|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 Nashville Skyline Oct 26, 2009
A moment in time: That's what my dad would say about photographs. Pictures are just a single moment in time captured forever. The same could be said for a record.
It's capable of capturing a moment in time. I'm not talking about representing a specific era of time, but the record itself represents honest moments captured live. So many artists are obsessed with recording their masterpiece. Tracks are recorded, re-recorded, mixed, remixed, mastered, and then remastered. Where does it all end? From the very first track of "Nashville Skyline" it is evident Bob Dylan isn't concerned with recording a masterpiece. But in my opinion, that's exactly what he did.
"Girl from the North Country", a duet with Johnny Cash is the lead track. Bob takes the first verse. From the moment he starts singing it's apparent he is really trying to sing. His voice is almost wounded as if he is searching for some sort of refuge. Johnny comes in with the second verse; his voice soulful, rich, and deep. Bob comes back with the third verse and Cash soon joins him. Their voices work so well together. But too, you'll hear each singing different lyrics or phrasing the same words differently while singing together. This may bother some perfectionists. I take comfort in the genuineness of their performance.
"Nashville Skyline Rag," the album's only instrumental. I like the separation of the instruments in the mix on this song. This is a constant throughout the record. Guitars, bass on the left, drums and harmonica on the right side at the beginning provide a nice foundation for the song. As soloists are introduced they are mixed appropriately within the current context of the song.
"To Be Alone with You:" One of my favorite songs on the record. Right from the beginning when Dylan asks producer Bob Johnston, "Is it rolling, Bob?" you can't help but get the sense that Dylan is not concerned with making a perfect record. Again, the instruments are mixed so each one is recognizable yet they never distract from the overall presentation of the song. Plus, the piano track on this song is wicked.
"I Threw It All Away:" Instruments are mixed nice. Guitar and organ are spaced nicely, separate but not too far away. Dylan's voice is haunting. His words are simple and true. I believe far and away part of the reason this record is so effective is because Dylan's voice and lyrics are honest, warm, and inviting.
"Peggy Day" and "Country Pie" are two upbeat songs which are neither complicated musically or lyrically. This is another reason why this record is so intelligent. It provides the less educated music listener new insight into a songwriter who is often perceived as too complicated for tender ears. These songs will never go down in history as some of Dylan's best, but still they hold their own as good songs nonetheless.
"Lay Lady Lay." I remember hearing this song growing up as a child in the early 70's. I was always taken with the song right from the first note. The drums and cowbell provide sense of uneasiness from the beginning accompanied with a mournful pedal steel and pleading organ, the song almost seems complete once Dylan's voice starts. I can recall imagining a rugged, hard working man coming home from a long day's work with clean hands wanting to spend some time with his woman in his awesome brass bed.
"One More Night," "Tell Me That It Isn't True," "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You," are three of the last four songs on "Nashville Skyline." Like their other siblings on the record these songs are solid through and through. The songs are not complex in either words or progressions which is one reason they are so brilliant. Dylan's lyrics are wistful and raw. His melodies are alluring and offer a sense of familiarity. What makes all these songs truly remarkable is the simplicity of the words, the arrangement, and the mix.
The songs on "Nashville Skyline," offer music fans a unique and simple insight into one of the greatest songwriters of our generation. The total track time is less than twenty-eight minutes. Not one song clocks in at over four minutes. Two songs don't even hit the two minute mark, while the remaining fall somewhere in the 2 ½ to 3½ minute range; ten songs in all. There is no time for the novice music fan to get bored while listening to "Nashville Skyline." I believe this record did capture a real moment in time. Bob in his own words kind of supports my belief:
"We just take a song, I play it and everyone else just sort of fills in behind it. At the same time you're doing that, there's someone in the control booth who's turning all those dials to where the proper sound is coming in."
MCMLXIX. One year after MLK and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Ten years invested in Vietnam over 35,000 American young men dead. Woodstock was still on the horizon. Bob Dylan. 28 years old. 28.5% of his life spent being famous. Sitting in a studio somewhere in Nashville for the first time in almost fifteen months: That's what I think about when I listen to this album. By the time he recorded this record he was already knee deep in his own prolificness. Instead of forcing what wasn't, he submerged himself in what was. Instead of letting the social issues of the times influence his music; he chose to record some songs he wrote while hanging out in Tennessee. At the height of the hippie love, anti-war sentiment our country was in, Dylan wasn't out to send a message. He wasn't lost in his own artistry or trying to be a voice for a generation. He wasn't concerned with his fame, his popularity, or image. I believe somewhere in 1969, in the south there was a perfect storm of song, inspiration, honesty, and clarity. Four essential things to possess while trying to capture a moment in time. Those or a camera.
2 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 Marking The End Of An Era For Great Music From Bob Dylan... Jul 02, 2009
Till, "Blood on the Tracks", but thats another story.... Anyways, "Nashville Skyline", is Bob Dylan's pathetic 1969 album that has him go country, not a great idea if you ask me. The only OK track on here is, "Nashville Skyline Rag", beacause it has a good roots rock sound too it that makes it fun to listen to, but the rest of it is well, not that good.
For starters Bob Dylan's singing for some reason on here sounds really weird and messed up, I can't even describe how crappy his singing is on this, I don't know why it sounds like that but it sounds like he's trying to attempt to sing like Johnny Cash or some other country singer but really he just sounds really weird, he should of just sung like he always did or else this album would of been much better than what it is. Plus the whole thing is only like 29 minutes long so even if you pay 7.98 for this, your really not getting your moneys worth. Nashville Skyline is nothing compared to such albums as, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", "Bringing It All Back Home", "Highway 61 Revisited", "Blonde On Blonde", or even, "Time out of Mind", for that matter... So if you need to hear every single song Bob Dylan ever has recorded this album is for you but besides that I would steer clear from this album.
