Posted on 10/13/2009 6:01:52 AM PDT by La Lydia
This Christmas season, parents will introduce their children to a legendary sage from northern climes renowned for his unsettling facial hair and unmistakable voice. This man is, of course, Bob Dylan. His first-ever holiday album, "Christmas in the Heart," arrives today, with the 68-year-old ripping through a gaggle of jaunty Christmas carols as if they were so much gift wrap...it's a bizarre and bewildering collection that embodies the rough-hewn traditionalism and forehead-slapping surrealism that's defined Dylan's career. The man's serrated croon isn't just jarring -- it actually gives these chirpy old chestnuts a sense of menace.
And it is awesome.
The arrangements on "Christmas in the Heart" are both overtly cheerful and staunchly by-the-numbers, making Dylan's beleaguered croak sound both maddening and sentimental, kinda like the Christmas season itself.
He throws down the gauntlet immediately with the twinkling pep of "Here Comes Santa Claus," one of the most annoying carols ever written. "Here comes Santa Claus/Here comes Santa Claus/Right down Santa Claus lane," Dylan rasps, making yuletide glee feel more like lunacy. "Must Be Santa" ramps up the insanity to even dizzier levels, with accordions moaning and cymbals crashing away at the speed of polka.
...the slower carols feel creepy...the sparse "I'll Be Home for Christmas" sounds like a reason to bolt your doors...
So...don't let Dec. 25 pass you by without hearing Dylan's take on Mel Torme's beloved "Christmas Song."
As ever, chestnuts are roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost is nipping at your nose -- but this time, the man behind the microphone sounds as if he's trying to dislodge a piece of tinsel from his throat: "Although it's been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I REALLY like Bob Dylan. He is his own man, and that is rare these days.
Should that be Cat Stevens?
It is beyond horrible. What is this reviewer smoking?
Dylan's real talent was always in his writing. Performing a bunch of tunes someone else wrote is like having Monet reproduce the Mona Lisa in paint-by-numbers.
“Should that be Cat Stevens?”
Well done!
My first thought was at least Bob Dylan is singing Christmas songs, instead of Ramadan chants like Cat Stevens.
BTW, from the article, it’s Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song”. That’s the one mom listened to!
He does hit each note eventually. Somewhere in that rocky slide up and down the musical register that makes up his musical phrasing he always trips past the right note—or something approximating it.
“BTW, from the article, it’s Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song”. That’s the one mom listened to!”
Mel Torme co-wrote that song.
Captain, where is your sense of humor? I can guarantee you I am smoking nothing whatsoever, but I found the songs I heard parts of this morning to be entertaining in the extreme, in that they were SO BAD. As a child, I was tormented annually by the Mitch Miller Chorus version of “Must be Santa.” It left a permanent mark, in that neither I nor my sister can hear that song without laughing. Please lighten up. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. But please don’t try to deprive those of us with long Dylan memories of this hilarious compilation.
Mel Torme co-wrote it.
“First Noel” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”
The review is hilarious. Always have considered Dylan overrated. Wrote some good lyrics — but, then, so did guys like Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. Dylan benefited from being part of the Baby Boomer anti-war culture. Give me “Proud to be an Okie from Muskogee” any day of the week.
Next, a duet with Streisand?
Mel wrote it, so it’s his song.
Never could stand that nasally voice; my hat’s off to those who like it.
“Mel Torme co-wrote that song.”
I know. And Mel’s cover of the song is very good.
I was just going nostolgic with memories of mom listening to Nat King Cole’s version. So, as far as I’m concerned, it’s Nat King Cole’s song!
Too many drugs and old age have come on this man. He should retire and think things over.
Bob’s Jewish. I don’t think he will be singing “Joy to the World”................
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