Though the Renaldo and Clara project may be perceived as a bust from Bob Dylan, whose career was in freefall at the time of its release, the songs from the project are rather sweet. These four, compiled as the aptly titled EP, Four Songs from Renaldo and Clara, offer a glimpse into the reformed creative output. Considering he had not toured nor written much in the time preceding Four Songs from Renaldo and Clara, a few missteps can be forgiven. The promotional package features Dylan and Joan Baez picking up on their chemistry from years before. Their back-and-forth, the quality they both provide, is never in doubt. A genre-bending film which appears to have engulfed Dylan’s pre-tour creativity, Four Songs from Renaldo and Clara is an awkward but thrilling precursor to The Rolling Thunder Revue. Dylan had toured with The Band before this, but even then, he had to be coaxed into the lucrative tour.
Four Songs from Renaldo and Clara, then, is one of the projects which are a symptom of the floodgates. Dylan had opened the door to incredible materials in the 1970s, most of it immediately preceding or following The Rolling Thunder Revue. A cover of People Get Ready from The Impressions opens the EP, and it sounds closer to the religiously styled 1980s efforts Dylan would release than anything from his past. Still a remarkable piece, a perhaps overlooked cover song which indicates where Dylan’s interest was headed. An excellent vocal performance, the train coming through as he warns of on this live version of the song. There is a tension in the air for the Four Songs from Renaldo and Clara release, and it is never quite clear where it comes from. The burnout, which comes from being back on the stage for so long, so soon after his return, perhaps plays its part.
But it also informs the brilliant turns of form found on the EP. Never Let Me Go has a wonderful Baez feature, with Dylan on lead vocals. Their relationship, as back-and-forth as it was, adds another layer to this performance. Those brief songs, brilliant as they are, pale in comparison to the work heard on Isis and It Ain’t Me, Babe. A boisterous, explosive version of the Desire track feels its way through the doubt which hung over Dylan at the time. Street Legal was not far off around the time of this EP release, and Isis feels, as People Get Ready does, to be a precursor for a total shift. Roaring guitar work, simply incredible and emotionally volatile performances, are heard on Isis. We should expect nothing less, but the cracks are beginning to show.
Four Songs from Renaldo and Clara is not so much a compilation of songs benefitting the movie, but a neat four-pack of live efforts from as wild a time as ever for Dylan, and, by extension, Baez. You can hear that tension on It Ain’t Me, Babe, a complete reworking of the song with a new understanding from Dylan. Softer guitar work, a slower drawl which makes for a fascinating version of a classic. Dylan continues his search for a satisfying, new sound, so soon after he returned to the stage and studio. Those harmonica spots on It Ain’t Me, Babe, close in on that euphoric live experience, the feel and rush of a man who has rekindled his passion. Dylan would choose to follow his own interests from here on, and it would lead him to some low points. But it is also his choice to head there, his direction is clicked into place on Four Songs from Renaldo and Clara.
