Some compilation albums are speedily compiled cash ins, born out of a half-baked idea and fleshed out with track padding, often an attempt to capitalise on a current trend or hit and not designed to last beyond the marketing campaign that accompanies them. Then there are other compilations that are curated works of art put together with care and consideration by musical connoisseurs inspired by the desire to promote and share records, often obscure, that have not received the love and attention their quality merits. Any record collecting veterans reading this will not need me to tell them that Ace Records, the label behind this collection, belong in the latter category and in fact, are arguably the market leaders in these kinds of themed archival digs. Not only do their track selections cast a very wide net indeed and almost always throw up some wonderful surprises, but also, they pay special attention to the sound quality. So many Ace Records releases in my collection are head and shoulders above their peers in terms of audio depth. They really get this stuff right, not to mention the packaging, which is detailed and in depth, inviting the opportunity for a proper sit-down and immerse yourself album listening experience.

This is the second of an occasional series in which Ace have collected black American artists covering the songs of Bob Dylan. He is not quite the surprising choice of composer for this type of project that some might believe. As the sleeve notes highlight, he has written and published more than 600 songs and there is a little shy of 9,000 versions of his songs in circulation by over 5,000 artists. That said, ever since he first appeared on the scene with his 1962 self-titled debut album, Dylan has been a divisive figure, someone just as likely to inspire howls of derision for his unconventional voice as he is to be lavished with praise for his lyrical genius. For my money I have always believed him to be a great singer, a character voice unafraid to emote and push the boundaries with his imperfections but there remain many who fail to arrive at a proper appreciation because the Dylan voice is too much of a barrier. Maybe then, this kind of release is the very thing they need to experience and enjoy the writing of Bob Dylan. Undoubtedly, there is a deep well from which to take a tasty range of selections to stitch together as a cohesive whole. Bob was highly regarded for his early political songs that enriched the repertoire of civil rights movement, and it is clear black US singers kept him in the mix when looking for material. There can surely be no greater endorsement than Nina Simone’s including three Dylan originals on her 1969 LP ‘To Love Somebody,’ it is her delicate reading of ‘Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues’ that graces this album.

During a 1965 US press conference Dylan famously drew laughter when describing himself to a journalist as “a song and dance man.” They might have realised he was not entirely joking if they had heard the Odetta album ‘Odetta Sings Dylan’ from earlier that year, especially her version of ‘Baby, I’m In The Mood For You’ which appears here in all its jaunty carefree splendour. Mind you, that is nothing compared to the stonking soul work out Solomon Burke inflicts upon ‘The Mighty Quinn’ in 1969. It is incredible how many of these tunes wear a soul dressing so comfortably. Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan gives ‘If Not For You’ (perhaps most famously sung by George Harrison) a proper shake down in 1971 then only four years later Merry Clayton successfully finds the funk in ‘Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35.’ Not only that but the gospel transformation The Staples Singers cast upon ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ in 1968 is sensational. As is often the case though, it is the less obvious tunes that reveal the greatest delights. Bettye Lavette captures the levelling desolation at the core of Bob’s 1989 song ‘Everything Is Broken,’ a 2012 cover that would later lead to the under-rated singer making a double LP of Dylan’s music in 2018. However, it is a pair of jazzers who point to a limitless potential still untapped in this music; firstly, Cassandra Wilson whose 2002 recording of ‘Shelter From The Storm’ drapes the song in some stylish attire but even that is modest compared to Jimmy Scott’s deconstruction of ‘When He Returns.’ Recorded in 1996, he takes the closing number from 1979’s maligned Christian ‘Slow Train Coming’ album and transforms it into a piano-jazz, be-bop adjacent hymn. Quite remarkable and a real jewel in this absolutely essential twenty-track collection which, typically for Ace, does not have a single weak selection.

This Ace Records album is available to buy here: https://amzn.to/3ORY2nE

Danny Neill