Taking Pictures of Food: Test Kitchen Kansas City's Vagabond

If you’ve never participated in one of Jenny Vergara’s Test Kitchen events, put it on the calendar. Her most recent endeavor –- a pop-up –restaurant concept called Vagabond -- has already closed the business door on day two of its five-day run, and, as of Wednesday’s grand opening, seats were still available. There’s only one way to make a reservation, though, and that’s through the Test Kitchen Web site. The wife and I were goofily eager for our Thursday-evening dinner date for almost two weeks, even before our reservation request was accepted.

Having seen and heard the pub –- a Kansas City Star front-page article and an NPR interview (Editor's Note: This isn't the one I heard, but you catch my drift.) –- I knew we were in for something special and Vergara’s front-of-the-house team, paired with Chef Alex Pope’s culinary crew, did not disappoint. We opted for the second seating (you can request 5:30 or 8:30 availability for Sunday) Thursday night, and got there a few minutes early in order to select a great two top, even though there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.

Vagabond is taking place at the Orange Event Space at 1815 Grand in downtown Kansas City, but don’t show up expecting to be squeezed in. Your testkitchenkc.com reservation includes your food, drink, and gratuity, and it's the only way in, which, for my money, is the perfect way to organize a dining event.

“Yeah, I don’t want to deal with money,” Vergara said, as she made her mid-evening rounds.

My wife and I couldn’t have agreed more. Show up, check in, enjoy.

I’ve never noticed the building before last night, but you’d never guess that Vagabond was a temporary installment. Vivid colors of paint coat the walls, and newly hung artwork gives the room personality. There’s a bar, a prep/execution areas, nicely spaced tables, a comfortable temperature, and a fluid setlist of appropriate-volume tunes coming from someone’s iPod.

And Chef Pope’s seven courses flirt with perfection.

First was a salad that featured late summer nightshades (foodie code for baby eggplants?) with olive oil and tofu. It was a very seasonal first course that contained a crisp mix of local ingredients, some grape tomatoes, sweet-potato chips, two different flavors of tofu, and a puree or two. A 2009 Hirsch Gruner Veltliner from Austria made it delightful.

Up next was a sashimi-style scallop that came with celery leaves, a buttermilk-rosemary sauce, truffle, and popcorn. It also had some sliced, de-seeded raw jalapeno, of which the wife said, “There are fewer better combos than jalapeno and popcorn.” I said that putting raw jalapeno on the plate was a bold move. Course two came with a Bridalwood Chardonnay, another 2009, but from California.

(Note: Oops. We were too eager to eat.)

In the three-hole was wild salmon. It appeared to be baked, perhaps griddled, but it was in cake (like crab) form, atop a fresh pork rind, and accompanied by some delicious fennel, Bing cherries, a cardamom sauce, and finished with some country ham. This round’s wine was a year younger, and hailed from France, a Colombelle Rose to be exact.

Batting cleanup was lamb cheeks. Or, as Vergara said, “Lamb cheeks…awesome.” Some pungent mint was either in the fresh garbanzo beans or the coconut gelato. They shared a plate with an incredible slice of heirloom tomato, which tasted of bacon. Vergara checked with Pope, and reported back:

"There's bacon in everything," she said.

A black sesame paste underscored the dish, and it was a fascinating touch, appearing to be a powder, and tasting almost of mole. Its partner was also three years old: Idolee e Olena Chianti Classico from Tuscany.

Round five was a whole hog confit, which looked like a chunk of bratwurst, but ate like no pig you’ve ever tasted. Someone showed off their mandolin skills by flanking the protein with some beautifully thin slices of fresh beet. Also in the mix were figs, masa chips, corn, and a Maytag sauce that might’ve been the nicest accent of the evening. This plate, though, was blasted with a paintball pellet made of beet juice. Righteous. The whole thing was paired with a wine that perhaps bears my favorite name of all time: Writer’s Block Syrah. Another ’08, this one comes from Kelseyville, CA.

After five flavors of awesome, it’s time to mellow it out a bit. Not in flavor or profile, don’t get me wrong. Course six contained some arousing slices of manchego cheese, cantaloupe slivers, pistachios, Phyllo dough crisps, and a hops puree. Yeah, as in the stuff they use to brew beer. It was a smash success, a delightful reminder of how wonderful it is to eat clean food. This wine had us curious. The Manzanilla Sherry (Hidalgo, Spain) probably doesn’t rock by itself. Paired with this course, however, I could roll with it all night.

Bringing up the rear was an Horchata, which had me skeptical. In my culinary days, the Mexicans used to love to brew up Horchata on a hot day, which, to the best of my recollection, had heaping scoops of coconut milk and rice in it. It was like their lemonade. It was also not for me. Pope, however, made a panna cotta out of his Horchata, and dressed it up in hearty servings with peaches, a bourbon-cream sauce, sprinkled Rice Krispies, and bands of lime zest. It came with a four-year-old Two Hands Semillion out of Australia, and was a really nice ending to a fantastic meal.

Mad props to Vergara, Pope,

and the entire crew. May I ask for their forgiveness regarding any verbiage errors as their execution was error-free. They left no detail unthunk, but don’t take my word for it; make your reservations before Vagabond vanishes.

Oh, and when you sign up for Test Kitchen, read the rules, people. No jeans. I'm looking at you, three dudes that rocked the denim last night.
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HoG25 Addendum: The Top 25 Bob Dylan Studio Albums, Part I

On Tuesday, I offered an outline regarding the House of Georges Bob Dylan project, and yesterday it launched, featuring the albums that did not make the top 25. Today, we'll dig into the actual meat and potatoes of the list, and tomorrow we'll wrap it up. Here's to hoping you enjoy it, and if you don't, perhaps you'll find yourself inspired to fire up some Dylan at work, or when you get home, or perhaps in between.

25. Down in the Groove
release date: 05/31/88
cover: first cover-art live shot of Dylan on stage
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 2/5
lyric to love: “You never miss your water til your well runs dry.” -– from “Let’s Stick Together”

notes: “Let’s Stick Together” is a great way to begin the album. Big energy and one of the rockinest cuts BD had put together in some time. It’s followed by “When Did You Leave Heaven?” which makes the pair of cuts one of the weirdest song-to-song transitions in the entire Dylan discography. It does, though, have some nice, twangy guitar work in it.

For this recording session, some three dozen people were brought in, notables include: Eric Clapton, Sly and Robbie, Jerry Garcia, Knopfler, Bob Weir, and (Editor’s Note: I hate this phrase. Maybe more than I hate “just sayin’.” But…) wait for it…: Kip Winger. Strangely -– or maybe not considering excessive documentation regarding the difficulties of recording with Dylan/how many outtakes didn’t make final cuts -- it turned out to be one of his shortest records, clocking in around the 31-minute mark. For those counting at home, some 20-plus tracks were nixed from Groove’s listing.

“Death Is Not the End” is an absolutely haunting number with different layers of backup vocals. Next is “Had a Dream about You, Baby,” which is bland, but with nice organ work. “Ugliest Girl in the World” matches the rockiness of “Let’s Stick Together,” and adds backing singers. There’s the upbeat, decent energy of “Silvio,” and then there’s the passionate Dylan at the mic for “Ninety Miles an Hour (Down a Dead End Street).” It features a very bass-y background vocal, some clamoring piano, and an overall great feel to the track.

Next is the soothing western feel, at least in the beginning of “Shenandoah.” It takes me back to Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid some, and features a bouncing warmth to the guitar, while the backup vocals give the song a Slow Train/Saved feel. “Rank Strangers to Me” brings it all back home with a stripped-down feel that’s soothing and enjoyable.

Regarding the effort I’ve tried to make in keeping popular criticism of particular albums at a distance, I find myself thinking that many critics that have given bad reviews to BD albums either haven’t given them a shot or are comparing them strictly to the Dylan of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Thus, they expect a mind-blowing production every time, set an impossible-to-meet expectation, position themselves for disappointment. This album was far from the spectacular Dylan has delivered. That said, compare it to some of the other music released in 1988, and it’s really not bad at all.

grade: 6.5

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24. Street Legal
release date: 06/15/78
cover: an unsure BD looking to find his way who knows where
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 3/5
lyric to love: “Warlords of sorrow and queens of tomorrow/Will offer their heads for a prayer.” -– from “No Time to Think”

notes: Street Legal opens with “Changing of the Guard,” which delivers a great harmony between the vocals and the organ. It’s got some festive horns reminiscent of early E Street Band sounds. A good all-around sound for this outfit, which makes one wonder why Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue ensemble was so short-lived. “New Pony” has nice percussion, and a big-band sound begins to come out in these first two tracks. “No Time to Think” offers the combination of horn, backup vocals, sprinkling piano, and a return to social commentary, all of which generate a variety of auditory and mental stimulus.

“Baby, Stop Crying” has a somewhat generic feel to it, which is a funny thing to say considering that I’ve always found the massive criticism of Dylan’s body of work -– a representation of an artist that seeks change and growth in his musical repertoire while hashing out the pain and change of personal life within his work -– baffling.

