Introduction by Tony Attwood
I think we first mentioned the band Dylan.pl back in 2018 when we picked up on their cover of Jokerman and have noted with much applause a fair amount of their work since. Indeed I’ve been delighted to publish a whole range of articles relating to the band since then..
But then of course times move on, and we head toward different subjects, trying hard not to repeat ourselves (this is of course UNTOLD Dylan) but I was delighted to hear again recently from Filip Łobodziński, at which moment I suggested that maybe he would like to write another piece for us. And very kindly he has agreed. So here is part one. Part two, as you might expect, will follow in a few days….
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By Filip Łobodziński
The whole thing started in 2014 when… oh, wait. It was back in 1979, actually. That year, in April, I translated the first of hundreds of songs which are now in my archive. It was Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right. Then came some French and Catalan songs, and then, Romance in Durango, You’re a Big Girl Now… and so it went. Fast forward to 2014 and I have a thick binder full of Bob Dylan’s songs translated into Polish.
In the meantime, in December 1983, I started a band with my friends from the Warsaw University. We called it Zespół Reprezentacyjny (Representative Group) and our repertoire consisted of, mainly, Catalan and French songs (translated into Polish by ourselves) which we found suitable to arrange and perform in a Poland ruled by communists, to mock the regime and encourage people to think and act independently.
The band is still performing today, we have 6 albums released and we plan to record at least one more. But the musical sensibility of the band somehow did not suit the Dylan songs so my translations were neglected.
And then, in 2014, I thought I could perhaps show my Dylan work to the world by singing my translations in the bars; just me and my guitar. The Zespół Reprezentacyjny’s bassist argued against the idea however and offered to be my accompanist. Then another friend of mine asked me, “Filip, why don’t you start a different band dedicated solely to your Dylan output?”
In early December, I contacted a very good guitar player (doing a fantastic job on a variety of guitars, mandolin, banjo, resonator guitar* and harmonica) and a renowned producer and together with a drummer we formed a quartet I dubbed dylan.pl. My original aim was to do Dylan songs in an Americana vein (or as close to Americana as we the Poles could get), i.e. mixing up folk, blues, country, gospel and acoustic rock’n’roll elements. The point was not to replicate the originals but to express ourselves instead through the lyrics, the rhythms and melodies.
Our first rehearsal took place on Dec 27, 2014. A year later, we had already nearly 30 songs in the bag and the first live concert behind us. We were received with serious applause.
Another nine months passed and we finished recording our album. I knew the Polish market was not prepared for Bob Dylan in Polish in the long run so I managed to persuade the record label which agreed to release the album that it should be a double-CD affair. I wasn’t sure if I could hope for another opportunity so I went for the big one.
Since the label was not sure if my voice and name could sell the product they insisted on having guest vocalists. They did not believe in my singing although I’d already had released five albums with Zespół Reprezentacyjny to remarkable sales. But, who’s the boss if not the label? Even our lead guitar player/producer would not argue. We invited six top singers from the world of Polish folk and rock and I let them sing some parts of a few songs. In my opinion, only a small part of those songs could be sung as duets because of their intimate mood but I found that I could give some room for other voices without sacrificing the message. One of our joint efforts is above, and a second below…
Meanwhile, a fifth member was enlisted, a good trombone and accordion player. We were a quintet then.
The idea for the album was to dedicate the first CD to the more “social”, “political” or “commenting” Dylan and the second one to the “intimate” and “reflective” Dylan. The album brought 29 songs, spanning between The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and Tempest. I wanted to show as many different sides of Bob Dylan as I could. Short numbers (Father of Night, Time Passes Slowly, Blowin’ in the Wind…) and long ones (Tempest, Highlands), prayers (Ain’t Talkin’, Every Grain of Sand) and stories (Black Diamond Bay, Isis), soft ballads (Señor, To Ramona) and aggressive diatribes (Subterranean Homesick Blues, Gotta Serve Somebody).
One of the best Polish writers, Andrzej Stasiuk, a huge Dylan fan, wrote a beautiful essay for the booklet. And finally, when all the obstacles with the layout and the copyrights were behind us, the album was released exactly on my 58th birthday, March 24, 2017. And it gathered very positive reviews.
To be continued….
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*Editor’s note. I like to think I’m fairly well up to date with both music and musical instruments but “resonator guitar” had me beat so I looked it up, (and I mention this just in case you are not sure either). It’s a guitar that “uses one or more metal cones, called resonators, to amplify and modify the sound. Instead of relying solely on a wooden soundboard, like a typical acoustic guitar, the vibrations from the strings are transferred to the resonator(s), producing a distinctive, often louder and more metallic sound.”
So, different from an electric guitar, and also from an acoustic guitar. Now I know, and if you were uncertain, now you know too.