Bob Dylan – South of Cincinnati Review

There should be no real surprise as to how well Dwight Yoakam’s work lends itself to Bob Dylan. For those not rumbling away in the United States, the delights of cowboy caricature Yoakam may be lost. Dive deep then, and start with South of Cincinnati. A natural addition to the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour which did, indeed, head to Cincinnati, this cover provides yet another wonderful example of why smuggling bits of tech into arenas across the globe is worth the risk. Rules are not meant to be bent and hammered but broken entirely – specifically when it comes to finding some deeper cuts and rhythms of Dylan – whose work here could have been lost forever if it were not thanks to the sharp minds of those in attendance.

Two performances of this and it is likely all we will ever get of the Yoakam piece. It benefits Dylan and the band so well, as all these songs so often do. A receptive crowd, the twangs of country-like acoustics pulled into place by the strings and stylish instrumentals marked Rough and Rowdy Ways as such a monumental experience. On reflection, it may be the finest work and subsequent tour from the legends still plugging away decades from the days which defined them. Dylan comes through this one as forthright and sincere but still with the steely reserve which keeps the image of ascending to the all-time greats around him. His tenure in the annals of the American Songbook served this well, the sense of fog and smoke surrounding a man whose repositioning has him as a borderline troubadour here is wonderful. 

Much to the credit of the band in place to bring this image out of South of Cincinnati too. Dylan does not just play these songs as straight covers but finds the heart of them, develops it into his own emotional array and pulls through with lush and often understated understandings of entire cities. In just a few short minutes, Dylan has complimented and convinced those in attendance. He is one of their own, shoulder to shoulder and embracing the lost love deep within this romanticised look at letter writing. Its action is a rebellion as Yoakam first instilled, and Dylan later developed under his own rising country-adjacent cover.  

Dylan skips out on the piano focus found on the original and instead contains this one as a thumping, rising acoustic number which has the right swing and feel to the tour so far. Much of these cover performances hold this in mind – not a replication of the artist or even a tribute to them, but to the area they appear in, the thought process and memories which are held within it. The closest Dylan will get to reading The Philosophy of Modern Song out live is through channelling the influences and pieces of music that still move him to this day. Fitting these extra covers in which he can pay tribute to some of the greats, living, dead or forgotten, is a wise way of keeping audiences in attendance on their toes. Dylan can still do this and has done since he first headed out on the touring circuit.