“Is Your Love in Vain?” is not a bad tune at all, but there’s nothing spectacular about it. “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power),” however, has some kind of dark isolation happening musically and BD appears to be going back six or seven years vocally while incorporating big-band sound. The percussion layer adds a full fill to the quiet piano, horns, and backup vocals. In “True Love Tends to Forget” we have the proverbial ballad slot, and a good spot to bring the organ back in as well.

Nothing to say regarding “We Better Talk This Over,” and “Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heart)” is a nice long, full jam to close out the album.

grade: 7

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23. Good As I Been to You
release date: 10/27/92
cover: look of disappointment apropos of the title
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 3/5
lyric to love: “What should the wedding supper be?/Fried mosquito and a black-eyed pea, uh-huh.” -– from “Froggie Went A-Courtin’”

notes: This first of two traditional-folk-song-cover albums kicks off with “Frankie & Albert,” which has some lively guitar. It’s followed up with some similar six-string work in “Jim Jones,” and has brighter vocals than the lead track. “Blackjack Davey” picks up where the pirate-ship theme of “Jones” leaves off, an impressive number. “Canadee-I-O” is one of my favorites: It features some subtle guitar intricacies.

Track five, “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” boasts a dusty blues-funk intro with harmonica. The beginning of the refrain sounds like “Hurts Me Too.” Good energy from this track. Later in the album is the pretty “Hard Times” and “Step It up and Go,” which makes one think that if this –- as has been alleged -– a contractual-obligation release, Dylan’s just killing these songs.

“Tomorrow Night” has some beautiful harmonica work while “Arthur McBride” makes you wanna holler, “Show me the shillelagh!” A noteworthy segment:

“And Arthur and I, we soon drew our hogs/And we scarce gave them the time to draw their own blades/When a trusty shillelagh came over their head/And bid them take that as fair warning.”

The album features three more cuts, the closer of which is the delightful tale/limerick “Froggie Went A-Courtin’.”

grade: 7

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22. Planet Waves
release date: 1/17/74
cover: some kind of odd Picasso twist
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 3/5
lyric to love: “May you always know truth/And see the lights surrounding you” –- from “Forever Young”

notes: Fiery start to the album with the upbeat tempo of “On a Night Like This.” Only mediocre vocals, however. “Going, Going, Gone” boasts some sharp electric guitar, and acts as a bridge from his old self to the self he’d become in the ‘90s.

Note of interest: This was Dylan’s first album to land at number one in the U.S. charts.

Track three, “Tough Mama,” has some popcorn bass with noteworthy guitar harmony, while “Hazel” has a great feel from the start and some of the better harmonica playing heard from BD in some time. There’re two versions of “Forever Young” on the album. Like so many of the tracks already discussed, this one was made famous by someone else (Rod Stewart) later covering it. The initial, slower version is breathtaking. The second, however, is confusing. That is, it’s a good version, but doesn’t even touch the original. It cooks a little in parts, but still…

Note of interest: The idea for the album came from chats between Dylan and Robbie Robertson, chats that took place after Summer Jam, the 30-year precedent to Phish’s Super Ball IX festival at the same location, Watkins Glen.

As the album draws to a close, the musicians offer a cryptic piano intro in “Dirge,” interesting guitar effects in “Something There Is About You,” and a relaxing, floating feeling courtesy of “Never Say Goodbye.” It does, however, have some choppy waves in it. “Wedding Song,” the album’s final cut, reminds us that BD has always recorded tracks with passion, but this number, with its directives, is a first in terms of its powerful, humble, and honest approach.

A lot of good bits of music on this album but even hardcore Dylan fans will likely continue to only bust it out on occasion.

grade: 7

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21. New Morning
release date: 10/21/70
cover: I’ve shed those Blonde on Blonde layers of psychedelia
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 4/5
lyric to love: “The man standin’ next to, his head was explodin’/Well, I was prayin’ the pieces wouldn’t fall on me.” -- from "Day of the Locusts"

notes: New Morning gets underway with some wicked organ effects and perhaps a xylophone on “If Not for You.” It’s followed by “Day of the Locusts” -– a creepy title –- that has some monster organ and high energy. With “Time Passes” the production offers an interesting delay of drum intro, and three tracks in I’m forced to comment on criticism: The AllMusic guys gave this album four stars, while only two to Self Portrait. To quote Wallace Shawn’s character Vizzini, “Inconceivable.”

Later in the album, “Winterlude” provides some exquisite waltz sound with a polka beat and bluegrass pickins. Not gonna get that combination many places. “If Dogs Run Free” beckons my Colorado-town college mentality, the notion of being oppressed by the man, as it were. There’re some female scat vocal parts that come across as both silly and sexy, while some waterfall piano and drip-tick guitar work fills the sound.

The title track has BD vocals again returning to an earlier version of themselves. That coupled with simple six-string strumming and organ hint at a possible rebirth. “Sign on the Window” comes next, and it’s always admirable when Dylan composes a track entirely different of anything prior. The song title exists as a suggestion of a life metaphor, i.e. everyone’s seen a sign in a window that feels like a representation of their life at that moment.

We get some down-home blues with “One More Weekend,” and they’re a style of blues married to jazz rock, the old-fashioned toe-tappin’ and foot-slappin’. “The Man in Me” has sparse verse work while the chorus blasts with fullness, accentuated by backup vocals, and a delightful piano outro. This pretty much sums up the release as the duo of “Three Angels” and “Father of Night” seems an odd conclusion.

grade: 7.5

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20. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
release date: 07/13/73
cover: a billboard advertising the movie
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 2/5
lyric to love: “That long black cloud is comin’ down” –- from -- C’mon. You know what it’s from.

notes: I’d be lying if I said this album didn’t have its weaknesses. It does. For the most part, though, it’s pretty damn cool. The “Main Title Theme (Billy)” is gorgeous, while “Cantina Theme (Workin’ for the Law)" has an incredible feel with great percussion. “Billy 1” has some decent guitar work, but also some sloppy harmonica and unattractive vocals. “Bunkhouse Theme” has some soothing picking. If you’re not a sucker for some banjo (courtesy of Jolly Roger) and fiddle, then there’s probably a hole in your head. “Turkey Chase” gives us some fine musicianship in that regard. The notoriety of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” speaks for itself as both Eric Clapton and Guns N’ Roses really made it famous. Interesting tidbit, though: Dylan had a number called “Goodbye Holly” that he allegedly thought a good fit for the motion-picture soundtrack. His adviser thought otherwise and Dylan composed “Knockin’” for a different scene, the one in which Sheriff Baker dies.

There’s a tranquil feel to “Final Theme,” inflated by the flute, recorder playing of Gary Foster. The track also has a nice bass line. Other tidbits regarding the recording of the album: Booker T. Jones of Booker T and the MGs fame plays some bass; Roger McGuinn plays some guitar. Also, lots of immediate dissing of the album followed its release, while it was later revered. It’s bizarre to imagine why it wasn’t appreciated for its compositional integrity in the first place.

grade: 7.5

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19. Together Through Life
release date: 04/28/09
cover: Git some!
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 4/5
lyric to love: “I just want to say that Hell’s my wife’s home town.” –- from “My Wife’s Home Town”

notes: Album number 33 opens with “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’,” a fairly high energy cut again for a release lead. It’s perhaps a notch down -- in comparison to the previous two -- in tempo, but the addition of the accordion is a nice touch. “Life is Hard” has nice mandolin work, but is early on the album for the mellow-tune slot.

Later we get “If You Ever Go to Houston,” which is solid. The accordion continues to make appearances, and it might be at its strongest here. Also, screw Texas. “Forgetful Heart” has a Time Out of Mind feel, heavy on the dirty cowboy, courtesy of the banjo and accordion. “Jolene” is a return to traditional blues, a decent track, but the lead guitar lick is repetitive.

The accordion motif continues in “This Dream of You,” and the cut, thanks to some violin action, has a Desire feel to it. Some good pauses in this number, and the composition almost coaxes the aroma of an Italian café to waft through the speakers.

At some point, I came across a review of this album that started something like, I hate to admit it folks, but Bob Dylan sounds old. I found this remarkably dumb, as he would’ve been fixin’ to turn 68 when this record dropped. And, um, that is old. His voice has been hampered, but he still rips it up and this album is no slouch.

“Shake Shake Mama” is good fun, some blues-rock with a taste of libido, while “I Feel a Change Comin’ On” really ups the ante. Listening to it, I picture myself beach-side, the proverbial umbrella drink in hand (Note: This is not an accurate representation of how I lounge, as the sun is my nemesis.), on vacation, the feel of wanting to do better in life upon return home. That underbelly of time-is-always-fleeting really fingers the human experience.

