Down in the Groove

by

Bob Dylan

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I never gave two hoots for Bob Dylan. Not two hoots! Then I moved into a new home, and, by golly, the previous occupant (could it have been God?) left behind several items from his record collection. And I do mean "record" collection. These were good old-fashioned American made vinyl LPs, not them fancy, schmancy little made in Japan or China or anywhere but the U.S. Christmas tree ornaments known as compact discs. The other records were by Lawrence Welk (whose rendition of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" was the only version of a Dylan song I found tolerable) and the Lennon Sisters. I love 'em both, but because I love 'em, I already had those records. So, with my own record collection still packed away in boxes, but with a real need to hear some music, I slapped Bob Dylan's "Down in the Groove" on the stereo, expecting to be bored or possibly irritated out of my mind. Well, what can I say? One fine song followed another, building to an orgy of musical satisfaction that left me wondering where in God's heck I had been! Did I really live 62 years without "Silvio" rocking in my ears day and night? Did I really choose alcohol, and lots of it, to ease the burden of my loneliness rather than listen to Dylan mournfully moan through the bleak aural landscape of "Rank Strangers to Me"? Had my life truly been an empty shell all these years?

Listening to "Down in the Groove" was a revelation, an epiphany! For the first time in my life, my ears were rocked clean of all their deafening wax, and my eyes, blind for so long, were suddenly freed from their scales and I could see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles, oh yeah! (I have since discovered The Who, as well). Well, I never did bother to unpack those Lawrence Welk, Lennon Sisters, and Don Ho albums from their boxes. Instead I took them down to Half Price Books--7000 albums--where they gave me five dollars (their usual rate no matter what you bring in) for the whole lot of 'em. I went out and bought two McDonalds BBQ chicken sandwiches and a cup of coffee, and still had some change left over. I may have been poor, but I was happy. Thank you, Mr. Down in the Groove. Yes, I mean you, Mr. Dylan.

Down in the Groove is a special album for me because this was the first Dylan CD I ever bought. Certainly, it's not one of his better albums, typifying the Dylan doldrums of the early 1980s, but it does have a few bright spots amid its many faults. A significant problem with this CD is the absence of any type of flow; it sounds like 10 songs thrown together somewhat haphazardly. "Let's Stick Together" is a kicking opening song that gets the juices flowing. It is followed by the slow yet meaningful "When Did You Leave Heaven?" Then we shift back to a faster tune in "Sally Sue Brown," only to slip into the slowest song on the album, the simply poignant "Death is Not the End." Then it's back to a rocking beat with "Had A Dream About You Baby" (with Eric Clapton on guitar) and the conspicuously interesting "Ugliest Girl in the World," a song which I myself actually like. "Silvio" is the only possibly recognizable song on the album and is the only song I remember hearing Dylan perform live in concert soon after this CD's release. "Ninety Miles An Hour (Down a Dead End Street)" is one of the more meaningful songs found here, as is the strangely beautiful dirge "Rank Strangers To Me," but even these tracks are rather forgettable.

The overall weakness of Down in the Groove can be traced to a simple source--most of these songs were not written by Bob Dylan. The backup singers on this album just don't seem to suit Dylan, either, lending a strange R&B sound to several tunes. It is interesting to note that the 80s group Full Force (which few people besides me probably remember) performed the backup vocals on "Death is Not the End." All in all, this is really an uninspired album. Although it was my first Dylan CD, I would not recommend this for Dylan newbies. It's not as bad as the critics make it out to be, but its lack of focus and short length (less than 35 minutes) make it a low priority for those trying to build a Bob Dylan CD collection.