Firm friends Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash may have been, but it still feels like a bit of a surprise to see him appear on The Johnny Cash Show. A major vocal change from Dylan is the buzz of this recording of I Threw It All Away, and what a change it is. He sounds like a mature and wizened veteran of the stage. He already was, to be fair. But it is quite unlike anything he had written or sounded before. A massive difference from Blonde on Blonde or the nasal-like tones of the perfect Highway 61 Revisited. No, this is a standardised voice. Dylan did not need to reinvent himself with fresh material a decade later, he did not need to dig deep into his religious beliefs. This vocal change has him in such an unrecognisable form.
It could be a different artist entirely, the one man and his guitar punch at the time feels like a relative step back for Dylan, who at this point appeared to be missing the roots of his early years. The performance is no more than a couple minutes but even then, it holds such a staggering and immediate brilliance. Dylan and an acoustic guitar are always a winning combo, and for Cash’s TV show, it provides Nashville Skyline with the biting heartbreak and occasion of lost love which would define not Dylan, but the time. A blisteringly short yet ever-so-sweet performance which can be played on a loop. I Threw It All Away is a staggering song at the best of times but it has an articulate new layer to it when performed by a man who, once the singing is done, hoists his guitar up for a grand finale.
Only the best can make a show on the stage with just an instrument and themselves. For all those who brag about wanting to see an artist with nothing but a microphone and a box to stand on, they never intend it about a musician who could pull it off. Dylan could. It is exactly what he does here. Play it. Play it again. A third time, just to be sure of its magic. I Threw It All Away is a song of burning passions, an envious creation which truly stands as one of the best Dylan songs of all time, and this is one of his finest performances. As brief as it is, it captures the spirit of one of the all-time greats at work, of a person so moved and flourishing in his writing.
Not a note wrong, not a second wasted. I Threw It All Away is an essential Dylan song at the best of times but the muted experience, the foot-tapping realisations made of love being scrunched up and tossed into the bin is a true horror. Dylan is magnificent as he always is but the little flickers of hope which feature towards the end, again crushed in this cyclical horror, are a great reward. A booming voice puts the charisma into focus, the punchy power of a musician who has thrown it all away time and again, the only way he can truly make amends is with a guitar and a chance to sing of his sorrows. It is what guides the very best in music, and for Dylan, it starts with a performance on the Johnny Cash show.