“It’s All Good.” Yo, Bob –- the Fort Lewis College Independent beat you to that one by a decade-plus. Seriously, though -– grab that accordion and jump in the jalopy. We’re outta here on this one.

grade: 7.75

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18. John Wesley Harding
release date: 12/27/67
cover: a bizarre pose for some kind of Thanksgiving photo shoot
sales note: platinum
AllMusic stars: 5/5
lyric to love: “So when you see your neighbor carrying something/Help him with his load/And don’t go mistaking paradise/For that home across the road.” -– from “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest”

notes: The title track kicks it off with a sense that we’re getting serious with things, it would seem. “As I Went Out One Morning” has bumping bass, some weak harmonica work. I think, in that vein of relationships with songs, and in the artery of artist infiltration, I liked John Wesley Harding in my college years because I felt I was supposed to, because it wasn’t -– I’d decided –- a massively known album to my generation, because it was Dylan, because he was the composer of “Watchtower,” a song of immeasurable importance we’d all associated with Hendrix.

But, “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” is possibly the best song on the album. “Watchtower” get the nod for staying power, but it, at least, is a bit raw. The irony in that, of course, is that that that’s usually a good thing for Dylan. In this case, “Ballad” is a more complete, more Dylanesque composition.

Definitely identified with “Dear Landlord” in college. It’s a track with an interesting soul twist, a vocal variation, and a passion not heard in such a succinct way, not to mention rolling piano scales. What follows is a good western feel with “I Am a Lonesome Hobo,” a cut with fluid movement. In “I Pity the Poor Immigrant” we learn that the speaker “passionately hates his life and likewise fears his death,” reminding us of the beauty of Dylan’s lyrics oftentimes comes in the form of a pervading authenticity.

A couple of songs later, there’s some smooth volume mixing in the jazz-rock number called “Down Along the Cove,” and in “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” we’re graced with some steel guitar riffs that could land the cut, as a single, on a country shelf.

grade: 7.75

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17. Modern Times
release date: 08/29/06
cover: It’s a side view of a mixing board, turntables in front of stacks of dice, a shot of microphones on stands blurred in development, the sheen of nighttime New York distorted. It’s UFOs. I don’t know what it is.
sales note: platinum
AllMusic stars: 5/5
lyric to love: “I’m so hard pressed, my mind tied up in knots/I keep recycling the same old thoughts.” -- from "Someday Baby"

notes: “Thunder on the Mountain,” like "Love and Theft"’s “Tweedle Dee” kicks off the album with a face-slap tempo. The difference between the two is that “Thunder” says, “eat your heart out, Chuck Berry.” “Spirit on the Water” has something special about its vocals. They remind me of a gravelly throated Martin Sexton scatting on “Diggin’ Me” from his album The American. There’s a tranquil waltz feel to the drum and guitar, accented by a softly sweeping harmonica solo at song’s end.

“Rollin’ and Tumblin’” takes me back to garage-sale cleanup at Casa Bank a few weeks ago. The wife was putting knick knacks in a box when this track came on. She stopped, spund around, and said, “Holy shit, is this Bob Dylan?” I strutted past with a nod that could not be distinguished from my air-guitar chicken walk.

“Wow,” she said. “I can hear him, but I can’t.”

I’m not sure what that anecdote means, but the flat-out ass kicking of the song must’ve caught her off guard in some surprisingly diversified-artist fashion. There’s pretty much not one second of this song, though, that doesn’t kick all the ass: “Sooner or later, you too…shall…buuuuuuurrrn!”

The token ballad spot is served by “When the Deal Goes Down,” and “Someday Baby” has some jump-jivin’ blues. As many times as I’ve heard “Workingman’s Blues #2,” I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why the narrator needs his boots and his shoes. Pretty song, though. “Beyond the Horizon” is definitely not a bad song, but following “Workingman’s” begins to give the album that coming-down-from-high feel.

“The Levee’s Gonna Break” brings the tempo back up a couple tunes later. It’s a fun rendition of the classic blues number, while “Ain’t Talkin’” offers some of the eerie from Time folded into the old-style BD tale, yet spiced with the new BD heard in “Theft” and on this album as well.

grade: 8

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16. Oh Mercy
release date: 09/22/89
cover: the first non-hipster hipster painting
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 3/5
lyric to love: “Oh, it’s rush hour now/On the wheel and the plow/And the sun is going down/Upon the sacred cow.” –- from “Ring Them Bells”

notes: There’s some nice percussion and tempo in “Political World,” and it’s got a good guitar crunch, too. I appreciate the meaning behind the lyrical content but there’s something paltry about its delivery. “Where Teardrops Fall” has some excellent lap steel riffs in it, and it’s a much more cohesive track than the album’s opener. A fascinating choice to include the sax solo of John Hart to close the track. “Everything Is Broken” contains cool percussion and the mix of musicians already present in the album is impressive. This one features some healthy harmonica and some funky guitar reverb.

“Man in the Long Black Coat” possesses an unimaginable soundscape that touches every corner of potential. Here the effort to not compare Dylan’s work to itself continues, but the irony of this exercise is, in a sense, to do precisely that. In this case, there’s an element of the musical personality that harbors the leftovers of BD’s early songwriting, and holds on to them for the personality still to come. I’m far from a production expert, but Daniel Lanois’ work on this album is stunning, even to my untrained ear. This tale and its soundtrack mix the country, the electric, the dark, the mysterious, and knead them into the perfect dough, a dough that rises from a Johnny Cash-ish yeast.

After that one, I would’ve been content with duds. Well, not really, but it’s that good. In “Most of the Time” a cool electric feel, coupled with some impeccable guitar playing and underwater bass blend with coasting drums and whale-call backup six string. Specifically, the rhythm guitar licks have crispness, yet a low volume mix that makes them stand out more than had they been amped. Pardon my French here, but great fucking cut that rounds out with a gritty-mouthed western feel of electronica.

Those two monsters lead us into “What Good Am I?” Also a superb number, and it has some words to live by: “What good am I if I know and don’t do?” Up next is “Disease of Conceit.” Cool concept, but an odd song. “What Was It You Wanted” is next-to-last and the use of different guitarists in it is an impressive choice. Not that BD hasn’t done it before, but with this groundbreaking production style, it’s smart. “Shooting Star” is a serene way to close it out, especially with the harmonica ending.

grade: 8

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15. World Gone Wrong
release date: 10/28/93
cover: dinner for one
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 3/5
lyric to love: “The same hand that led me through seas most severe/Has kindly assisted me home.” –- from “Lone Pilgrim”

notes: The title track leads World off and has some handsome, admirable honesty. I can’t put my finger on what so marvelous about “Love Henry,” but I literally marvel at it. With “Blood in My Eyes” I’m reminded that these incredible albums have been sitting around in my various basements for years. The sadness of “Delia” is overwhelming, yet really pretty, while “Stack A Lee” is a trip down the Bob Dylan-of-old lane. It’s a phenomenal story with brisk strumming and vibrant harmonica work.

“Two Soldiers” is a wartime ballad that pierces the heart with sorrow yet warms the soul like the rising sun on a chilly fall morning. “Jack-A-Roe” gives me Grateful Dead goose bumps. It’s another tale of war and love. Finally, with “Lone Pilgrim,” I recall a lot of critical hype about the liner notes. This track’s note is a great one.

grade: 8.5

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14. "Love and Theft"
release date: 09/11/01 (Editor’s Note: No, that’s not a typo.)
cover: gross mustache, Bob
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 5/5
lyric to love: “I was raised in the country, I been workin’ in the town/I been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down.” –- from “Mississippi”

notes: The fade-in to rockabilly tempo on “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum” is impressive. The track’s got quick note picking on the lead(ish) guitar that takes turns at the forefront with crystal strums of rhythm. Some good knee-bouncing energy for a lead track. “Mississippi” is a beautiful composition that has a Jeff Lynne/Tom Petty feel to the guitar-refrain parts. A casual drum role is appropriate for the instrument counterparts on the track: “My clothes are wet, tight on my skin/Not as tight as the corner that I painted myself in.”

“Summer Days” slows down the album’s pace, offers some velvety church organs, there’s some peculiar reverb on some of the guitar notes. Just when you think the spunk has been tapped, we get “Lonesome Day Blues” has a door-kickin’-in intro, a guh-chank-guh-chank rhythm guitar that makes you wanna air strum. It offers the feel of a barn with Marshall stacks in it -– it’s hot, the lemonade pitchers sweat as much as the napes of every dancing neck in the joint. It takes us back to the billowing dresses and launched ladies: “You’re gonna need my help sweetheart/You can’t make love all by yourself.”

In “Floater (Too Much to Ask)” Larry Campbell’s violin/mandolin/banjo play give a boisterous twist to a track that fits in with the album in a straightforward fashion. Dylan’s vocals are aggressive on this release but with a good result considering how froggy he’d become. The following cut, “High Water (for Charlie Patton)” has banjo in it and a Kansas City reference in the opening verse. Win, win. Nice rumbling drums, too.

Again with the tolling bells/who are they for in “Moonlight.” This serene number mirrors its title. One of my favorites on the album is “Po’ Boy.” I used to feature that style of sandwich as a lunch special from time to time, but that’s a horse of a different color. I love the dialogue BD’s never too shy to include, and this track’s got plenty of it. It also gets away from the busy studio sound heard in the other cuts on the album. It has the feel of driving down a country road, seeing Dylan on the porch playing this number, sipping some root beer during the pauses. You should read the lyrics to this song. They’re like milk; does a body good.

