Bob Dylan – The Dylan/Cash Sessions

Without qualification, I fully realize that I shouldn’t be writing a review regarding an artist I don’t like ... namely Johnny Cash. But truth be told, I’ve listen to all of his work, not so much to try and convince myself that I’m missing something that I should be liking, but to discover why it is that I don’t like the man, when so many others do. I could say the same for much of Mr. Dylan’s work as well, where from New Morning onward, it’s been spotty at best. But from the first moment I heard Johnny Cash blearing from the speakers of my grandmother’s big ol’ yellow Pontiac with the light-up Indian hood ornament, it’s been a constant battle not to literally cover my ears and run from the room ... or jump from a moving car.

Be that as it may, let me relay a bit of backstory before jumping headlong into the mire ... most from Mr. Dylan’s and Mr. Cash’s autobiographical [of sorts] books . Cash seemed to have been quiet impressed when the young Bob Dylan made the scene back in 1963 with his Bob Dylan and Freewheelin’ albums, claiming that he [Cash] was secretly into the whole folk scene ... which may be one of the reasons I don’t like Johnny Cash, I don’t like folk music for the most part [even Dylan’s], and perhaps his folk influences, and voice that seems to be beamed up from the middle of the earth, send me running for the covers. A lengthy correspondence began between the two men, culminating in Cash meeting Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, where Cash gave Dylan his guitar in a gesture of respect and admiration [and no, the guitar used on the cover of Nashville Skyline and this release, was given to Bob by George Harrison].

Fast-forward to February of 1969, Dylan’s recording in Nashville, Cash is recording in the studio right next door, and decides to drop on in, where the two lay down a series of legendary recordings [well over a dozen] together, with only “Girl From The North Country” making it onto the Nashville Skyline album. None of the others were ever released, but managed to surface as bootlegs, and have been circulating for years. A few weeks later, and I remember seeing the show, a rather nervous Dylan sings “Girl From The North Country” with Cash, on The Johnny Cash show. Everyone it seems was raving about the mystical magic of the event, while I found it rather flat and uninspiring, with Mr. Cash simply strumming the G chords. But back to the bootleg ... sonically, the recordings don’t sound off-handed or light weight, and why should they, they were done in a full studio with professional engineers, using Cash’s full band, which included of Carl Perkins on electric guitar [who’s music I do love]. That being said, most of the event is overshadowed by Cash, with Dylan sounding distant, almost in another room with a voice that’s not up to snuff, timing that’s off, and is often prompted by Cash with the correct lyrics.

Say what you will about this event, the fact is, the two men certainly seemed to like each other and each other’s company, having a lifelong relationship, but that emotional respect and admiration doesn’t show up here, as it does on the Traveling Wilbury’s albums, where the respect, admiration, and freedom to let things fly is self-evident.