Lending a hand to the dying days of the western, Bob Dylan does a wonderful job at bringing life to the Sam Peckinpah classic. With a stacked cast featuring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson as the titular duo at arms, the battles between barons and broadly sophisticated anti-heroes would need a strong soundtrack to score it. Enter Dylan, whose works at this stage were turning toward a darker form already. Blood on the Tracks was on the horizon and years later his Christian turn on Slow Train Coming would feel western-like in its approach. Fascinating times lay ahead for Dylan though his work on the Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid soundtrack, released in larger form on The Complete 1973 Collection, showcases a strong grip on what makes the finest of westerns tick.
Ten tracks written up for the Peckinpah movie, and one appears to have stood the test of time. Not a bad innings for a man whose collection of wonderful works would often surpass the project they were written for. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door is right there, lingering around to the backdrop of gunfights and getaways. Even the Main Title Theme (Billy) is a wonderful number – instrumentally charged but removed from what could be classed as a classic slice of Dylan from the time. There is no punchiness to it bar a few acoustic flutters which do linger on as welcoming background noise. Is that not the point of main themes, after all? Not really, and much can be said for the further appearances of Turkey Chase and the like.
Flowing on through with the likes of Cantina Theme and Billy 1 becomes a real treat, the latter the first track of this Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid project which sounds at all like a Dylan piece. Credit where it is due, Dylan strips away his own style for the sake of fitting in with the genre tropes at hand – but surely the point of hiring a man whose name is recognised around the world is to get his spin on the old west. Flute goodness for Final Theme settles in rather nicely and the backing vocals, with Dylan and company feeling like whispers on the country trail, is a fitting yet rather light addition. It is easy to think up those cowboys from the Peckinpah film, a fine feature which does benefit from this Dylan soundtrack – though it is grand to hear it stand on its own two feet.
Well-developed and surprisingly at odds with the dusty stand-offs of the film, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid has some wonderfully relaxing acoustics and instrumentals within. Hearing these developed over The Complete 1973 Collection is a treat for the ears as it gives a clear indication of how Dylan formed these final works. Many of them sound as good as can be expected, the double Billy bill at the end of this one either a sign of shock at needing another eight minutes filled up or a touch of faith in the alternate versions which would be cobbled together to leapfrog a copyright order decades later. The only difference, really, is Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid is streamlined and shorter, without the filler of the massive collection quietly released by the Dylan camp.