“Cry a While” gets right back to the crunch. Good bounce. “Sugar Baby” takes me back to the notion of recorded order versus album-appearance order. It’s tough to know the contrast between the two, but this one’s perfectly placed as a farewell song. It’s one of those tracks where the constant-information-absorption tendency of a project like this halts and you just take it in. It’d be interesting to know what percentage of certainty BD felt regarding future studio projects when this one was labeled complete.

grade: 8.5

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13. The Basement Tapes
release date: 6/26/75
cover: old-time saloon feel
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 5/5
lyric to love: “What’s it to ya’, Moby Dick? This is chicken town.” -– from “Lo and Behold!”

notes: In studying the entire Dylan discography, I was tempted, for a second, to leave this one off since it was done with The Band. I leaned that way because I’d already decided to leave off Dylan & the Dead. The latter, however, is considered a live album, and The Basement Tapes was born out of not only a studio session, but a lengthy, temporarily shelved one at that. It begins with “Odds and Ends,” a jazz rock bit with hints of what we’d later hear with The Traveling Wilburys. “Orange Juice Blues (Blues for Breakfast)”* stays with the jazz feel, but, obviously, incorporates some blues into a nice cut, equipped with some bright saxophone work from Garth Hudson.

“Million Dollar Bash” reveals a lyrical modernity beginning to evolve for Dylan, an interesting contrast with the still-old-style vocal approach. “Yazoo Street Scandal”* is not a bad cut in that it features some band-saw sliding guitar and squeaky-springs keyboard work. “Katie’s Been Gone”* has a nice twist with Levon Helm on vocals. “Bessie Smith”* delivers vibrant, carnivalesue organ with enough energy to power a two-stroke engine, and having said that, Michael Gray’s quote regarding the eight tracks not written by Dylan (asterisked) -- “The interspersed tracks by The Band alone merely disrupt the unity of Dylan material, much more of which should have been included” -– is something with which I agree, albeit an appreciation of the collaboration is warranted.

“Clothes Line Saga” is a number in which I enjoy the topic of choice and everyday honesty. “Apple Suckling Tree” has a rich, rockabilly air of an old-time saloon, a pop-n’-bop organ that gives a swaying-Baptist-church feel to an otherwise-rural setting. “Please Mrs. Henry” enhances the regular-guy American feel to the album courtesy of it vocals, while “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” employs the use of the literal as a vehicle for the figurative roots of an authentic American musician.

“Nothing Was Delivered” has bouncing piano, swaying bass, and an underbed of guitar licks that go well with the barnyard vocals of the song, which has a vibe of honesty about it similar to that of a barber-shop afternoon. There’s something early-‘60s Dylan about “Open the Door, Homer.” Had it been just BD and his guitar, though, it might’ve been a fraction of the song as the presence of The Band made it magnificent.

The second half of the album’s tracks has a steam-engine aura to them that would energize a sweaty old man’s back-porch whittling operation. See, for example: “Long Distance Operator.” “This Wheel’s on Fire”* says that, even inside a song of lament, there is an embedded fuel that perhaps pushed the sessions, the careers of both Dylan and The Band, as well as the broadening advancement of American music. “Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread” has peculiar lyrics, sprinkling piano, and a fun rhythm, while “Ain’t No More Cane” offers a different sound with Helm on vocals, Hudson on accordion, and some quiet mandolin work lining the song’s underbelly.

“Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)” develops the interesting motif explored by Johnny Cash, the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and others. After “Ruben Remus”* comes “Tiny Montgomery,” which invokes visions of washboards strapped to chests, whiskey handles being carried.

grade: 8.75

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12. Desire
release date: 01/17/76
cover: a free-wheelin’, avant-garde Bob Dylan
sales note: platinum x2
AllMusic stars: 4/5
lyric to love: “She said, ‘You gonna stay?’ I said, If you want me to, Yeeeeesss!’” -- from "Isis"

notes: I can’t say I recall any radio play of “Hurricane” as a kid. Did it get any? Was it banned because of controversy and profanity? Obviously, we all know the epic status this song holds. The all-time protest song. “Isis,” however, is the best song on the album, and near the top of his BD’s top 20 ever recorded. I’ve talked a lot about relationships with songs in recent months, and it is this notion that inspired this post. I think initial listens to Desire left me so blown away with the opening combo of “Hurricane” and “Isis” that I decided it must’ve been Dylan’s best album of all time. It was as if the rest of the album could do no harm, that it had to receive equal love.

Of course it didn’t help matters that I was just beginning to drink coffee and living in one of the world’s three Durangos at the time. Conversations with my old pal Gerard Portmanteau, however, prompted me to get the kindling ablaze on this project, which of course afforded revisits to all the old Dylan staples. In the end, I’m still passionate about many of the tracks, but now I realize the lack of cohesiveness Desire has compared to much of what was released prior.

There are times when my inclination to give an album a high rating is thwarted due to only one or two tracks of massive staying power. There are times, though, when a track (or two) is so powerful on a personal level that that theory is shelved. Desire, via the aforementioned tandem is one of the latter, wherein the best example of the former comes in the form of Highway 61 Revisited.

Anyway, the violin work by Scarlet Rivera on “One More Cup of Coffee” has been present through the first four tracks, but it is w/ “Cup” that it takes on a new, eerie, persona, and in some kind of Kill Bill fashion, seems set on accompanying the song’s subject (if there is one) “to the valley below” of death and decay. Haunting sound, and the Emmy Lou Harris vocals only boost that.

The somber sounds of “Sara” salt the streams of any man’s tears, and though the mid-‘70s gave us plenty of relationship songs, this one’s nothing to scoff at, equipped with some top-notch harmonica parts, and striking lyrics like “glamorous nymph with an arrow and bow.” “Joey has thundering drums, quaint violin, and Dominic Cortese on mandolin/accordion gives the cut more of a mobster-like flair than perhaps the lyrics. Again, vocals from Harris flavor the soothing sounds of the ballad, but it’s a long one.

“Hot chili peppers in the blistering sun” has to be the best opening line in music history. The bouzouki’s beauty, the trumpet blasts, the sun rays of accordion, the Harris vocals, and the fading in and out of all the instruments make "Romance in Durango" the most underrated gem of the entire album. “Black Diamond Bay”’s odd drum beat and quick downward vocal slopes at the end of each line are a unique approach. I love how the occasional line of lyrics began with sparse snare hits and rippling bass line (Editor’s Note: Why the Harris vocals across the album didn’t make liner-note credits has always been a mystery to me.).

The whole song, though, yields an urbane sense of polishedness to the album. Gotta love a Cronkite reference, and it’s got a decent running time, too. “Oh, Sister,” as a brother to three sisters and as a young, upon early listens, human being trying to find his way in the world, this cut had a special place for me even if, on cassette, it s a sappy way to end a powerful album. In the end, it didn’t turn out to have much staying power for me, but not a bad song.

grade: 9

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11. Another Side of Bob Dylan
release date: 08/08/64
cover: a stoic black-and-white pose suggesting an early hardening of the musician
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 5/5
lyric to love: “Aw, but I was so much older then/I’m younger than that now.” –- from “My Back Pages”

notes: Release number four kicks off with “All I Really Wanted to Do.” Such a basic song, yet if performed by anybody else, it would suck. The power of Dylan. Among the trio of “Black Crow Blues,” “Spanish Harlem Incident,” and “Chimes of Freedom” is some serious story-telling that would not be done justice without giving them a listen, so please: Do so.

“I Shall Be Free No. 10” reminds me in a curious fashion that I have never spent a ton of time with this album, but I love that he has variations of this original. It reminds me of my Ode(s) to the Untouchable Poet, a series of terrible poetry I penned for BD in my youth. The rhyming of this track is so care-free it’s profound. “He’s a weird monkey/Very Funky….I’m a poet/I didn’t know it/ Hope I don’t blow it.” How many times did you hear those poet lines in grade school and know that they were Dylan? None if you’re my age.

Next is an interesting examination of a depressed persona. “To Ramona” gazes in on pain and lost love that seem to come out as background vocals and are propped up the unusually calm strumming. And because it’s such great advice: “Everything passes/Everything changes/Just do what you think you should do.” What follows is the clean and crisp, intelligent and funny fresh mix of pop culture, politics, social norms, and deviations, all courtesy of a number called “Motorpsycho Nightmare.”

After this selection's "lyric to love" comes the comforting simplicity of “I Don’t Believe You,” then the admirably titled “Ballad in Plain D,” which, by nature, may be written and composed in a plain chord or progression, but it’s a gorgeous piece of music topped with some of BD’s most patient lyrical work, some of his heartiest harmonica riffs yet. And the album closes with “It Ain’t Me, Babe,” a tune most know, but perhaps few recognize its inherent sorrow.

grade: 9

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There you have it. Do come back tomorrow for the top 10.
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HoG25 Addendum: The Top 25 Bob Dylan Studio Albums: Not Making the Cut

If you missed yesterday's preview, the gig that's been going on around here for the past couple of months has been to spend some quality time with each of the 34 Bob Dylan studio releases, and assemble a top-25 list. Today we won't dive into those that made it, but rather the nine that did not?

