11:13am Thursday 15th March 2007
By Robert Beaumont
(Virgin) ****
In 1973, Bryan Ferry's inspirational interpretation of Bob Dylan's apocalyptic A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall prompted Ferry to promise that one day he would make a whole album of Dylan covers.
Now, 34 years later, he's finally delivered - and it's been worth the wait.
Ferry has an instinctive understanding of the subtle nuances and darker undertones of Dylan's lyrics and this, coupled with his expressive vocals and imaginative reworking of lovingly-chosen Dylan songs, ensures that Dylanesque is an impressive addition to the Roxy Music man's canon.
Positively 4th Street is perhaps the most startling track. In Dylan's version, it is a vicious diatribe against an old girlfriend; in Ferry's, it becomes a nostalgic lament for a lost love.
Similarly the legendary Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, originally an impassioned cry for help, is transformed into a lush, evocative journey into the heart of the 1960s American dream.
Again, The Times They Are A-Changin', the definitive protest song, is a gentler plea for mutual understanding in Ferry's hands.
He takes the greatest risks with All Along The Watchtower and All I Really Want To Do, which have already been covered definitively by Jimi Hendrix and the Byrds respectively.
Amazingly, All Along The Watchtower, soaked in impending doom and driven by Chris Spedding's urgent guitar, stands comparison with Hendrix, but All I Really Want To Do, one of the few weak spots on Dylanesque, cannot escape from the long shadow of the Byrds.
Overall, however, we should treasure one master saying thank you to another.
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