Bob Dylan – Walking By Myself Review

Dance around your living room to Desire long enough and the itch to listen to more Bob Dylan returns. It always appears in sudden places. Doing the dishes feels better with a bit of Romance in Durango. The slippery slope to sleep feels exceptional with Walking By Myself, a new cover from Dylan at a Fort Lauderdale show earlier this month. Ripped right out of the 1950s, this Rogers classic is in safe hands, as are the many covers of the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. Vocal improvements from Dylan over the last few years, a marginal difference from the start of the century and a comfort in adapting songs which influenced his early years. A swinging folk blues wraps itself around Walking By Myself, a blistering cover in great form. 

For some covers, it marks the first and last time Dylan will play them. Do not write off Walking By Myself just yet. It is a short little number but a grand interlude where Dylan can whittle away his love for the works of the late Chicago blues master. Adapt and adapt again. Mick Jagger may believe Rogers is the godfather of electric blues, but it is those artists who find themselves moved and advancing the sound. No wonder Dylan has a real love for Walking By Myself. It has plenty of spots free for some wonderful guitar work – as is displayed by this performance. Another performance for a second spot on the Fort Lauderdale tour run was not the inevitable addition it would seem. Dylan has a flighty response to covers, the one-and-done method appears often. But it is a true treat when he revives the great classics, covers included, from his repertoire.  

If anything, it gives the band a new way to impress the attending crowds. All those whoops and hollers are certainly earned in this performance. Long live those smuggling their recording devices into Dylan shows. For those across the pond, it means hearing covers from Dylan – who showed no signs of improvisation in the Hull show. Was there any need to? Those rare moments, spontaneous as they are, must be a logistical nightmare for a man who opens the doors at six and arrives at eight. We are now in the final months of a tour which has revitalised a man whose career was steady. Dylan has proven something spectacular with Rough and Rowdy Ways, these additional covers are icing on the cake.  

More than that, they are wonderful workings from Dylan who was given chance after chance to play out the songs which influenced him and still do. There is no doubt about how fundamental a track Walking By Myself is for the living legend. He may disagree with such a title, but there are few out there with the influence Dylan has and fewer with influence over Dylan like this Rogers track. Walking By Myself is a wonderful addition to the set and hits all the usual hot spots. It fits in neatly, feels fresh and marks another exciting addition to audiophiles desperate to hear Dylan interpret the best and brightest of a generation no longer active.