Why?

Because Bob Dylan rules. That's why. And even in some of his so-deemed lesser production efforts, his stuff is better than a lot of the other music being cobbled together. Anyway, I used the most scientific methods around to compile this ranking: After the appropriate number of listens per album, I assigned a 1-10 grade to each, and in the event of a tie, had a listen-off. Let's have a look.

34. Empire Burlesque
release date: 06/08/85
cover: swallowed by the ‘80s while being slowly eaten by the reel of a Dire Straits video
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 4/5
lyric to love: A cock is crowing far and away and another soldier’s deep in prayer/Some mother’s child has gone astray, she can’t find him anywhere.” -– from “Dark Eyes”

notes: I mentioned yesterday that this was one of three albums that was difficult to procure on a limited budget. In this record's case, I think it's because not that many copies were pressed. But I opened my e-mail this morning, and what's ready for me at the library? A compact-disc copy of Empire Burlesque. Thanks, inter-library loan. Nine weeks later. Anyway...

“Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)” is the opening track, and I struggled to find something positive to say about the song. It’s got a decent staccato picking, and the backup vocals aren’t bad, but the harmonica is atrocious, and is grounds for some mockery (1:22 mark). The cheese level on this song in general is way high. It’s followed by “Seeing the Real You at Last” which, I’m afraid, is just awful.

Track three is called “I’ll Remember You,” which is a ballad that’s not horrible. I read some praise for “Clean-cut Kid” and understand it was a live staple for a minute. I mean, I get it if it’s about Vietnam, but it’s mostly about how to write atrocious music. A couple of songs later, “Trust Yourself,” has some decent organ riffs. Initially it sounds like a familiar Dylan, but a bad fake-drum thing comes in and Dylan, in the refrain, is bad.

“Emotionally Yours” has the feel of an authentic composition that no other track (to this point) on the album does. It doesn’t matter what happens in “When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky,” it simply cannot be taken seriously with the synthetic drum rolls. I also read some allegations of Dylan producing this album himself. If those are true, let’s hope he never has that thought ever again.

The next-to-last track is called “Something’s Burning, Baby. It’s got odd military-sounding drums in the beginning but the song moves into quite the respectable tune. Criticism suggests that the number hints at the apocalyptic, but I see the song more as a metaphor for a relationship on the rocks. “Dark Eyes” closes it out, and there’s no debate to be had: It’s the album’s best cut.

grade: 3

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33. Saved
release date: 06/20/80
cover: repeats Slow Train motif with precise image that reflects the title
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 2/5
lyric to love: “You know that we are strangers in a land we’re passing through/I’ll always be right by your side, I’ve got a covenant, too.” -- from "Covenant Woman"

notes: Things get underway with a gospel feel, right out of the gate with “A Satisfied Mind.” The title track is kind of what you’d expect from a song called “Saved.” Picture a congregation of enormous musical talent. Picture them rooted in an affluent portion of the south. Picture them rehearsing four nights a week in anticipation of the Sabbath. Now picture them glistening with a whiskey sweat and a cocaine-fueled flux capacitor.

“Convenant Woman” is a nice, down-home jam. It’s got crispy guitar strumming and picking, plus some organ work that’s energetically reserved. “What Can I Do For You” has a repentful groove composed with genuine investment, as if it’s the loaded-Sunday congregation leader thanking his interventionist. Or maybe just a born-again Christian thanking el papa de Jesu Cristo. “Solid Rock” can be summed in two words: pretty terrible.

“Pressing On,” while much better than the previous track makes the God stuff begin to feel a bit too overt. Not a bad composition, though. At album’s end is “Are You Ready.” It features mildly irritating, repetitive vocals, but it makes up for it with some head-bopping blues-guitar rhythm and a passionate organ solo.

grade: 4.5

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32. Knocked Out Loaded

cover: bizarre photo animation of fight-breakup-attempt scene
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 2/5
lyric to love: “As I travel down life’s pathway/Know not what the years may hold/As I ponder, hopes grow fonder/Precious memories flood my soul.” -– from “Precious Memories”

notes: As we enter the mid-‘80s, this one opens with “You Wanna Ramble,” which has a gate-bustin’ swing feel to it, and it’s followed by the intense “They Killed Him,” easily the most profound track of the album. “Driftin’ Too Far from Shore” leaves me lukewarm. I suppose the backing vocals are nice, but they’re bland, repetitive, and cut with some fake-sounding drums.

It seems that, for most of a decade at this point, that Dylan continues to grow the number of personnel used in each recording session. This one was no runt: upwards of 60.

There’s an admirable journey within “Precious Memories,” one that explores a mashing of reggae, calypso, and gospel. Unfortunately, it’s followed by the stale rhythm of “Maybe Someday,” which does, however, have a bit of energetic perk from BD and his backup singers. “Brownsville Girl” reminds us that Dylan’s epics always have value, even if it’s hidden. This one falls short of the lesser ones we got from Desire, etc. The album’s final cut, “Under Your Spell,” has fresh rhythm in the refrain not seen elsewhere on Loaded, albeit some good horns almost always liven things up a bit.

grade: 5

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31. Christmas in the Heart
release date: 10/13/09
cover: Nice, wholesome sleigh-ride look, but I prefer the inside artwork.
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 3/5
lyric to love: “How’d you like to stay up late like the islanders do? /Wait for Santa to sail in with your presents in a canoe.” -- from "Christmas Island

notes: There are 15 holiday cuts on here. Most are traditional; a couple were first listens for me. Regarding specific tracks, “Little Drummer Boy” is awesome, has always been a favorite of mine, and it’s better here than most anywhere I’ve heard. “The Christmas Blues” was a new tune to me. Dig the harmonica on it. “O’ Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)” reminds me, as so many random compositions do, of Carolyn Pitts, my fifth-grade music teacher. “Must Be Santa” makes you say, Whoa. High energy. I like the listing of presidents. And “Christmas Island” was also new to me. It’s nice. I can get on board with the idea of 12/25 luau.

I was not aware that Dylan had recorded this album prior to starting this project. At first discovery, I was disappointed. It felt cheap, an easy way to either a) fill an obligation, b) make a few bucks, or c) both. One of my biggest challenges, though, is trying to eliminate that knee-jerk tendency to judge off the bat. In fact, it might actually be my biggest single challenge. I’m not proud of it, but I feel okay about the fact that I chisel away at it, sliver by sliver, each day.

Then I gave the thing a listen, and I felt foolish. I liked it, even though it was literally 106 degrees out upon first spin. Not only did I like it, I immediately felt excited to revisit the album come Christmastime. Then I gave it a couple more listens, and though I was content to be done with it, I liked it even more. Foolish, however, grew to embarrassment when I learned that all royalties from stateside sales of this album go to a hunger project called Feeding America. Overseas they go to the World Food Programme and Crisis in the UK. God, I’m a jerk.

grade: 5.75*

*Given that Dylan assembled his corps of musicians, went into the studio, and followed normal suit to produce this album, it had to be counted. It’s not original material, but that’s not the first (or the second) time he’s done it, so, you know –- grain of salt.

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30. Under the Red Sky
release date: 09/11/90
cover: contemplative desolation in a nice (tieless) suit
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 2/5
lyric to love: “On the rising curve/Where the ways of nature will test every nerve/You won’t get anything you don’t deserve.” -– from “Born in Time”

notes: “Wiggle Wiggle” is the album's first cut. It’s got a cool opening blues ax and then the singing starts. Terribly geeky bass riff and kind of a bad song all around, which is too bad because this is the only cut to feature Slash. The title track is second, which also has a good intro, as well as some lively -– albeit confusing in that it sounds like an accordion -- organ. It’s nice having Al Kooper back in the mix, George Harrison on slide. “Unbelievable” is the name of track three. It’s real damn mediocre, Kooper being the only highlight.

The fourth song, “Born in Time,” features David Crosby on backup vocals, Bruce Hornsby on the piano. Paulinho da Costa fills the negative space with some percussion. “TV Talkin’ Song” states, “Your mind is your temple, keep it beautiful and free/Don’t let an egg get laid in it by something you can’t see.” It’s a good social-commentary piece, not a great song.

Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughn appear on “10,000 Men” but you wouldn’t know it if you didn’t read it. Kind of a waste. Waddy Wachtel sounded more like Stevie Ray on the title track. What follows is the very simple “2X2,” which is maybe the album’s best. It features more Crosby, Elton John on piano. The Vaughn brothers return for “God Knows,” and while their sound is more recognizable on this song, it’s pretty uninventive as a whole.

