The “I'm Not There” soundtrack is admirable for its breadth and willingness to step off the traditional Dylan path for lesser-known songs. It's never less than good, but if good's not good enough, here are the highlights:
“Going to Acapulco,” by Jim James & Calexico: This song is slight on “The Basement Tapes,” but My Morning Jacket's James turns it into a heartfelt expression of the need to get away.
“Simple Twist of Fate,” by Jeff Tweedy: Wilco's Tweedy knows enough to get out of the way and let Dylan's deftly sketched lyrics do the work. Still, he adds a sympathetic warmth – he wants things to work out.
“Ring Them Bells,” by Sufjan Stevens: The most radical track, partially because the song is lesser known (from “Oh Mercy”) and because Stevens turns it into an uplifting Technicolor extravaganza complete with strings and horns.
“I Wanna Be Your Lover,” by Yo La Tengo: Ira Kaplan sings the song as if it's a Rolling Stones cover, and it gains a wild energy from Buckwheat Zydeco's surging B3 organ and the Lovin' Spoonful's John Sebastian on harmonica.
“I'm Not There,” by Bob Dylan: This unreleased rarity is from “The Basement Tapes” sessions, and you can hear The Band slowly gaining assurance in their first pass through the song. Dylan's melancholy vocal says he knows what he wants to communicate, but he becomes forlorn as each verse is another failed attempt to get the thought in words.
“The Old, Weird America,” by Greil Marcus: Marcus boldly discusses music as having a life of its own in the larger culture, and has been hugely influential over a generation of critics. Besides enticing a lot of people to buy bootlegs of the complete “Basement Tapes,” Marcus found a way to discuss Dylan that didn't limit him, pin him to single motivations, or make him seem smaller for the effort.
“The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia,” by Michael Gray: Gray disguises his book of Dylan criticism as a reference book, and often a funny and pointed one. You won't curl up in bed with it, but if you pull it out to look something up, you'll stay with it to read another entry or five.
ExpectingRain.com: This outpost for contemporary Dylanology has a community that regularly posts links to news stories, set lists and concert reviews. Dylan doesn't simply live in the past; neither should you.
“Chronicles,” by Bob Dylan: The man in these pages is far from the punk in 1966 who incited a riot at Newport when he plugged in his electric guitar. He's your pal, a little unsure of himself, and wowed by this big ol' world. I don't believe this represents his authentic voice any more than I believe the other personas do, but it's an entertainingly odd one, particularly when he talks about recording “Oh Mercy” in New Orleans.
“Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews,” edited by Jonathan Cott: There's no substitute for Dylan in his own words, and the Playboy interview included here loaned a lot of dialogue to “I'm Not There.”
“On the Road With Bob Dylan,” by Larry Sloman and Kinky Friedman: This account of Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue sets Dylan in the midst of a traveling circus and shows more casual and cruel sides of him than we're used to.
– ALEX RAWLS
