New releases from legends Bob Dylan, JT & Neil Young

Bob Dylan takes a lot of getting used to. And that is a fact even after almost 60 years of his music. His vocals growl. His poetry meanders. His guitar is run-of-the-mill ordinary. But then, one day, most unexpectedly the magic happens. The entire package gels and one suddenly understands and admires the man. Like a Rolling Stone, Mr. Tamborine Man, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Blowin’ in the Wind.

The magic still has to happen with Dylan’s latest, Rough and Rowdy Ways.  This is his first release of new originals in eight years. His last was The Tempest. This is also his first since winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. And it looks like he is taking being a Nobel Laureate really seriously.

Rough and Rowdy Ways is typically Dylan, bluesy, rocking and free-form storytelling, but bigger. Best cut is the introspective I Contain Multitudes, where he puts himself under the magnifying glass. Then, there is False Prophet which rocks because underneath it all, Dylan is a rock star.

The centerpiece of the package though is Murder Most Foul, which comes in a second disc. The seven-minute piece is how Dylan remembers the assassination of American President John Kennedy. Maybe someday, kids in school will study and Dylan’s Murder Most Foul like they now do John Brown’s Body by Pete Seeger, which mentions the Lincoln assassination.

Also included in the album are My Own Version of You, I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You, Black Rider, Goodbye Jimmy Reed, Mother of Muses, Crossing the Rubicorn and Key West (Philosopher Pirate).

The clear, warm sound of James Taylor (JT) is always a treat. If you want to feel awash in affection and secure in your own corner of this world, during these uncertain times listen to JT and you will surely think heaven must feel like this.

More so if you were listening to JT’s career-defining songs that cover more than 50 years. This is JT’s entry into the age of Corona. While everybody else was coming up with new materials, he chose to release a new greatest hits collection late in March.

But mind you, this is no ordinary compilation. Every cut has been remastered to the finest possible quality with supervision by no less than Peter Asher. If I remember right, it was Asher of the Peter and Gordon duo who discovered JT and brought him to Apple Records. That was the beginning of an outstanding career.

Asher indeed has the ears to oversee this masterful production. The result is simple but oh-so-enticingly beautiful. Here is smooth singing you would want to get lost in and crisp, seductive guitar playing in all of those unforgettable songs.

Something in the Way She Moves, Carolina in My Mind, Fire and Rain, Sweet Baby James, Country Road, You’ve Got a Friend, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, Walking Man, How Sweet It is to be Loved by You, Mexico, Shower the People with Love and Steamroller.

Homegrown by Neil Young is not really a new album. It was recorded sometime in 1974 and 1975. It was supposed to be released after Harvest and Comes a Time. Young, however, decided it was too personal and pulled it out. And so the master tapes of Homegrown, remember that was the time when recordings were analog, have lain undisturbed and unheard in a vault for 50 years.

Then a month ago, Homegrown, digitally mastered from the original tapes, was finally released. Now completed is Young’s intended trilogy of Harvest, Homegrown and Comes a Time. We do not know what made him change his mind.  Maybe it was the thought that with the pandemic going around, people might never be able to listen to Homegrown forever.

Homegrown has the classic mellow sound of Young from the ‘70s. It has pared down arrangements of guitar, piano and at times a harmonica that he mostly performs.

Technically, new cuts because they are being heard for the first time are Separate Ways, Try, Mexico, Kansas, We Don’t Smoke It No More, Vacancy and the narrative Florida. Versions of the other cuts have been heard in other albums. But these were the first ones ever recorded of Love is a Rose, Homegrown, White Line, Little Wing and Star of Bethlehem and therefore still worth the listen.