを取り込み、それらのジャンルのアーティストが残した素晴らしいカバーを厳選して収録。ディランの曲をアレンジし、「ジングルジャングル」を加えてフォークロックを発明したバーズの登場や、フェアポート・コンヴェンション、フォザリンゲイ、サンディ・デニーといったイギリスのフォーク・ロックの発展においてもディランの曲は極めて重要な役割を果たしました。しかしフォークというのは、ブルーグラス、スカ、ハードロック、ポップスなど、蛇行する音楽的な乗り物のひとつの停留所に過ぎず、このコンピレーションに収録されている膨大な音楽スタイルの数々は、ディランの作曲能力の高さを示しているだけでなく、ディランのファンにとどまらず全ての音楽好きにも魅力的で多彩なサウンドを楽しむことのできる内容となっています。

Few artists have had as far-reaching an influence as Bob Dylan, but it’s still sometimes easy to underestimate the impact he’s had on music as a whole. Dylan’s ceaseless and rapid evolution equated to trends having to keep up with him, especially in the earliest phases of his career. I Shall Be Released explores the range of this early influence, collecting 63 covers of Dylan songs recorded between 1963 and 1970, a time when Dylan himself was creating some of his most lasting work and his peers and admirers were taking notice. The folk-rock explosion was a huge part of changes happening in youth culture in the early ‘60s, and Dylan was one of the central figures of that movement. Faithful folk-rock covers of his songs were everywhere in the early ‘60s, and tracks of this nature by the Hollies, the Byrds, and Jim & Jean are prime examples of the direct influence Dylan had on his most like-minded contemporaries, at least before he went electric. After the cries of “Judas!” rang out when those electric guitars were plugged in, things got a lot more interesting. Harry Nilsson and John Lennon’s reading of “Subterranean Homesick Blues” from their collaborative Pussycats album is a yelping, screaming, rocking good time, Johnny Winter’s take on “Highway 61 Revisited” turns up the blues boogie energy all the way, and on the more delicate side, Al Stewart’s chamber pop-leaning cover of “I Don’t Believe You” is lighter and more refined than the original, highlighting how versatile Dylan’s songwriting can be and how many different styles can be applied to any given song. The more obscure inclusions are some of the better cuts on I Shall Be Released. Little-known psych-pop band Picadilly Line turns in a great version of “Visions of Johanna,” and British hard rockers Medicine Head inject some sludgy proto-metal into their slow motion reading of “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.” The compilation reminds us that Dylan wasn’t just a hit with the hippies and the college kids, either. Johnny Cash adds some country shuffle to “Wanted Man,” Sandie Shaw transforms “Lay Lady Lay” into a dreamy Baroque pop miniature, and Laurel Aitken presents “Blowin’ in the Wind” in a lovely ska arrangement. There are dozens of reflections on Dylan’s greatness here, ranging from the more predictable to the completely surprising, and taking it all in is a testament to how powerful a single artist can be. ~ Fred Thomas