Bob Dylan – Mean Old Railroad Review

American radio recordings and the deluge of materials made for one-off broadcasts are exceptional. Who knows how many other pieces of work are out there, kept alive by those who were listening and making their copy at the time. What it means is every move Dylan made, on stage particularly, is tracked. There is something vaguely ghoulish about listening in, gig to gig, to every appearance the legendary songwriter made. On the other hand, we listeners get to experience the likes of Mean Old Railroad, a selection of American radio broadcast recordings, and early pieces of work which have nothing to do with the gig on the front cover of this YouTube playlist creation. The official Bob Dylan account moves in as many mysterious ways as the man himself. Fascinating stuff, but a good listen nonetheless. 

Where do these recordings come from? It does not take too long to figure out that these playlists are the result of new labels unsure of what to do with the recordings they now possess. Backlogged performances right from the vault. There is always an audience for a bootleg or unofficial compilation, but the officially released, or at least put-together playlists of official recordings, are harder to come by. Mean Old Railroad benefits from being a live performance, certainly. Opener Handsome Molly being pulled right from the stage and featuring Dylan talk of harmonica and instrumental joys which would build later in his set is quite the treat. The follow-up track Omie Wise has a wonderful array of instrumental quality and lyrical clarity. A polite audience leaves room for Dylan to play out these incredible songs with the new layer live performance often brings.  

Continue though, even if the origins of these recordings are lost in the label transfer, to Poor Lazarus. An incredible performance from Dylan here – a throaty and harsh experience of his vocal talents at the time, something which would come to light once more in his later, croaky period. Despite these recordings being just one man and his acoustic guitar, they feel fully supported, bold recordings of songs which sound like they are backed by a whole room of performers. Such is the power of a Dylan live recording and in this instance, it is a feeling flowing through the whole album. Mean Old Railroad certainly benefits from the loud and boisterous tones taken by a confident singer holding onto those drifter songs, fantastic they sound in a live environment.  

The track this album derives its title from is of excellent quality too. Considering this is a radio broadcast there is a clarity to the performance and instrumental sections which are usually lost to grainy or head-pounding poor tapes. Even impressive deep cuts like Acne make the transition well. Boo-wop moments of brilliance, the hilarity ensuing within pairs nicely with the powerful likes of Masters of War. Stick around for the beautiful strength in this version of Girl from the North Country. The early years of Dylan are often overlooked, somewhat because the quality of recording is not always an easy listen. These are not the scrubbed-up pieces of work which are experienced on the albums. But they are important moments for the listener historians out there, particularly Mean Old Railroad. An essential collection of early songs, right there for the listening.