Thea Gilmore - John Wesley Harding

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 9 / 6 / 2011

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Review

Few media outlets missed the chance to mark Bob Dylan’s recent seventieth birthday in some way. The BBC were fascinated by rediscovered interview tapes that seemed to hint at heroin use during the mid-1960s, while others were happy just to reprint iconic photographs from the same period. 'Rolling Stone' took the opportunity to print a list of his best songs – choosing nothing recorded after 1975 cleverly ensured free publicity on the backs of irate fans of his later work. In turn, ‘Bobcats’ weighed in with pleas to those who ‘only’ own between ten and twenty Dylan albums to take a peek into the great man’s dustier corners. Thea Gilmore, herself a prolific songwriter, has gone to especially great lengths to shine a light on her favourite example of a neglected Dylan album: she’s covered every track. It just so happens that 'John Wesley Harding' is a favourite of mine as well. You’ll know ‘All Along The Watchtower’, of course, though Dylan’s own version of one of his signature songs is merely a throwaway ditty in comparison to Hendrix’s definitive take on it. But, alongside it is an album that is a rarity in his catalogue – a collection of songs that function best as a cohesive album, not as individual cuts. When 'John Wesley Harding' was released in 1968, Dylan had been away for nearly two years – merely a long-weekend to Coldplay, but enough time for Dylan’s contemporaries to issue two or three new albums. Compared to the “wild mercury sound” of 'Blonde on Blonde', it’s understandable that many were let down by these gentle country tinged shuffles. Time has been kinder – biblical allusions combined with a less introspective outlook make for a warm, evocative set of songs. So, what can Thea Gilmore add to it? Well, first of all there is her voice. Dylan’s nasal croak is, as we all know, not for everyone’s ears. Gilmore, however, has rich, smoky tones you’ll find easy to like. She avoids over-compensating by trying to nail a pristine vocal onto what will always be rough ‘n’ ready songs, a trap that has ensnared many Dylan-coverers. This album would make a nice present for the music fan who’d love Dylan’s songs, if only Dylan didn’t have to sing them. And we all must know at least one of those. Then, there is the extra space that she gives to the arrangements. Dylan – opting not to make this album with his partners in The Band – sticks to a bare bones set up of acoustic strums, bass riffs, drum fills and harmonica. As Hendrix was the first to realise, these songs have plenty of space for guitar solos – and Gilmore’s band is happy to oblige. This album emerged from a cover of ‘I Dreamed I Saw Saint Augustine’; recorded for a magazine-mounted Dylan tribute album not long after he had turned sixty. This cover became a fan-favourite and you’ll still hear people calling out for it at Gilmore gigs. Bruce Springsteen once stopped her to tell her how much she liked it. That version re-appears here, with Gilmore and her husband re-assembling the same line-up and a similar mood. Gilmore’s 'John Wesley Harding' came together quickly – but not in a rush. Some of the arrangements you hear are literally what the band came up with as they ran through the songs for the first time. With brand new songs, such an approach would have been a disaster, but everyone involved here has had plenty of time to get their head around the songs. That’s not to say they necessarily better Dylan every time. One Gilmore struggles with is ‘The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest’. The original is one of the very best rejoinders to anyone who thinks Dylan can’t sing. Apologies to those who read profundity into every line he writes, but the lyrics are intentionally nonsensical – a meaningless mish-mash of borrowed bible parables and wild-west imagery. Dylan’s crisp phrasing makes you listen to the unfolding story carefully – making the eventual admission that “nothing is revealed” a maddening anticlimax. On the songs where Dylan’s tongue stayed untwisted, Gilmore, however, seems to find more than their writer could. Dylan’s strange country arrangement for ‘I Am A Lonesome Hobo’ doesn’t quite bring out the sadness of the lyric: by taking it slower and giving the song more space, Gilmore rings more out of the narrator’s "fatal doom to wander off in shame." ‘The Wicked Messenger’ benefits from an arrangement that is part blues, part hard rock and part rockabilly, with a little room for a hair-shaking guitar solo. Funnily enough, it ends up sounding like something Dylan himself might have done on ‘Love and Theft’. Meanwhile, ‘Down Along the Cove’ captures the leisurely charm of the first rock ‘n’ roll songs, something Dylan might well have been tempted to do as well had he not been so keen to keep things single. Best of all is ‘I Pity the Poor Immigrant’, a song with themes that have come to means more today than when Dylan wrote them. The sketch of a man “who passionately hates his life, and likewise fears his death" is as stark a notion as any he conceived in his protest singing days. Gilmore’s vocal is big hearted, and the lengthy guitar solo is perfectly pitched. Dylan’s current band borrow Hendrix’s arrangement of ‘Watchtower’ for concerts – they might suggest doing the same with this. The sleepy shuffle, ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight’ plays us out, similar yet superior to the better known ‘Lay Lady Lay’. Gilmore can’t want this album compared with her own song-writing. Instead, let’s just enjoy it for what it is: a fine singer with a talented group paying tribute to an underrated body of songs. It certainly won’t offend Dylan fans, and might just tempt some of them to add Gilmore’s self written albums to their shopping lists.

Track Listing:-

1 John Wesley Harding
2 As I Went Out One Morning
3 I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
4 All Along The Watchtower
5 The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest
6 Drifter's Escape
7 Dear Landlord
8 I Am A Lonesome Hobo
9 I Pity The Poor Immigrant
10 The Wicked Messenger
11 Down Along The Cove
12 I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

Band Links:-

http://www.theagilmore.net/
https://www.facebook.com/theagilmoreof
https://twitter.com/theagilmore
https://www.instagram.com/theagilmore/
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheaGilmo