Bob Dylan

This little six-song sampler was released as part of the promotional campaign for Chronicles, Volume One, the first installment in Bob Dylan's eagerly awaited autobiography. Featuring two previously unreleased tracks (a live version of the folk song "The Cuckoo" recorded at The Gaslight in 1962 and a piano demo of "Dignity") and two songs each from 1970s New Morning and 1989's Oh Mercy; the selections were chosen to highlight key points Dylan makes in his book, but even without that as a reference, the sampler retains a certain character of its own. Dylan's guitar rendition of "The Cuckoo" is based on Clarence Ashley's famous 78 version, although Dylan changes "Willie" to "Nellie" in the third verse and adds an additional verse drawn from the folk song "Pretty Saro." The jaunty "New Morning" and the dark litany "Father of Night" are included from New Morning, an LP critics proclaimed a comeback album at the time of its release, much to Dylan's bewilderment. "Political World" and the gorgeous, ominous "Man in the Long Black Coat" are here from the Daniel Lanois-produced (and delightful) Oh Mercy. According to Dylan, he and Lanois disagreed frequently throughout the recording sessions, and the final album was not as Dylan wanted it, which is really astonishing, since an artist of Dylan's stature would surely get what he desired, one would think, regardless of the producer. It must not have been as bad as Dylan makes out, though, since he re-teamed with Lanois for 1997's Time Out of Mind album. All gossip aside, the Chronicles sampler has a calm, subdued and poignant grace to it, and die-hard Dylan collectors will certainly want to track it down. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide