Richard Hawley – Ballad of a Thin Man Review

Plenty of artists have covered the works and words of Bob Dylan. PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Jimi Hendrix and Johnny Cash are just a handful of those who connected with the lyrics or the man himself. Often, both. For Richard Hawley, it is not just the fundamental elements of Ballad of a Thin Man that make themselves apparent, but the qualities and unique offerings Hawley has for listeners. His style is close to that of the 1950s era of crooners, his qualities have been as overlooked as they were for the great Gordon Lightfoot. Precision, promise and sincere quality flow through Hawley’s cover of one of Dylan’s greatest pieces. A shame, then, that it was all for Peaky Blinders.

How that comes about, one tremendous cover that engages a harsh blues style with the tone of Dylan’s inflexions preserved well, through an out-of-proportion BBC series, is odd. Thankfully not all is lost. More than a handful of great works have been featured in that show, best of all Ballad of a Thin Man. Such a cover comes at the same time as the release of Further, an album that is still being toured thanks to lockdown woes that prevented live music, yet it feels to have been some time ago that Hawley was gearing up a track for a TV show. His work in film, Funny Cow, for instance, means Ballad of a Thin Man is no surprise. Brushing shoulders with the big screen was a constant.  The quality of this cover is the surprise – that is not a knock on Hawley, his talents are firm and clear.

The tempo of this cover, a fundamental understanding of the flow and beat of Dylan’s lyrics, is a credit to Hawley as an artist. Much more focus is present on the instrumentals. A sweeping collection of drum beats and formed stylings, a harsh electric guitar heard intermittently between the vocal strength Hawley presents. It is sincerely one of the greatest covers put to tape, not just of Dylan, but in general. Casting this aside as just an extra bit of music for fans, Hawley’s range of quality comes through in the playing style, the adaptation to the lyrics of Dylan and the pace he is more than capable of creating throughout this single.

Possibly the definitive Dylan cover. It holds within it the same scope, but a different style, the same lyrics, but a different tone. The freewheelin’ giggles and changes of pace to the Dylan iteration from Highway 61 Revisited are completely absent from the Hawley version. A saloon-like piano crunch is absent also. In its place, the qualities of Hawley and his session musician strike through with a spark like no other. It is up there as one of the all-time great Dylan covers. It paces itself well alongside Hendrix and his rendition of All Along the Watchtower. It is enough to make this Hawley cover his own, although whether he will ever perform it live is a completely different beast to tackle. With a backlog of brilliant tracks penned by the man himself, is there really any reason for Dylan to take the place of Hawley, a guitarist, lyricist and performer on par with the great icon?