 Just An Old Country Boy Jun 11, 2009
In trying to get a handle on reviewing the long musical career of Bob Dylan I have worked under the general outline that his early work constituted one segment, his various `bootleg' and `basement' materials a second and the later post -1990s stuff a third. The album under review, "Nashville Skyline" falls under that first category. The work of this period is reviewed here under the sign of the following paragraph:
"In a review of Bob Dylan's "The Freewheeling Bob Dylan" elsewhere in this space I noted:
In reviewing Bob Dylan's 1965 classic album "Bringing All Back Home" (you know, the one where he went electric) I mentioned that it seemed hard to believe now that both as to the performer as well as to what was being attempted that anyone would take umbrage at a performer using an electric guitar to tell a folk story (or any story for that matter). I further pointed out that it is not necessary to go into all the details of what or what did not happen with Pete Seeger at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 to know that one should be glad, glad as hell, that Bob Dylan continued to listen to his own drummer and carry on a career based on electronic music."
That said, originally I was not "glad as hell" when I first heard "Nashville Skyline". I had no problem with Dylan protest songs like "Blowing In The Wind". (In fact, those were the songs that first drew me to his work.) Nor did his turn to the electric guitar and to more personal, inward songs like "Desolation Row". However, at the time of this album, I thought he had sold out to Nashville. Well, we are all wiser now and so that initial scorn has turned into at least partial delight.
A couple of things have contributed to that re-evaluation. First, seeing Dylan as part of the New York folk milieu of the early 1960's hid the fact that he was raised in rural Hibbing, Minnesota (and influenced by the country sounds he picked up there in his youth). So while the Grand Ole Opry would be "square" to an urbanite like me it was the bill of fare for Dylan and others out there in the hinterlands. Secondly, it took me a long while to realize that Bob Dylan was deeply immersed and interested in knowing about and understanding the so-called American Songbook. If that is one's frame of reference then country music has to be part of one's musical repertoire. What really made the me shift though was hearing a `basement' tape recording of Dylan in his hide out days in the mid-1960s (along with The Band) doing a hard to hear but incredible version of the country classic "I Forgot To Remember To Forget". A lot of country artists cut their teeth on recording this one; virtually all have to take a back seat to Dylan on it. Including Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. Who would have thought?
Needless to say the duo with Johnny Cash on Dylan's "Girl from the North Country" stands up against the test of time. As do "Lay Lady Lay" and "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You". The others you can judge for yourselves.
MORE THAN MEETS THE TWINKLING EYE May 14, 2009
Nashville Skyline has to be one of Dylan's least understood albums. Not to mention one of his most under-rated. Many have also noted the jarring change in his voice. Gone is the sandpaper sctatch of yore, giving way to a self-conscious blue water croon.
The general consensus?
"Dylan's Most Country Album" to "Dylan's Happiest Album".
Others have simply dismissed it as "toss off fluff". All of which only leads me to scratch my head & wonder, "has anyone actually ever listened to this thing?"
Since Country music has always been a huge influence on Dylan from the start, there's not much to say on that front.
But "happy'?
Take a listen to the lyrics.
Behind the playful atmosphere lie songs that are actually quite dark, full of self-doubt, worry & remorse. Not to mention pure, genuine yearning.
A duet with The Man in Black opens the album. Happy is not a word I would use to describe this aching rendition of "Girl From North County". Ironic maybe, but not happy. Here both Cash & Dylan come off as brothers in woe, pining over the loss of the one who got away...
As for the album's signature track, "Lay Lady Lay"; has anyone noticed the hint of remorse to be found lurking behind Dylan's delivery? As if she's no longer there to lie across that big, brass bed.
Another case in point, is, "I Threw It All Away". Short & sweet but undeniably a ballad of infinite regret.
What you have is a seemingly gleeful atmosphere, offset by lyrics that are anything but. A line like "tonight no more light will shine on me" is impossibly sad, despite the upbeat tempo of One More Night. This whole album in effect comes off as: "I may seem pretty happy go lucky on the outside, but inside things are not as they appear."
These are just a few examples of what makes this album a bit more than meets the twinkling eye. There's a lot going on here behind the seemingly casual air. Lend an ear & you'll find the overriding theme here is love lost.
Most Dylan fans will tell you Nashville stands apart from the rest of his records. For many who aren't Dylan's enthusiasts, Nashville has a long history of converting many a skeptic.
No self-respecting fan should be without it. If you don't want to take it from me, take it from the man himself. He's gone on record saying its one of his favorites.
Rare gem May 12, 2009
With so many Dylan albums, it's no surprise that this album has been overlooked. If you are Dylan fan and enjoy country music, this is a must.
|
| |
|
![Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51V%2Beipy8-L._SL75_.jpg "Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]")
![Across the Universe [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51T24FuHPEL._SL75_.jpg "Across the Universe [Blu-ray]")
![Underworld Trilogy (Underworld / Underworld: Evolution / Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F27VzUl%2BL._SL75_.jpg "Underworld Trilogy (Underworld / Underworld: Evolution / Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) [Blu-ray]")
![Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RQUEopdlL._SL75_.jpg "Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour [Blu-ray]")
