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09/11/2005

The Concert for Bangladesh - prime Dylan content

“Like to bring on a friend of us all – Mr Bob Dylan!”

When Dylan appeared at George Harrison’s commendable charity gig at Madison Square Garden on 1 August 1971, fans couldn’t believe their luck – the man who’d re-written the rules of popular music had hardly been seen in public since 1966.

Dylan’s Bangladesh contribution splits the critics. Paul Williams, a reliable Bob enthusiast, saw it as: “a stunning performance… voice has a rare, penetrating beauty”. Clinton Heylin, a more critical Dylan watcher, differed: “…almost throwaway set…singing sounds thin and pinched…“.

I tend to side with Williams on this one. The Concert for Bangladesh, just released as a 2DVD, in both regular and limited edition options, and in a new 2CD version, has some absolutely prime Dylan content.

In a spirited, acoustic performance, with spare backing, Dylan performs five tracks on the DVD - A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall, It Takes A Lot To Laugh, Blowin’ In The Wind, Just Like A Woman, and the newly available track, Love Minus Zero/No Limit. A sixth Dylan track, Mr Tambourine Man, included on the original vinyl album and the 2002 version of the CD, makes it to the new CD release, but is omitted from the DVD.

DVD2 also has a divine Dylan/George Harrison duet of If Not For You. And the accompanying documentary programme, A Concert For Bangladesh Revisited, also has tantalising footage from the rehearsals, including the Dylan/George Harrison duet.

Dylan collectors need the Bob bits on the new Bangladesh releases. The CD has the extra track; the DVD has the rehearsal duet. The rest of the Bangladesh DVD/CD is Heritage PopRock: OK if you like that sort of thing.



Gerry Smith

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