Search - Ben Sidran :: Dylan Different

Folk Jazz restated

Vince Lucie | CT, USA | 01/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The two reviewers above or below....??? ARE MISSING THE POINT....they are trying to get "Dylan" out of this outing...and that is not what Mr. Sidran intended...I am a songwriter and recording artist as well...of course not of Mr. Sidran's repute...but good and proficient none the less....



Dylan himself was an interpreter...of Woody Guthrie among others...Were you supposed to get Guthrie out of Dylan? Of course not...it was a jumping off point....and that is what Ben Sidran is doing here...



I also recall his stint with the SMB...but here he stands out doing the Dylan Cum Mose Allison thing....retro...and hip and modern...



cudos to Ben Sidran...I love it...and bought it as well...and I will not be selling it off....



Vince Lucie"

NOT recommended for Dylan fans...

G. E. Harrison | Cheltenham | 01/07/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"For many years Ben Sidran was the keyboard player in Steve Miller's band but he has also produced his own and other artists' albums, written on jazz and introduced jazz programmes on radio and TV. This album of Dylan covers probably comes out of his previous solo live record "Cien Noches" which included two of the songs featured here -"Gotta serve somebody" and "Subterranean homesick blues" (and I must admit I prefer the versions on that album).



Sidran presents the Dylan songs in his cool, deadpan style - reminiscent of Mose Allison - with a small combo featuring bass, drums, guitar, sax and occasionally backing singers. Everything is well-played and inevitably some songs work better than others - I quite liked "Ballad of a thin man" but I found "Tangled up in blue" and "Knocking on heaven's door" very difficult to listen to! Overall I'd say that this album just doesn't work, I'm not really sure why but I suspect that it's the way Sidran delivers the vocals. Dylan is no Mario Lanza but Sidran reduces his lyrics to doggerel and without the character that Dylan's voice brings, so that ultimately the songs sound like bland lift music. It's a pity because there are some classic Dylan songs here and good musicians involved but the results are very disappointing. Not recommended for Dylan fans.

"

Definetly Different Dylan

J. Warren Benton | Elizabeth city | 03/13/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoy some of Dylan's music, most of the Song that Sidran covers here I have heard many times. But Sidran gives them all just a little twist. If this were a vinyl I would have wore it down already."