Next is “Handy Dandy,” which opens like an old-school Bob Dylan number. It has some nice backup vocals, it’s upbeat and puts up some good competition with “2X2” for album’s best. Dylan’s piano work is incredible, a reminder that it’s easy to forget how often he’s seated in front of the ivories. To close it out, “Cat’s in the Well” brings back the brothers Vaughn for one more. The accordionesque organ is a nice feature for this track and it has some faint horns as well. The lead guitar offers some nice staccato picking, and all in all, it’s a strong composition for the album, albeit a bit lyrically repetitive.

grade: 6

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29. Shot of Love
release date: 08/12/81
cover: something out of one of those ‘80s grocery-store-foyer vending machines, the kind that cost a then-valuable quarter, the contents of which were all prizes housed in a clear, plastic egg. You hope for the parachuting green martian, but instead you get a temporary tattoo of something rotten, like the artwork for this cover
sales note: n/a
AllMusic stars: 2/5
lyric to love: “I rode with him in a taxi once/Only for a mile and-a-half/Seemed like it took a couple of months.” –- from “Lenny Bruce”

notes: A fairly rockin’ title track gets things underway, and it’s followed by “Heart of Mine,” which features inventive open guitar licks, and a appreciable tempo. BD is doing something fresh with his vocal approach, and the piano dances in one of the best numbers recorded in the last three albums.

“Property of Jesus” is the only track with a title that gets Christian. Not a bad little rockabilly number. “Lenny Bruce” maybe the oddest, sincerest tribute I’ve ever heard. “Watered-Down Love” is sort of cheesy, musically, definitely cheesy by title. Interesting guitar-picking teases. “The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar” makes for consecutive dorky titles but it’s not without some rockin’.

Next is a haunting reggae sort of rhythm right out of the gate in “Dead Man, Dead Man.” It features organ beds and phantom sax blasts that come in to further the jam, while the piano and organ solos build to a great climax. Coupled with “Heart of Mine,” these tracks push the album quality up in the direction of Street Legal.

By the time we get “In the Summertime,” Dylan performs some of his first harmonica work in some time, perhaps hinting at something, perhaps at a shift away from his B.A.C.dom. “Trouble” is a little sloppy, yet rockin’. It’s kinda like some of those lesser-known AC/DC songs from the Bon Scott era. “Every Grain of Sand” makes Shot a wrap, and it starts off ugly, but finishes gorgeously, almost Neil Young-like.

grade: 6

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28. Dylan
release date: 11/16/73
cover: something out of a seventh-grade Social Studies textbook chapter on evolution
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 1/5
lyric to love: “I stepped up to my rival, dagger in my hand/I seized him by the collar, boldly made him stand.” -- from "Lily of the West"

notes: “Lily of the West” leads off, and it’s a traditional folk song about love and betrayal. It has some adequate backup vocals. A rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is second. It has some nice organ, guitar, harmonica, and as I write this, Mental Floss tweeted this. That factoid was noteworthy considering the timeliness of it, as well as the always-fleeting contrasts and comparisons of Dylan and Presley.

The third track is called “Sarah Jane,” and it may be the only Dylan original in this mix. It has a “Friend of the Devil”-like start to it, especially on the bass guitar. The backup vocals and lyrics, though, are repetitive and annoying. “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” is a Peter La Farge original made famous by Johnny Cash, and rightfully so: Cash’s version is 100 times better than Dylan’s. Being a moderate Cash fan, I’ve always loved that tune, and honestly, I never knew that Hayes was one of the Iwo Jima flag raisers from the famous photograph. Turns out there’s a ton of Hayes biographical history out there, and his demise appears to have been painful and sad.

Another cover follows, and this time it’s Dylan doing the Jerry Jeff Walker number “Mr. Bojangles.” Made famous by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, this number always reminds me of grade-school roller skating parties. “Mary Ann” follows it. It’s not bad, but not remarkable other than the fact that, lyrically, it sounds like “Brokedown Palace” at the onset.

Still more covers: “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell draws us near the end, and all I can say about this song is that I have always hated it and will hate it forever thanks to the Counting Crows ruining what might’ve been a decent cut at one point. After that it’s “A Fool Such As I,” which features Dylan doing his Nashville Skyline voice, which is thumbs up in my book. Track’s got a good rhythm, too. “Spanish is the Loving Tongue” wraps it up. It’s an interesting composition that features a tempo change halfway through. Really dig the high-pitch, flamenco-style guitar playing, however, I could to without the “la-la-la” backing vocal.

This album was incredibly difficult to get a hold of if you’re working on a tight budget, which I was. It was allegedly released by Columbia after BD switched labels, and is comprised of outtakes from the Self Portrait and New Morning sessions. In trying to obtain it, I was denied by inter-library loan in two states, as well as the Web Cat(alog). I finally wrangled up a copy of it on vinyl –- the only non-compilation Dylan album never released on compact disc. It has a real authentic feel to it but since they’re almost all covers, and historians have documented Dylan’s rigidity regarding what makes cuts post-recording sessions, it’s no wonder he (allegedly) didn’t want them to put it out. AllMusic’s assessment of it as “Dylan’s worst” is far from true.

grade: 6

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27. Infidels
release date: 11/01/83
cover: looking ‘80s. Very ‘80s.
sales note: gold
AllMusic stars: 3/5
lyric to love: “You know, capitalism is above the law/It say, ‘It don’t count ‘less it sells.” –- from “Union Sundown”

notes: I really dig “Jokerman.” It opens the album with swift, rolling bass, and BD’s voice is beginning to take the shape of the sound it’s been frequently mocked for over the years. Also, it’s clear from the start that Knopfler’s back, and this, of course, is a good thing. A few tracks later, it’s clear that each song has a good sound to it, but there’s nothing necessarily special about any of them, like in “License to Kill,” where the nice, relaxed harmonica playing is about the only thing noteworthy.

These compositions, at times, seem to want to get into a reggae rhythm, not so much on “Man of Peace,” which has a rockin’ feel and interesting subject matter considering this religious stretch. “Union Sundown” doesn’t do it, either, but it bears mentioning that Dylan, in this cut, delivers a harsh return to social criticism. Where the sun splash, if you will, gets off the ground is in “I & I,” which is nothing shy of an actual reggae/rock hybrid. Some cool experimentation in that genre, which was exploding at the time. It would appear, however, that this was BD’s only exploration of it.

grade: 6.5

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26. Slow Train Coming
release date: 08/20/79
cover: exactly what you’d expect
sales note: platinum
AllMusic stars: 3/5
lyric to love: “Might like to wear cotton/Might like to wear silk/Might like to drink whiskey/Might like to drink milk." -- "From Gotta Serve Somebody"

notes: The title track is one of the strongest on the album. It’s got heavy organs and quaint guitar work. “Precious Angel” is where the ear recognizes Mark Knopfler on the six-string, and at this point I should mention that I had no idea that Dylan had this born-again Christian phase. I mean, the “Serve Somebody” cut followed by an album called “Saved” always left me curious, but that’s where it ended.

“I Believe in You” is a mellow, feel-good tune with nothing too heavy or forced. “Slow Train” has a badass groovefunkery that suggests getting the album out of the mud, and a foreshadowing of steam building. Great crunch to it. “Gonna Change My Way of Thinking,” however, follows it up. Survey says: sleepy and uninventive. Unfortunately, “Do Right to Me Baby (Do Unto Others)” is equally boring.

“When You Gonna Wake Up” offers some bounce via the organ, some snare to Dylan’s vocals, and a bit of punch with horns. Next is “Man Gave Name to All the Animals,” which I don’t hate. It’s not a bad cut, just odd in a fascinating way. “When He Returns” is nothing shy of Mariano Rivera: a lackluster closer at best. But, considering the newfound faith of BD, it’s not surprising. It’s too bad, though, that the album didn’t grow in the direction of “Slow Train” as was suspected.

grade: 6.5

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And there you go. Stop back by tomorrow as we'll be getting into the meat an' potatoes of Dylan's discography. Well, maybe just the potatoes. Okay, they're not exactly potatoes, but they're still vegetables. C'mon. They're good for you.
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HoG25 Addendum: The Top 25 Bob Dylan Studio Albums Preview

A couple of years ago, when this blog was manned by The Iron Triangle, we started a project called the HoG 25. It was a series of posts in which we reviewed a dozen categories – some sports, some not – in a best-25-of-the-last-25 fashion. It was a ton of work and a good deal of fun. A couple of months ago, the three of us were gathered in Durango, and amidst a discussion of music, the topic of Bob Dylan arose. A key portion of said discussion involved me stating that Desire had been Dylan’s best studio effort, and this statement garnered looks of shame from both of my friends.

It was a humbling moment, as I realized that perhaps I was not as well-versed on the entire Dylan discography as once thought. I decided then and there that I would assemble the first HoG25 addendum and rank each Dylan album, ultimately to decide what the top 25 were. That way, I could have a definitive feel for quantifying his records, and tie it in with the aforementioned project. It became my labor of love for the summer, a project addendum that has spanned about two months worth of immersion, totaling a little over 4,000 minutes of listening and research.

