ACOUSTIC FOLK

Aurora (Rory) Block, a leading interpreter of acoustic country blues for 50 years, has put her formidable talents to a set of Bob Dylan songs. The performances are super stripped down: no band or backing singers, just Rory’s voice, guitars, and simple but solid drumming. The sole departure from a purely solo effort is a baritone guitar played by Cindy Cashdollar on #4. Tracks 3, 5, 6, 7 are big hits from Dylan’s 1963-65 voice-of-a-generation phase; #1, 2, 4 are from mid-career “comeback” albums; #8 & 9 are from 2020. #tributeAlbum

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1 * mid-fast. Bouncy toe tapper about a world where everything’s gone wrong; bluesy resonator guitar with slide (3:28)
2 * mid-tempo. An oft-covered piano-based hymn is remade into acoustic blues (2:43)
3 ** mid-tempo. Dylan’s biggest song marked his “going electric” in 1965, and his original is ferociously powerful. Block plays it like the 1962-63 folk singer might have. Her careful enunciation of the lyrics is revealing and fascinating (6:27)
4 * very slow. Bluesy, soulful reading of a life-weary lament w/ very nice slide work (6:04)
5 ** mid-tempo. A faithful, folky rendition of this song made me smile (3:39)
6 mid-tempo. Block gets the anger just right on one of Dylan’s bitter put-down songs (5:05)
7 * mid-slow. many tough images of human suffering delivered with passion (7:06)
8 slow. odd song mixes references to Greek myth & American history; imho Block stretches the melody out of her comfortable vocal range (6:39)
9 slow. Dylan’s surprise early-lockdown YouTube drop uses the JFK assassination as a frame for a zillion allusions to popular music, film, culture, and history. Block gives a strong performance with interesting verbal flourishes, but it’s very long (20:42)