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
