When it comes to Bob Dylan, I’m a completist. I’ve got all the official albums, and whenever he releases a new one, however awful it is, I know I’ll be parting with my money. Same with Van Morrison. I’ve been invested in his records for so long it’s too late to stop now.
Of course compared to many here I’m a complete lightweight. I’ve never bothered with bootlegs, and even with the Official Bootleg series I’ve restricted myself to the 2CD sets rather than the big shiny box sets. But still, that collection from ‘Bob Dylan’ to ‘Trouble No More’continues to give me a lot of pleasure.
Except there’s been a big Christmas shaped hole in the middle of it. For some reason I’ve never been able to bring myself to buy ‘Christmas in the Heart’. Until today. I finally cracked in HMV today – at £3.99 it would have been rude not to. I listened on the drive home from work. And what a gloriously funny, barmy, joyous record it is. When I wasn’t singing along at the top of my voice (even less tunefully than Bob it has to be said) I was grinning from ear to ear. I’ve been so busy these last few weeks I haven’t got into Christmas at all. But this made me proper festive. I don’t know if I’m the first to post this this year (surely Bri must have done by now) but even if I’m not it feels like a public service to do so.
Cool Yule everyone
It’s ace. I played most of it today when I was making the tea. I’m not a tolerant man or a BD completist – I have like 10 albums by him and don’t want any more, and if you think I’m buying or even listening to him croaking and rasping his way through Gershwin etc we’re going to have a difference of opinion, pal.
But… come on. a Bob Dylan Christmas album is perfect in its conception before a note is played.
I am (almost) a completist and love probably about 90% of what he has done, also have seen him live 14 times. However this album is terrible, I enjoy It Must Be Santa but things like his “take” on Hark the Herald Angels Sing push it into worst album of all time territory.
I adore it. We had it on the new turntable yesterday as the tree went up, marking the beginning of the festivities proper.
Here’s my bit on the album from Christmas ’15 when I was going through the Bob Box: http://bobsbigbox.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/40-christmas-in-heart-2009.html
P.S. I thought this might be a thread about tinned sweetcorn, but it’s even better!
I assumed it was about an old skool misogynist hip hop album.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – I know of no better introduction to Bob Dylan’s records, online or in print, than Mini’s blog. And this review is a belter. Nail on head – yes it’s bonkers, yes his voice is all over the place, yes there are some cheesy backing vocals and tongue in certainly firmly on cheek on tracks like the wonderful Christmas Island – but there’s also a sincerity here, as there is on all the Sinatra albums (though on those, I hear you Moose) that gives the record a genuine warmth.
It worked for me.
My Dylan knowledge was pretty shaky beyond the obvious albums.
It worked so well, I splurged a ton and a bit on the Box myself.
I did think about listening and then writing about each album, but apparently it had already been done
A true idiot’s guide, i.e. written by an idiot.
(And thanks 😘)
I’m afraid this album is on Lady W’s list marked “Play that again and this here broom is going straight up your….”
It’s hard to disagree with such a clearly stated position.
It’s Bob having fun, which isn’t something you see too often.
“Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton”
I’m with dai and Lodes here….a couple of tracks are fine, and Must Be Santa works for his voice now, but it is bloody awful otherwise. I too have been threatened with extreme physical retribution if it ever gets played. It’s in the same category as all those recent covers albums, and I do not get those either. Oh, and I speak as a huge Dylan fan!
I’m with you. It’s great fun
Mrs atcf has banned this from the house. She says Bob sounds like a tramp on a park bench after one too many.
I put the record on in trepidation this morning, fully expecting a reaction from Mrs BB akin to those reported elsewhere in this thread. My private bet was that I might get as far as Hark the Herald Angels Sing. If I was lucky. But blow me if we didn’t get all the way through without tears or threats. in fact Mrs BB’s response was ‘it’s all right – at least it sounds as if he’s enjoying himself’. Truly tis the season of peace and goodwill.
Mrs Moose’s sister has the same reaction. Her husband is a big Dylan fan and their house often rings with the word “SKIP!” when the Zimster comes up on shuffle.
CITH is the Dylan album for people who don’t like Dylan (but who love cheesy kweznuz music)
(@blue-boy you missed a trick by not calling the thread The Revenge Of The CITH)
The man is refered (by others) to as Dob Bylan or Bob Villian in Japanese Towers. I think he’s great, but he is definitely on the blacklist when it comes to choosing music we both can listen to.
Here comes Santa Claus is my favourite
It`s a great Xmas album and I`m gonna play it in the car when I take the Baroness for a Xmas surprise. The dreaded (for me) George Michael thingy in Blackburn. I`ve got me dancing shoes on, front row , so I`ll obviously have to get up and boogie. Aaaaaaaaarrrrrgggghh!
Listen without prejudice did someone say.
Baron, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the GM tribute, unless you’re going determined not to like it…
Ya beat me to it this year blue boy. Merry Christmas!
It is a hoot. Dylan often shines when he is having a good time. The man has paid his dues and I am all too delighted when he lightens up and does an album like this.
I don’t want to be a Grinch but this is just unlistenable guff isn’t it. It’s just a joke that started in the studio and some how got released. If it was anyone else they wouldn’t have wasted the tape.
He can do so much better, hopefully.
I”m thinking you ain’t got Christmas in your heart, ip.
Not just because I am terrified of Lady W but I agree with ip – unlistenable guff sums it up nicely. I would like to play it one more time just to confirm its guffness but I have no wish to spend Christmas in hospital whilst a team of surgeons extracts a broom from deep inside me….
Would be nice if Bob had some Xmas in his voice.
One of his best and I’ve got ’em all and seen him live many times. Great lp and he’s a great singer.
Bob’s a great singer and he’s been in fine voice over his recent covers albums. Actually, possibly the best he ever sang was for the songs that appeared on the recent bootleg series boxed set (around 1979). This can be demonstrated by the words of my 7 year old lad, who wandered into the living room whilst it was on and asked me who was singing. When I told him it was Dylan he just said “no it’s not.” I tried to assure him it was, but he just wasn’t having it. Eventually he said “if it’s Bob Dylan, why doesn’t it sound like this then?” [adopts croaky voice]. There was no answer to that.
It is one of the lad’s party pieces. “Hey daddy, this is Bob Dylan singing Jingle Bells…” or any other song, before he proceeds to croak the words. Although when we were building some lego to the sound of Trout Mask Replica he declared that even Bob Dylan sings better then Captain Beefheart. At one point he asked “what’s that sound?”, to which I replied “it’s a violin I think”. The boy replied, “is he trying to kill it?”
😂😂😂 Keep nurturing,Paul. The dividends are already paying off!
Marvellous.😎
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC51F3BABA3D8648F
Oh oh.
What have I Done? I can get the Ringo Christmas album no problem-o through YouTube on my IMac but not my iPhone?
And now the edit function has disappeared too! Have I inadvertently fucked with the fabric of time! ??