Together Through Life

Bob Dylan's Together Through Life has been a constant in my deck. In a lot of ways he seems to be channeling Howlin' Wolf. Sure there are several influences here. Not to mention Bob Dylan informing Bob Dylan. Although not as ground breaking as Love and Theft and especially Modern Times, Bob carries the blues idiom he has been working on so hard in to a real fruition here. I think when Dylan was a folk singer he was influenced heavily by blues music and channeled it where he could. I think it is a great boon to all of us when an artist like Dylan can come full circle and shed the expectations that old time fans have of the 'folk singer' or the 'protest singer' or the Christian Bob period, et al. It seems like Dylan can do what he wants because he really enjoys showing how a master is both influenced and pushes forward. I am not saying that he hasn't always done that...now it seems attitude-wise though he does it for the sheer sake of having fun.

All the songs are strong on this album. Dylan has never skimped on having crack musicians on tour or on his recordings and this is over half of what makes these songs and his late period stuff in general so good to me. The first track called Beyond Lies Nothing is a slow burn blues walk that gets you prepared for what's to come. Track three called My Wife's Hometown sounds like the channeling of Howlin' Wolf's Taildragger or even Smokestack Lightening. Track seven called This Dream of You has a nice Tex-Mex-y country sound to it that most would not find familiar in Bob's repertoire. But as with all Americana that he does he makes it his sound and it works great!

I picked up the deluxe version of this CD which includes an interview disc DVD which I have not viewed called Roy Silver - The Lost Interview. But the real extra-special coolness CD extra is a recording of Bob Dylan's satellite radio show called Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour (in this recording 'Friends & Neighbors'). Bob does the programming of Americana both familiar and obscure surveying items anywhere in time of the past 60 years. Best part, he talks and does great setup for the tunes.

Anyway I suggest picking the Deluxe Edition of Together Though Life.