Dylan Obscuranti
By Tony Attwood
This is an imaginary album consisting of both lesser known Dylan songs performed either by himself or (mostly) other people, or re-worked versions of songs which take the song into somewhere completely different.
You can hear the opening tracks on our You Tube channel or via the articles…
- Track 1: Angelina but not as we know it
- Track 2. Tomorrow is a long time
- Track 3 – I’m not there
- Track 4 – Mama you been on my mind
- Track 5 – Love is just a four letter word
- Track 6 – To fall in love with you
And now track 7:
The point of this imaginary album is not that the songs are all unknown – that is obvious already.
But track seven is one that everyone must know, Restless Farewell. But this one version by Dylan is for me something so extraordinary that it really needs to be on this album.
It was created for the Frank Sinatra Farewell concert, and you can tell at once it is not the normal Dylan performance, for this is rehearsed to perfection – as indeed it needed to be not just out of respect for the honoured guest but also because of the orchestra and band playing together behind Dylan. The arrangement alone makes this performance a work of sublime art.
Indeed it is for me one of the most magical moments of music that I have ever heard in my life.
The song was part of a trilogy of songs written at the end of 1963 and early 1964 concerning leaving and hurting:
Amazingly Bob only played this song in public twice, once on 17 May 1964 and once on 21 May 1998. This performance, before the invited audience, seemingly doesn’t count.
If you are interested in reading more about this song you might enjoy “The Dylan Nobody Knows: The Clancy Brothers and Restless Farewell.”
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