Dylanesque

Performer: Bryan Ferry
Engineer: Michael Boddy; Chris Mullings; Neil Broadbank; Tim Roe
Producer: Bryan Ferry; Colin Good; Rhett Davies
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Bryan Ferry (Farfisa); Mick Green, Leo Abrahams (guitar); Chris Spedding, David Williams , Oliver Thompson (guitars); Robin Trower (acoustic guitar); Lucy Wilkins, Gavyn Wright, Jackie Shave (violin); Jon Thorne (viola); Anthony Pleeth (cello); Colin Good (piano); Paul Carrack (organ); Guy Pratt, Zev Katz (bass guitar); Andy Newmark, Bobby Irwin (drums); Frank Ricotti (percussion); Isaac Ferry, Brian Eno (electronics); Me'sha Bryan, Tara McDonald, Joy Malcolm, Sarah Brown, Sharon White, Anna McDonald, Michelle John (background vocals). Bryan Ferry adopted one of rock criticism's favorite terms for 2007's DYLANESQUE, a markedly Ferryesque take on 11 tunes by rock's poet laureate. An odd pairing on the surface, given their differing roots, but the two have much in common: Dylan is no stranger to the merits of arty posturing nor is Ferry to rock-&-roll grit. Supposedly recording the album in one inspired week, the suave singer takes on some of the bard's best here in a manner that would probably appeal to Dylan's mercurial nature. "Positively 4th Street" gets a string section makeover; "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" becomes a slow boiler with bedroom eyes; "Gates of Eden" is a crooner's delight; and the largely faithful "Make You Feel My Love," from TIME OUT OF MIND, gets its due as one of Dylan's great recent songs. This is a gripping listen for fans of both artists. The greatest -- indeed, only -- irony of Bryan Ferry's 2007 album-long tribute to the Bard is that Dylanesque never sounds "Dylanesque." There are no solo acoustic guitars, no swirling organs, no thin wild mercury music, nothing that suggests any of the sounds typically associated with Bob Dylan. No, Dylanesque sounds Ferry-esque: careful, precise, elegant, so casually sophisticated it sometimes borders on the drowsy. There are no new wrinkles, then, apart from a small but crucial one -- unlike his other records, this was recorded quickly, over the course of a week with his touring band in tow. This does give Dylanesque a comparatively loose, off-the-cuff feel, which is a bit of a welcome relief after several decades of cautious, deliberate conceptual albums, and gives the album its understated charm. Since Ferry never radically reinvents the songs -- apart from the sleek, sly propulsion of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" and a spare, haunting piano-and-strings version of "Positively Fourth Street" -- this is an album where all the pleasures lay in the subtleties, whether it's how Ferry phrases his delivery, how his road band feels supple yet muscular, how Eno electronically enhances a few tracks or how Robin Trower tears into "All Along the Watchtower." These are the details to savor upon repeated listens, but upon that first spin it's immediately apparent that the Ferry who made Dylanesque is an assured, relaxed vocalist who isn't sweating the specifics, he's simply singing songs with a band that offers sympathetic support. They may not push him, the way that Roxy did in its prime, nor does this have the meticulous ambition of his original work, but again, that's the charm of this album: Ferry has never felt quite so comfortable as he does here, and if that may not be exactly what all listeners are looking for when they listen to his work, this is the quality that will make Dylanesque a small understated gem for certain segments of his die-hard fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rolling Stone (p.70) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Cut fast and loose with Ferry's touring band, DYLANESQUE dresses up Dylan classics for a night on the town with AVALON-style atmosphere." Spin (p.96) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Ferry embraces these Dylan classics...with undiluted sincerity, gently remodeling the barbed lyrics into graceful modern art." Entertainment Weekly (p.136) - "'Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues' and 'Simple Twist of Fate' quiver with controlled agony." -- Grade: B Q (p.121) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Ferry still has sufficient panache to turn 'Positively 4th Street' into a spectral piano ballad and give 'Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues' a romping, pub-rock makeover..."

While fronting Roxy Music in the 1970s, Bryan Ferry devised a blueprint for art-rock, and as a solo performer, he brilliantly updated the parameters of the pop songbook. Although Ferry's solo career did include several excellent self-penned tracks, he is perhaps best known for his adventurous interpretations of a vast array of songs from the rock and pop canon. Combining a studied, wry, lounge-singer persona with a genuine passion for everything from Motown and Bob Dylan to 1930s songbook, Ferry's performances add a post-modern gloss to pop standards. Following rumors of a reunion, Roxy Music re-formed in the early 2000s for a successful world tour.

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