Paste Magazine calls is “an exhaustive four-CD collection of Bob Dylan cover songs” that features a “ridiculously eclectic array of artists”. Stereogum, which started to stream the four CD tribute(January 24th release date) this week (sorry…it seems gone today), says it’s “massive and mind-boggling”, while Rolling Stone declares it’s “a moving tribute”. Amnesty International’s website calls it “a stellar and diverse group of artists across the generational and musical spectrum”.
If you read through the press release and publicist’s spin, what you learn is that this is a 76 track set of Dylan songs sung by a hodgepodge of artists that ranges from the credible to the questionable. Artists that are great; artists that will grate. So far today I have spent a couple of hours with this set and can tell you this much: at only $24.99 (or just $19.99 for the download), you’ll get your money’s worth. And you’ll be helping out Amnesty International and acknowledging their fifty years of service to people worldwide, who are unjustly imprisoned or threatened for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.
Sean Wilentz who wrote the liner notes for Chimes of Freedom: A Tribute to Bob Dylan, explains why this album has come about:
“The connections between Amnesty International’s mission and Bob Dylan’s music seem, on a moment’s reflection, so obvious and natural that they require no explanation. For half a century, Amnesty has pressed to secure the fundamental human rights of the persecuted and imprisoned across the globe, standing for the sanctity of individual conscience above arbitrary authority. Over that same half century, Dylan’s art has explored and expressed the anguish and hope of the modern human condition. Mistrusting worldly authority, Dylan has given sympathetic voice to those whom, in “Chimes of Freedom,” he sings of as “the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an’ worse.” That song, which appears in Dylan’s voice on this commemorative collection, might easily serve as Amnesty’s anthem. But so might “Blowin’ in the Wind,” or “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” or, maybe best of all, “I Shall Be Released.”
While it’s doubtful that anyone will question the song selections or credibility of the songwriter and AI organization, I have a feeling there might be quite a discussion on the artists that were chosen to perform. The blogosphere will be a-bloggin’ overtime on the inclusion of Maroon 5 (they do “I Shall Be Released), Miley Cyrus, Ke$ha, Sugarland or maybe even Joe Perry. (Of those, methinks Miley comes off sounding the most genuine.) But on the other hand, there are some brilliant moments from the more expected artists such as Johnny Cash, Steve Earle (with Lucia Micarelli), Joan Baez, Lucinda Williams, Kris Kristofferson, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith and Jackson Browne. And in acknowledging the “international” in their name and the perennial “activist” musicians that seem to pop up on every worthy charitable album or event, you get Sting, Sinead O’Connor, Michael Franti, Billy Bragg, Tom Morello and Ziggy Marley.
It might be easy to give this set a thumbs down for the diversity of artists, and what many might consider “lightweight” entries. Yes….Flogging Molly’s tune does come off like a minivan commercial and Lenny Kravitz sounds as though he’s late for dinner and is rushing to get out of the studio. Bryan Ferry and Eric Burdon illustrate that retirement shouldn’t be limited to just public service workers. But in putting my usual cynicism aside and looking at the whole enchilada with eyes wide open, it’s the choice of artists that cover a whole wide world of fans and styles that should make this a success. And at the price point they’ve chosen, you can easily delete half the tracks and still consider it a bargain.
Here’s the entire tracklist and I’ll BOLD the songs I liked the best:
Disc 1
1. Raphael Saadiq – Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
2. Patti Smith – Drifter’s Escape
3. Rise Against – Ballad of Hollis Brown
4. Tom Morello (The Nightwatchman) – Blind Willie McTell
5. Pete Townshend – Corrina, Corrina
6. Bettye LaVette – Most of the Time
7. Charlie Winston – This Wheel’s On Fire
8. Diana Krall – Simple Twist of Fate
9. Brett Dennen – You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
10. Mariachi El Bronx – Love Sick
11. Ziggy Marley – Blowin’ in the Wind
12. The Gaslight Anthem – Changing of the Guards
13. Silversun Pickups – Not Dark Yet
14. My Morning Jacket – You’re A Big Girl Now
15. The Airborne Toxic Event – Boots of Spanish Leather
16. Sting – Girl from the North Country
17. Mark Knopfler – Restless Farewell
Disc 2
1. Queens of the Stone Age – Outlaw Blues
2. Lenny Kravitz – Rainy Day Woman # 12 & 35
3. Steve Earle & Lucia Micarelli – One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
4. Blake Mills – Heart Of Mine
5. Miley Cyrus – You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
6. Billy Bragg – Lay Down Your Weary Tune
7. Elvis Costello – License to Kill
8. Angelique Kidjo – Lay, Lady, Lay
9. Natasha Bedingfield – Ring Them Bells
10. Jackson Browne – Love Minus Zero / No Limit
11. Joan Baez – Seven Curses (Live)
12. The Belle Brigade – No Time to Think
13. Sugarland – Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You (Live)
14. Jack’s Mannequin – Mr. Tambourine Man
15. Oren Lavie – 4th Time Around
16. Sussan Deyhim – All I Really Want to Do
17. Adele – Make You Feel My Love (Recorded Live at WXPN)
Disc 3
1. K’NAAN – With God On Our Side
2. Ximena Sariñana – I Want You
3. Neil Finn with Pajama Club – She Belongs to Me
4. Bryan Ferry – Bob Dylan’s Dream
5. Zee Avi – Tomorrow Is a Long Time
6. Carly Simon – Just Like a Woman
7. Flogging Molly – The Times They Are A-Changin’
8. Fistful Of Mercy – Buckets of Rain
9. Joe Perry – Man of Peace
10. Bad Religion – It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
11. My Chemical Romance – Desolation Row (Live)
12. RedOne feat. Nabil Khayat – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
13. Paul Rodgers & Nils Lofgren – Abandoned Love
14. Darren Criss feat. Chuck Criss and Freelance Whales – New Morning
15. Cage the Elephant – The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
16. Band of Skulls – It Ain’t Me, Babe
17. Sinéad O’Connor – Property of Jesus
18. Ed Roland and The Sweet Tea Project – Shelter from the Storm
19. Ke$ha – Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
20. Kronos Quartet – Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Disc 4
1. Maroon 5 – I Shall Be Released
2. Carolina Chocolate Drops – Political World
3. Seal & Jeff Beck – Like a Rolling Stone
4. Taj Mahal – Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream
5. Dierks Bentley – Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) (Live)
6. Mick Hucknall – One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
7. Thea Gilmore – I’ll Remember You
8. State Radio – John Brown
9. Dave Matthews Band – All Along the Watchtower (Live)
10. Michael Franti – Subterranean Homesick Blues
11. We Are Augustines – Mama, You Been on My Mind
12. Lucinda Williams – Tryin’ to Get to Heaven
13. Kris Kristofferson – Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
14. Eric Burdon – Gotta Serve Somebody
15. Evan Rachel Wood – I’d Have You Anytime
16. Marianne Faithfull – Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Live)
17. Pete Seeger – Forever Young
18. Bob Dylan – Chimes of Freedom
