Bob Dylan – Stone Walls and Steel Bars Review

Most covers from the live works of Bob Dylan present a tactile and brief glimpse at his personal experiences. He would weave words to fabricate wider experiences on his best works and within those are the small pockets of a man with more on his mind. Much can be said for those gospel years and what came before it as examples of Dylan as an open book, but still these covers on stage remain the best way to access his personality. The Stanley Brothers seem to be one of the many presences in Dylan’s life, an influence on his playing style. Maybe that is to read into Stone Walls and Steel Bars too much. Perhaps it is just a love for good music from The Country Folk Music Spotlight. Maybe not. Whatever the case a performance in Cardiff, 1997, would shine a new, brief light on what makes Dylan work so well.  

This raucous Cardiff crowd has as much in store for Dylan as he does for them. It is the back-and-forth beauty of a good audience and a great musician. Where we can moan and groan about their chatter this Stone Walls and Steel Bars rendition is absent of noise. Just Dylan on stage with an acoustic guitar, the big bass work in the background and a near-pristine recording. The turn of the century provided a shock wave of true quality in the live recordings of Dylan. They were masterful and surprising in equal measure. An excitement flows through it which may be a projection of ordering a new coffee table. Whatever the case there is a buzz and joy in the air which certainly finds itself aided by this capable cover. Acoustic joys to behold and seeing Dylan get a feel for the chords is a genuinely inspiring watch.  

How venues were allowing those camcorders into them back in 1997 is neither here nor there, it remains astounding to hear and see this Stanley Brothers cover. With many of these deep cuts from the country days comes a silence from the audience which is filled by the commitment to an essential quality which is rarely lost on Dylan in these moments. Stone Walls and Steel Bars is a well-selected piece of work, a classic piece of storytelling which would usually grab the attention of Dylan. Murders, gunfights and all which he was listening to as an inspired, youthful singer are brought to the stage with a reverence for the topic at hand. He was no stranger to the bar brawls and cowboy-adjacent flourish of country songs at the time but was too late to the party. 

Given these covers, it is clear Dylan exercises his right to cover the contemporaries of his time. Doing so gives him the chance to develop new thoughts on songs which have rattled through his brain for decades. There is no adaptation of modernity here. These songs are stripped back and down to their roots, the essentials of a sharp voice and a prominent guitar. In simplicity there is sophistication and with that is a charming realisation. Dylan provides us another glimpse into his life, the stories which influenced him and the traditional ballads which brought out the best in his work. Stone Walls and Steel Bars lingers as a definitive cover, not just a joy to listen to but one to watch as well.