In short, it’s a bit of a foolish endeavor in that it’s opinion-based and entirely unworthy of being labeled as news, or maybe even interesting to anybody but me, but it’s been a blast and I don’t regret it for a minute. The project was not constructed with the intent of criticizing Dylan and it should be understood that the artist and the bulk of his discography is pedestaled, in my mind, with an eminent sense of fandom.

His body of work is not without fault, nor does it not deserve negative attention in spots, spaces, and chunks. This, though, is an exercise in attempting to rank the best works of one of the best music figures in history. The ranking is about relationships with/appreciation of songs and song craftsmanship. It’s not an attempt to be biographical or to quote/unquote understand the artist, and with that said, it’s important to point out some (perhaps obvious) flaws with the project:

• Many writers are/have been Dylan biographers. I make no such claim, and whether or not a biographical stance (or a claim to not have one) impacts the results of such a project is to be determined by the individual reader.

• Considerable use of various Wikipedia pages occurred during the “research” portion of this addendum.

• Take or leave what Rolling Stone magazine does and writes. If you put any stock in the publication, feel free to compare where various Dylan albums landed in their "Top 500 Albums of All Time" article. If you happen to be one of the other two Iron Triangle legs, you will be pleased, I imagine.

• There’s an irony to such a project in which trying to appreciate each album and era for themselves is hardly possible when pitting said albums and eras against one another.

• The conversation that gave birth to this project served two purposes: 1) It’s a good exercise to revisit something anchored in personal certainty, and 2) It’s fascinating to think about expectations and what they do to you in music and in life, i.e. thinking ahead of time that the Bob Dylan albums of the of the ‘80s would reveal a dip in quality has negative potential in terms of negative bias, but in the end, it can refresh the mind in that it’s-okay-to-be-right-sometimes sense.

• It would’ve been fantastic to avoid the first person entirely, to have this project free of “I” phrases, but that wound up being a grandiose hope.

• I, then, will seldom find good adjectives and synonyms for beauty, or nice, or down-home, or soothing, or riff, or cut, or track, or feel*, so if that’s a turn-off you may want to avoid reading the ranks.

*The last of which may appear with such high frequency that an airsick bag may be required for you to enjoy your travels.

• There are certainly other flaws -– like the overuse of the verb “to be” –- operating here, and it’s possible too many exist to list. The purpose of the project, though, was to examine the entire studio catalog, and to enjoy the notion of ranking them, which, challenging as it was, I did.

Somebody said on the Twitters the other week that “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” A few folks thought that was funny, and a few days later, someone tweeted this follow-up: “Dancing about architecture is like fencing around landscaping.” The initial part of that quote was, around the time that this was circulating, attributed to Frank Zappa, Thelonius Monk, Laurie Anderson, and, to a lesser degree, David Bowie. #TeamFollowBack tried to take credit for it. If you Google it, names like Martin Mull, Elvis Costello, Steve Martin, Miles Davis, pop up, and I’m sure other search engines and perusals of the stacks in your local library would generate a few other curious ones as well.

Forget that quote. If writing about music makes your tea kettle whistle, then get after it.

Assuming, though, that you can muffle the cackles of those so important to deem a topic unwriteable, how, then, do you write something about Bob Dylan and not feel like a complete stooge in starting, mid-process, and after? Impossible.

Okay. Maybe it’s just a challenge. After all, Amazon has a “The 20 Best Bob Dylan books” list, leading one to believe that at least some two dozen authors have taken the plunge.

This is not about Bob Dylan. It’s not about his music. Well, it is about his music, just not all of it. A couple smacks of the abacus will tell you that 67 Dylan releases have graced music-store shelves and MP3 libraries, and that doesn’t even include the 58 singles. It does include projects with other artists, releases of the greatest-hits variety, live recordings, and of course, studios.

It’s the latter that’s of interest for this piece, and some of the research done for it began by accident some 15 years ago, courtesy of a little thing called the cassette tape. Maybe you’ve heard of it. That's where I started, though: with the 23 (of 34 total) studio albums I already owned. I started with his 1962 self-titled release and worked my way through the collection, giving each album I knew well one listen, those I did not three. As far as those I didn't own, I acquired them on a limited budget via e-bay, Amazon, and inter-library loans. I stayed as chronologically close to release order as possible, but three albums in particular -- The Times They Are a-Changin', Dylan, and Empire Burlesque -- remained out of reach for some time due to either availability or cost. Once they arrived, some backtracking was required, but rest assured that each album got its due diligence.

Where to begin about the music of Bob Dylan, though.

Dozens of writers, music critics, and historians have invested countless months and years trying to summarize, analyze, and categorize this monstrosity of an American icon. If you spend a few minutes searching, you will discover no shortage of Web sites devoted to things like general Dylan information, album reviews, tour updates and concert information, just to name a few. The purpose of this exercise is not to either trump any of those efforts or be considered above or below them. Instead, it’s a bit of a tribute, and perhaps a fruitless effort whose end seeks no means other than an opportunity to get neck-deep in the BD discography for a couple of months. When clicking around within the myriad of Dylan-devoted Web projects, a thought came across: Is he the biggest solo figure in the annals of American music? Consider that for a moment and create a mental list of those with whom he’d be in the running.

Those of the generation before mine are all but guaranteed to insist it was Elvis. This is an assertion with which I whole-heartedly disagree. That’s not a knock on the king. Dude was huge. Massive and global and unforgettable. But his body of work, without digging around is a fleck on the lens of this scope. The thought wasn’t one that wanted to insist this to be a truth. Rather it was an exercise that wondered how many people out there grasp the volume of the cultural contribution Dylan has made and continues to make.

I’d bet that some segments of the population would suggest Madonna. And I would guess that legions would argue for Michael Jackson. My answer to either or both is no. Madonna was amazing. She recorded a ton of great songs, blew up the MTVs, and pushed the women-in-music envelope clear across the table. Maybe even off of it. Michael Jackson was, at one time, the biggest music-and-entertainment icon in the world. Trying to quantify what he did for music is an impossible feat. Bob Dylan, though, trumps them all.

Like I said, this is all a matter of opinion, but as we begin to move through the selections, here’re two interesting things to perhaps monitor: the quantity of tracks recorded by Dylan and made famous by another artist, and the list of notable -– they’re all notable, some more familiar than others -- musicians that have worked with him across 47 years of recording sessions.

So drop back by tomorrow for a list of the nine that didn't make the cut, and later this week for the Top 25 itself.
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This Week in Blogstralia: The Employee Lounge

Every now and again I find a URL in my browser that leads to some great work being done in the blogosphere. The Employee Lounge is this week's great-work example.

Linh Trieu, speaking on behalf of herself and blog partner Tina Magee-Jenks, was kind enough to spend some of her time with the House of Georges in an effort to educate us on what it is that goes on in the Lounge. Our conversation, after the jump.

bankmeister: Let me start by saying that, in a sense, The Employee Lounge is a perfect example of my worst nightmare. But wait, I mean that in a good way. That is, your blog(s) embody most everything I’d like mine to, but it does not. You’ve got good design, unique artwork, consistent posting, and a great concept. As someone who’s logged many a chef hour in Kansas City kitchens, I love the idea of the Lounge. It’s fresh, fun, and always, I imagine, going to give you new material. So on the surface, the idea of interviewing hospitality employees and posting those conversations with original photography is big-time facepalm material in my mind. As in, it’s one of those why-didn’t-I-think-of-that sort of moments. Regardless, kudos to you both for giving birth to the concept.

Employee Lounge: To respond to that, even though there was no question posed, I've had a personal blog for a few years and it was none of those things, consistent, original or conceptually focused. I was all over the place, but it was good practice and of course, a great learning experience. Reading other blogs is also really important. Seeing how other people do things is just as important as what their content is.

bankmeister: Indeed. And this seems like a good opportunity to get the questions rolling, so walk me through the process of how the Lounge got off the ground. Actually, back up a step. The bit the Pitch blog did on the Lounge says that Linh used to work with Tina’s husband. Sketch out the networking framework of how Linh and her husband’s idea transformed into Linh and Tina’s project. Did it happen overnight, or was it one of those things that was casually discussed before finally saying, No, really -– let’s do this thing.

Employee Lounge: Our collaboration happened pretty quickly. The Employee Lounge was just a name I came up with for a pie-in-the-sky restaurant concept, but it was one that was always about community. It was just going to be a place you could escape to during your work day. I took a lot of the things that George and I talked about and applied it to the blog, like the Employee of the Month. Now, that's our most popular post on the blog every month. But pipe dreams don't pay the bills so I got my first corporate job where I met Chris Magee-Jenks. We were cube buddies, font nerds and avid blog readers. Almost every day, we'd be messaging each other about cool stuff we'd see on the computer.

That's one of the things I really loved about working in an office, the friendship and sharing of ideas and inspiration. One day, Chris came to me for advice about how to promote his wife's photography business. The conversation ended up with me pitching the blog concept and asking if she'd be willing to work with me. She was about to get back into nannying, I had just quit my job and here we are. The timing was right; Tina and I are both in the similar stages of our careers so we work really well together.

bankmeister: Walk me through the events leading up to your first post back in March. Did it feel, heading into the initial assembly of it, like it was a lot of work, and now it comes easier, or was it a breeze from day one?

