I’ve just finished watching a
tight game between the Dolphins and the Broncos go the wrong way, with the
Dolphins losing by 3 points. Thankfully this next album has lots of restful,
gentle guitar plucking to salve my wounded soul.
Disc 681 is…. Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Artist: Bob Dylan
Year of Release: 1973
What’s up with the Cover? Words and,
regrettably, an ampersand.
How I Came To Know It: This was just me drilling through
Bob Dylan albums. Also, I knew this was a good one because I’d seen the movie
and remembered liking the music.
How It Stacks Up: I have 19 Bob Dylan albums, and there are a lot of
good ones. Despite really enjoying “Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, it can’t
do better than 13 out of 19. Out of my 28 soundtracks, it fares much better,
coming in at 9th best, just below “Flash Gordon.”
Rating: 3 stars but almost 4
I’ve always loved Dylan’s song lyrics, so when I
rolled this album, I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy an album where
more than half the tracks are instrumentals. I had nothing to worry about,
however, because Dylan is just as great speaking with notes as he is with
words.
The album is the soundtrack to the movie of the same
name, which starred James Coburn as Pat Garrett and Kris Kristofferson as Billy
the Kid and is directed by Sam Peckinpah. I’ve seen the movie and always enjoy
it. It takes the story of Billy the Kid and makes it a metaphor for freedom.
The relationship between Garrett and Billy is complex and difficult, and Coburn
does a good job of demonstrating a deep reluctance at killing his old friend.
It is kind of a western “Point Break” in a way.
Dylan’s soundtrack suffuses the film with a
thoughtful melancholia, and this effect carries through when you’re just
listening to the album on its own. The songs are mostly simple guitar strums
that meander slowly around traditional western constructions. Sometimes Dylan
is on the guitar and sometimes it is Roger McGuinn, and both are great.
The album’s first song is the movie’s main title
theme. It is a six minute long instrumental that put me in a restful, but alert
mental state as my mind wandered around inside the idle melody that Dylan puts
down. There is no strain, and although the song is exquisitely composed, it
feels like Dylan is idly making it up on the fly.
The other instrumental pieces are almost as good,
particularly the final theme, which successfully brings in all the other
musical themes the record has previously introduced, musical style. However, “Bunkhouse Theme” and “Turkey Chase” are both songs that don’t
work quite as well without the movie. “Turkey Chase” in particular comes off
very hokey. The scene in the film is hokey, but devoid of watching people chase
turkeys, I just wanted it over.
The standout piece on the record is “Knocking on Heaven’s Door,” which is one
of the most simple and beautiful pieces of folk music I’ve ever heard. While
there have been plenty of solid covers of this song over the years, nothing
matches Dylan’s original. Also, unlike “Turkey
Chase,” the song is better out of the movie than in it. (In the film you
are watching Slim Pickens character die, so it doesn’t even relate directly to
Garrett or The Kid). I would have preferred the song not fade out, but this is
a minor quibble on what is essentially a five star song.
The other great song is Billy the Kid’s theme song “Billy.” The album as three versions of
this, unimaginatively titled “Billy 1,”
“Billy 4,” and “Billy 7.” It makes me wonder what Billy 2, 3, 5 and 6 are like.
Each “Billy”
has the same tune but slightly different lyrics, while still telling the story
of Billy the Kid, on the run from the law but still making time for his sweet
senorita. “Billy 1” has the prettiest
arrangement and feel to it. “Billy 4”
has more verses, as well as variations to the verses in “Billy 1” (Dylan loves to change his lyrics around. Even his own
website doesn’t have the correct lyrics to many of his songs). “Billy 7” is the ugly step-brother of the
other two, with the weakest sound and lyrics. While I really like this tune,
the album only has 10 songs, and “Billy” is three of them. That seems a bit
much.
If you like Americana music that comes at you free
and easy, this is a Bob Dylan album you will enjoy. He is unplugged and feeling
introspective and it is music that calms the mind. This is a soundtrack that
makes the movie better, but is also enjoyable on its own.
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