This is pure nostalgia for me. The first review I ever wrote for Green Man Review was a piece on a live performance by the Dylan Project in a small club in Oford, UK. The they were a new act on the scene. They had just released the CD of that name and they were basically a quartet, Steve Gibbons, his right hand man P J Wright and Fairporters Dave Pegg and Simon Nicol, though on that occasion Gerry Conway came along with his percussion.
I saw them again in a club in London a couple of years ago. Gibbons, Wright and Pegg was still there, Conway had joined on a permanent basis and Nicol had been replaced by keyboard player Phil Bond. What we got then was basically two hous of Dylan’s greatest hits, performed with all the love and affection of a group of Dylan fans.
So here is a double CD recorded in a club called The Convent in Gloucestershire, UK, in December 2015 during the project’s usual pre-Christmas tour of England. As all Fairport fans know November and December are the months when that group takes a break and the members go out and play with other groups.
Fact file: 20 of Mr Zimmerman’s songs, both the well and some lesser known played with the expertise of musicians who have been in the business for almost 50 years and who really know their Dylan. Do not expect any copies of His Bobness’sown performances, the Dylan Project play the songs their own way, not straying to far from the original but adapting it to their own style.
At the centre of it all is Steve Gibbons on vocals and acoustic guitar. His voice is sometimes a dead ringer for Dylan’s, with the exception he is always in tune and his diction is so clear you can hear every single word he sings.
The foundation is down by drummer Gerry Conway and bass player Dave Pegg, one of the tightest rythm sections there is, whether playing here of in Fairport. And listen for the bass lines Pegg contributes. Clever is an understatement.
To me P J Wright is the master of guitar fills. With Gibbons playing the chords and the rhythm Wrightis given a free role, to underline what is being sung or playing clever runs in between the singing. He also plays a number of very tasty guitar solos, and some pedal steel on a few tracks.
I have not heard Phil Bond outside this unit, but from what I hear he is a very versatile player, both as a backing musician and a soloist, both on keyboards and accordion.
To me some tracks stand out above the rest. The opening ”Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” is given an uptempo, country like treatmenty. At first I found it strange, but now I love it. ”Positively 4th Street” has always been a favourite of mine, and Gibbons lifts it a bit further. And they do a lovely version of ”Handle With Care” (TravellingWilburys”.
But the real stand out track for me is”Ballad of a Thin Man”. I love the version on Bob Dylan’s and the Band’s live album ”Before the Flood” where Dylan really attacks the song and fills it with irony and rage. Dylan Project turns it the other way, low key, subdued with P J Wright’s guitar shining all the way through, and Dave Pegg playing the only bass solo on the record.
I cannot praise the Dylan Project enough. They call themselves the tribute band Dylan deserves. And what can go wrong, five brilliant musicians picking their favourite songs from one of the best songwriters in the world, a man who has continously put on out new product for 55 years.
Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Dylan or British folk rock.
(Hedge of Sound, 2016)