Employee Lounge: I am not a planner and Tina likes working that way too. We spent one day setting up the framework on the blog, knowing that we wanted to keep things simple. Then, we went to people we knew in the service industry and started posting fast and furious. It's important to have content so we posted as many people as we could. After that we slowed down to one post a day, which caused our numbers to go down. We realized that we had to diversify the content to keep things interesting. Now, we collaborate with other bloggers and brainstorm design-related projects. We want to keep using our other skills in design and illustration. In some ways, it's always been a lot of work. Mostly, it's super fun and it keeps us motivated, so we enjoy all of it, the ups and the downs.

bankmeister: Early in the archives there’s a lot of Tannin and Hotel Rieger action going on, and in the Pitch piece, you talk about choosing a venue first, seeing who’s available second. You also, in that article, say that “the only thing it costs” you is your “time.” Is that a possibility because of the way you quote/unquote choose your subjects? Have you encountered any resistance from establishment staffs in the form of, Oh you should really come back after lunch, or tomorrow when so-and-so’s working, or have your receptions been 100 percent positive?

Employee Lounge: I have friends at both The Rieger and Tannin so they were a big help for the first days of our blog. If you can't go to your friends first, who can you go to? You don't have to explain the shit out of things to them, they just say, Cool, I'll help you. Honestly, there will continue to be Rieger and Tannin posts in the future because I hang out there a lot.

Now that we do "restaurant snapshots," it costs us a bit of money too. We never, ever ask for anything free (well, we did ask some restaurants to donate gift certificates to our EOM, but it wasn't for us). Everyone is running a business and we understand that. We try to be respectful and remain professional (to the best of our ability, (sometimes I have too much to drink)). We have definitely been turned away. People are naturally suspicious when you come in their doors with a big camera. Or they think we're trying to sell them something. But it's no biggie, there are tons of people we can talk to. We have learned that it doesn't hurt to send an e-mail in advance sometimes, but mostly we work without a schedule.

bankmeister: Describe for me, if you will, the process of assembling a post.

Employee Lounge: Tina and I Google chat all day long. It starts like this: Where are we going today? What time? Once we have a rough idea, I pick her up and we get started. I interview, she shoots. We use Blogger and can access it at the same time. She processes and posts the pictures, I write the bio and link to everything related. Then I post links on Twitter and Facebook.

bankmeister: Regarding the photography, I noticed a pattern in the posts. There seems to be a fairly conservative beginning picture that captures the subject’s upper body, and then there are a couple more shots that take, if you will, some creative liberties. For example, the photographer seems to like hands and feet, or having something like a cell phone on a table be the foreground, and the subject more in the background for those secondary shots. Is this a fair assessment?

Employee Lounge: We discussed how we wanted to shoot our subjects only in the beginning, inspired by a photographer who created triptychs made up of three different subjects to create a full-length standing portrait. Portraiture is not just about the face. It's also in the way they stand or sit, or make a certain gesture. Focusing in on those details tells a deeper story.

bankmeister: And how about tattoos? They seem to always get some lens attention if the subject’s sporting some ink.

Employee Lounge: Even though neither of us have tattoos, we appreciate the art form. Since we both come from art backgrounds, we try to include all kinds of art as much as possible, whether it's tattoos, restaurant graphics, fashion or food.

bankmeister: What about the writing end of things? I’ve seen some posts that get the token paragraph, then other subjects get three chunky ones. And there’re one or two folks who barely had four lines scratched out about them. Is there a mold or an outline for each post, or does some form of time, availability, and the subject dictate what the post will look like?

Employee Lounge: I only write what they say. Some people are more talkative than others. Some days I'm a better interviewer. Other days, I can barely remember what the next question is. A lot of things affect the outcome, like how well I know them, but I don't stress about the length of each post. I think people who visit our blogs are there to look at the photos more than they do for my writing.

bankmeister: The blog’s subtitle is something I’d like to discuss. Have you found it tricky to get a post a day published? More specifically, are the two of you working full time and working on the blog in your spare time? Have you made any efforts to monetize it, and if not, will you in the future?

Employee Lounge: Well, we try to post two a day. A profile plus something related.You can't be a daily if you don't post everyday, and sometimes it can be hard. We only have content if we make time to go out and interview people. But if one of us goes on vacation, we have posts backed up and ready. Last month though, our one-week break turned into a three-week break, so that was tricky. I fill in for Tina sometimes with some food or KC shots. We both freelance so our schedules are more flexible. For now we haven't made any efforts to make money from our blog, mainly because we want to prove to ourselves the value of our work and our content. But it's is definitely something we'd like to see happen in the future.

bankmeister: The best part about the subtitle, though, is the commitment, if I may call it that, to making Kansas City better. This is stupendous and commendable on levels immeasurable. Very cool. Do you look forward to that part of a subject’s interview more, or is it more interesting to learn about the subjects themselves? Have you ever considered rewording the final question?

Employee Lounge: This question makes our blog cohesive, but it's the hardest question we ask. It's easy to talk about yourself. I like learning about the people more and no, we have no immediate plans or rewording our KC question.

bankmeister: Allow me to clarify: To each his own, and if eight out of 10 people want to say “more public transportation,” then fine. What about not leaving it so open-ended? I have no idea how this would work, but off of the top of my head, you could allow them to suppose they were given the government checkbook for a day, or were put in charge of a rally, or an exhibition.

Employee Lounge: That's a good idea actually. But honestly, I think if they got the government checkbook, the people who answered public transport would use that check for public transportation. It's maddening that we keep talking about light rail year after year, but there is never any progress! That's why we support biking as much as we can through links and information on the blog. Baby steps. We keep it open-ended because we don't want to influence their answer.

bankmeister: I know I’m getting philosophical about the thing, but it’s tough to see many folks have ideas that they may never again revisit. Also, you should make weather/landform gripes unacceptable. Enough, though, about me telling you how to run your own blog.

Employee Lounge: Ha! Mountains and an ocean would be nice though!

bankmeister: Let'sreturn to the positive. The features that are not subject profiles are really cool. The guess-where-we-ares, the weekend link love, the outtakes, the industry detours, the guest posts, all of them. I’ve always felt like the more feature ideas you can come up with, the better the blog will be. Are there any creations simmering on your collective stoves that we may soon see in the Lounge?

Employee Lounge: Once a month, we will be posting a feature on Kansas City history. David Hayden did the first one about the Town of Kansas Bridge. My husband George Vial, also a writer, will be working on a post about the history of Weston. We're also collaborating with Jessie Artigue of The Concrete Catwalk on some fashion posts (uniform makeovers, taking your look from after work to the bar, stuff like that). And I would love to see KC chefs share favorite recipes or kitchen tricks. The beauty of blogging is that we can keep adding these things. As soon as we come up with an idea, it can happen.

bankmeister: All in all, the work you two are doing is admirable. I really appreciate, as do others I’m sure, the fact that you have the “stay healthy” tab on the site, and hey –- who doesn’t like recommendations for cheap wine, patios, and brunch spots?

Employee Lounge: Working on the blog, Tina and I have found so much to be inspired by. It's the best thing we ever did for ourselves as artists, and we are insanely happy to have found an audience who support us like they do. The tabs at the top of the page are all things that I like so it's a given. Health care has always been a tough subject, especially in the service industry, I think. I never had health insurance before I worked my corporate job, so I get it.

bankmeister: Good thing going, though, and the work I’ve seen on your two personal sites -- for example, the garden post is just breathtaking –- has great potential as well. I mean, all of the shots on Backyard Ink are fantastic (Editor’s Note: Tell Larry and Rhonda I said the Broncos suck.), as is the photographic work and writing on Bristow Fresh (http://www.bristowfresh.blogspot.com/). If you asked me, I’d say the latter could use more skinny-dip photos, but I’m just a hack in a basement, so if you’re gonna take me seriously, then let’s up the Lounge antes on shots of the breastacular/well-endowed-mannequin variety, too.

Finally, a hearty huzzah to Annie for her perfect answer to how she’d make Kansas City better. This is exactly how I’d answer were I a subject, and if Annie reads this, let’s make a joint effort to do something and get a grassroots/civic-pride movement going. I think we start by going to a Board meeting, no? Oh, and David’s bit about citywide (versus neighborhood) pride was also top-notch.

So, thanks for the time, and if I may toss out a few subject recommendations:

1) Jillian, who can be found at the Foundry.
2) Buck, who can be found at Corner Cocktails in south Waldo (though he'd probably pitch a fit and decline.
3) Bernie, who can be found at the Brooksider
4) Ethan in Westport. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a joint from which he's collected a paycheck, and
5) Katie, who, if I'm not mistaken, is still at Mike's Tavern.

(Photos courtesy of Tina Magee-Jenks, via The Employee Lounge)
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