Bob Dylan – Once Upon a Time: Volume 1 Review

Intimacy was lost on Bob Dylan’s performances during his post-heyday period. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, there were stadium sellouts and a broad range of collaborative pieces which dragged Dylan further and further away from the connection between attendee and stage presence. Once Upon a Time: Volume 1, an unofficial collection of 2017 performances, returns to the roots of the emotional outpour which made his earliest works his best. These are the discomforting and wonderful tones of a man heading onto smaller stages, of an artist with his head buried in the American Songbook. Nat King Cole covers and a loose collection of hits like Tangled Up in Blue form a noire-like appeal, the gutsy chimes of Dylan’s stage presence and instrumental flavour here are wonderfully unique.  

Those tones are taken up on opener Autumn Leaves and the crooner style Dylan took on for the Triplicate release feels right at home on the stage. Wonderful work from a composed and stern performer, slowly guiding slide guitar and strings into place as summer kisses from a different life are remembered with a shock intimacy. Those cool treatments are given to Desolation Row too. Almost directionless piano work and a static guitar piece fall into place as Dylan finds his footing with a vocal performance warmed to by a whooping crowd. These are the instrumental turns Dylan wishes to impart on songs of old and here they sound far stronger than they did during a period of indifference to his classics. Of all the surprises within is a solfège scale use on Desolation Row, the do, re, mi rise of its title sparks a new lease of life for the Highway 61 Revisited closer.  

Yet even with those new stylings for old classics the likes of It Ain’t Me Babe refuse to temper themselves to the swing style of Melancholy Mood, an absolute gem in the recorded efforts Dylan has to offer. Once Upon a Time: Volume 1 is filled with those experiences, exceptional rips from an underrated and often dangerous tour which heard Dylan push his voice to new heights. Brief flutters of this new sound fall through on Once Upon a Time, a short and vague attempt at sweet pangs of life better founded on Pay in Blood. Make no mistake, this is a rough period for Dylan still – more for his appearances on the charts and in the minds of those passive fans who were holding out for hits. But those who have been down this road before know what spoils lay ahead and the likes of Tangled Up In Blue remain as wonderful examples of how a change to his tone and the tune he develops makes all the difference.  

Fundamental changes to Dylan’s style are most obvious, and rather nicely so, on Things Have Changed. That they have and in highlighting those fundamental shifts comes a whoop from the crowd and a new momentum for Dylan. Once Upon a Time: Volume 1 does an exceptional job of capturing the best bits of a tour taken for granted. Consistently light blues tones which would be further refined for the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour appear throughout this and the only real change is the tunes Dylan brings with him into the next decade of his live work. There are some omissions now which were taken for a ride on this 2017 experience, and those which would have suited this cover-heavy set nicely. Dylan now has a nice blend of both, but Once Upon a Time: Volume 1 offers a decent display of works elsewhere.