Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2014: Difference between revisions
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Easy. Just throw them some vintage, unreleased Bob Dylan songs to belatedly bring to the world. | Easy. Just throw them some vintage, unreleased Bob Dylan songs to belatedly bring to the world. | ||
That's what happened Thursday at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood for the first and perhaps only concert appearance by the New Basement Tapes band, which includes Elvis Costello, Mumford & Sons' | That's what happened Thursday at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood for the first and perhaps only concert appearance by the New Basement Tapes band, which includes Elvis Costello, Mumford & Sons' Marcus Mumford, My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Carolina Chocolate Drops' Rhiannon Giddens and Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith. (The group was slated to tape a live-in-the-studio session Friday morning, which will eventually air on Sirius XM.) | ||
The ad-hoc ensemble assembled by producer | The ad-hoc ensemble assembled by producer T{{nb}}Bone Burnett just released ''Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes'', an album consisting of newly completed songs set to lyrics Dylan wrote circa 1967 and stashed away until recently. | ||
The camaraderie and mood of generosity was apparent throughout Thursday's nearly two-hour show, which James noted, "We didn't know about until a day and a half ago." | The camaraderie and mood of generosity was apparent throughout Thursday's nearly two-hour show, which James noted, "We didn't know about until a day and a half ago." | ||
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Giddens, the Chocolate Drops' gifted singer, banjo player and fiddler, brought visceral gravitas to her darkly foreboding arrangement of "Hi-De-Ho," while James, with his clenched, Dylan-circa-''Nashville Skyline''/''New Morning''-era vocals, turned the same set of lyrics into a dreamy '30s-pop love song, replete with a handful of roses he tossed to the capacity crowd as he larked about the stage. | Giddens, the Chocolate Drops' gifted singer, banjo player and fiddler, brought visceral gravitas to her darkly foreboding arrangement of "Hi-De-Ho," while James, with his clenched, Dylan-circa-''Nashville Skyline''/''New Morning''-era vocals, turned the same set of lyrics into a dreamy '30s-pop love song, replete with a handful of roses he tossed to the capacity crowd as he larked about the stage. | ||
Goldsmith took the lead on a disarming rendition of " | Goldsmith took the lead on a disarming rendition of "Liberty Street," a lyric Costello paired with a driving rock beat. | ||
The great temptation in hearing lyrics from the period after Dylan's mysterious motorcycle accident — a time when he effectively escaped the media circus of the previous half-dozen years — is to try to draw a line to what was happening in his life at the moment. | The great temptation in hearing lyrics from the period after Dylan's mysterious motorcycle accident — a time when he effectively escaped the media circus of the previous half-dozen years — is to try to draw a line to what was happening in his life at the moment. | ||
Was Dylan assessing his flirtation with stardom after his No. 1 hit " | Was Dylan assessing his flirtation with stardom after his No. 1 hit "Like a Rolling Stone" when he wrote, in "Nothing to It": | ||
{{n}}''I knew I was young enough <br> | {{n}}''I knew I was young enough <br> | ||
{{n}}''I knew there was nothing to it <br> | {{n}}''I knew there was nothing to it <br> | ||
{{n}}'' | {{n}}'''Cause I'd already seen it done enough <br> | ||
{{n}}''And I knew there was nothing to it | {{n}}''And I knew there was nothing to it | ||
It's also hard not to think about Dylan's relatively new status as husband and father when James sang an elegantly simple arrangement of " | It's also hard not to think about Dylan's relatively new status as husband and father when James sang an elegantly simple arrangement of "When I Get My Hands on You," with its recurring line ''"Now you know/ Everywhere on earth you go/ You're gonna have me as your man"'' — as powerfully straightforward an expression of love and commitment as Dylan ever wrote. | ||
But it's misleading to look to ''Lost on the River'' for direct allusions to Dylan and the Band's ''Basement Tapes'' sessions. Yes, there were moments of shared expression—a couple of Goldsmith's solos harkened to | But it's misleading to look to ''Lost on the River'' for direct allusions to Dylan and the Band's ''Basement Tapes'' sessions. Yes, there were moments of shared expression—a couple of Goldsmith's solos harkened to Robbie Robertson's signature style, and at least once Mumford, when occasionally sitting behind one of the two drum kits on stage, invoked happy memories of Levon Helm's deep approach to rhythmic fundamentals. | ||
The relevant parallel is that in both cases a cast of musicians set aside pop conventions and let their hearts and minds guide them to the essence of Dylan's lyrics. | The relevant parallel is that in both cases a cast of musicians set aside pop conventions and let their hearts and minds guide them to the essence of Dylan's lyrics. | ||
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[[image:2014-11-14 Los Angeles Times photo lkh 01.jpg|380px|border]] | [[image:2014-11-14 Los Angeles Times photo lkh 01.jpg|380px|border]] | ||
<br><small>The 'New Basement Tapes band at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood on Thursday. Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) and Elvis Costello. ([[Lawrence K. Ho]] / Los Angeles Times)</small><br> | <br><small>The 'New Basement Tapes band at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood on Thursday. Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) and Elvis Costello. ([[Lawrence K. Ho]] / Los Angeles Times)</small><br> | ||
[[image:2014-11-14 Los Angeles Times photo lkh 03.jpg|360px|border]] | [[image:2014-11-14 Los Angeles Times photo lkh 03.jpg|360px|border]] | ||
<br><small>Rhiannon Giddens during the New Basement Tapes band concert. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)</small><br> | <br><small>Rhiannon Giddens during the New Basement Tapes band concert. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)</small><br> | ||
[[image:2014-11-14 Los Angeles Times photo lkh 04.jpg|360px|border]] | [[image:2014-11-14 Los Angeles Times photo lkh 04.jpg|360px|border]] | ||
<br><small>The Hiam sisters Alana, left, Danielle and Este join Taylor Goldsmith during the New Basement Tapes band's performance. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)</small><br> | <br><small>The Hiam sisters Alana, left, Danielle and Este join Taylor Goldsmith during the New Basement Tapes band's performance. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)</small><br> | ||
[[image:2014-11-14 Los Angeles Times photo lkh 02.jpg|360px|border]] | [[image:2014-11-14 Los Angeles Times photo lkh 02.jpg|360px|border]] |
Revision as of 17:35, 3 September 2020
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