Lest Ye Honour Zimmie!
PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 08/28/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"With Steve Gibbons, P.J. Wright and the entire current line-up of: Fairport Convention as the core of this Project. What we have here is Group of seasoned veterans, devoted to performing the works of Bob Dylan.
Call this a: "Dylan Tribute Band" if that makes you happy, but I call it a very enjoyable take on some classic music and some rare & seldom heard Zimmerman music.
CD One: Steve Gibbons ~ The Dylan Project {1998}. This is the first studio recording from the Chaps. Recorded at The Woodworm Cottage in Banbury in Oxfordshire, England in the middle of the British Folk Belt. It starts with a Gibbons original tune called: "Colours To The Mast" that is written in the style of Dylan, and would have fit in just fine on: "Blonde On Blonde". Steve, does sound a lot like Bob, but he does bring a unique take to all the Dylan songs featured here. "Simple Twist of Fate", "Highway 61" & "I Want You" are fine renditions of those classics. "Peggy Day" {A nod to Rock's greatest bass player?} "Dark Eyes" and "4th Time Around" are lesser known Bob songs that sound great here as well.
A lot of Artists have done their versions of the music of Bob Dylan. Some like Jimi Hendrix have done amazing renditions of Dylan's tunes. Others,{Celine Dion} have stomped the music of Bob, right into the ground. The Dylan Project, does a Spot-On excellent job here, and the Chaps sound as if they are having a wonderful time doing so. A Bonus track not featured on the original release is included: "I Shall Be Released" it is a live cut from the Banbury Theater.
Cd Two: "Live at the Cropredy Festival ~ 1999"
Disc Two is taken from Fairport Convention's Annual August Festival on Cropredy Field. The core Band of Gibbons, Wright, Pegg, Nicol and Conway, adds Keyboard Wizard: John 'Rabbit' Bundrick on loan from The Who, to help fill out the sound. In front of 20,000 punters, this is a standard "Dylan Project" Live Concert. There are some repeats from the first Record here in the Live Set {Colours, When The Ship Comes In, Lonesome Hobo, Dark Eyes and Sweet Marie}. Other Bobtunes shine here: {Sweetheart Like You, Like a Rolling Stone and Just Like a Woman} that were not on the first studio recording. The Bonus track here is from Banbury once more, it is a live take on: "Rainy Day Women"
After the sucess of this show, they went on Tour throught the UK and Europe and still continue you to do so in 2008. A second studio recording was released by the group in 2005 (Dylan Project 2.}
These CD's can still be purchased as single discs from Fairport Conventions Official Web Site, {and you can find ton's of other CD's and merchandise that is not available here in the USA, there as well.} This one looks pricey here, but it costs a bit more to purchase these CD's from the source in England.
Bob as performed: "Woodworm" style.
Four Stars !!!"
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1