Albumdata
| Artist | Cat Power |
| Album | Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert |
| Year of release | 2023 |
Rating
Introduction
On November 5, 2022, Cat Power (real name Chan Marshall) performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The goal: reenact the famous 1966 Bob Dylan concert, that has become known under the moniker Royal Albert Hall Concert or the “Judas”Concert”. The original recordings to the Dylan show were released as the fourth part of th ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series titled Bob Dylan Live 1966, The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert. The concert was actually recorded at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, but since it was called the Royal Albert Hall on many bootlegs, Dylan and the record company chose to use that title.
The concert was famous for it was on this tour that Dylan first played on electric instruments (with backing band The Hawks, later known as The Band). Th first half of the concert was acoustic, and turned electric (drums, guitar, bass, organ) starting with Tell Me, Momma. Audiences usually disapproved and reacted aggresively at times to the second part. Dylan was accuses of treason, leading to the infamous “Judas!” call form the audience. Dylan reacted with “I don’t believe you”.
Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert
Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert
Cat Power is a huge admirter of Bob Dylan: “More than the work of any other songwriter, Dylan’s songs have spoken to me, and inspired me since I first began hearing them at 5 years old.”. She has covered Dylan songs before, but never this elaborately. Usually Cat Power deconstructs the songs she covers, only to build them back up again in het oowne unique way. But now she stays close to the originals.
Just for this show (which was performed in Australia in 2023), she put together a band with people from the band Arsun, musicians who played on the Echo In The Canyon soundtrack and a drummer from a Grateful Dead tribute band. With this band Cat Power proved to be able to play enad interpret the songs in the right way.
Is iut 100% identical? No, after the shouted “Judas!”, Cat Power reactes with “Jesus”. Cat Power: “It was something impulsive. I wasn’t expecting the audience to recreate their part of the original show as well, but then I wanted to set the record straight – in a way, Dylan is a deity to all of us who write songs”.
In conclusion
Iwan’t planning on dedicating an articale on this album, but it have played it all day today. I love it. Is Cat Power even able of making something ugly? The album moves and feels relevant. With performances, like the utterly crushing Desolation Row, which often reache the level of the originals, Cat Power has once again created an album that enriches her already stunning body of work.
Songs
All song written by Bob Dylan, except Baby, Let Me Follow You Down, written by Reverend Gary Davis, Dave van Ronk and Eric von Schmidt.
- She Belongs To Me
- Fourth Time Around
- Visions Of Johanna
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
- Desolation Row
- Just Like A Woman
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- Tell Me, Momma
- I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
- Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
- Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
- Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
- One Too Many Mornings
- Ballad Of A Thin Man
- Like A Rolling Stone
Spotify
The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated.
