Dylan’s 100 Finest Songs: An Interview with Jim Beviglia
By Bob Wilson & Gloria Keeley
Counting Down Bob Dylan: His 100 Finest Songs (Scarecrow Press, 2013) is a work that is bound to spur debate among the throng of the Dylan faithful, so much so that Jim Beviglia instinctively began to duck before the ink on his tome was dry. Beviglia has an infatuation with the term ‘titular.’ A definition of the word is: “denoting a person or thing from which the name of an artistic work is taken.” It certainly is a word that fits right down in the groove of ‘rock and roll’s most colorful chameleon.’
The work is captivating for the casual observer, the ‘Dylanologist,’ and those filling all spaces in between. The tracks were chosen from the released catalog and not from unofficial ‘bootleg’ releases, and each song receives a concise essay. Like a miner seeking gold, Beviglia often strikes a vein of ore in affording proper justification for his picks in his summations. That is not to say that the list is definitive, or that all will nod in agreement with his choices. The charm in such a work is to set a foundation for discussion amongst the passionate. The work is designed to lead the reader into a comparison of his own opinions with those expressed by the author, and those of other fans.
Beviglia told Live For Live Music that the book is a “jumping off point” for discussion. He added that “the ratings are kind of like a hook” and that the goal is to “celebrate Dylan’s music.” The author mused that even an album that is sometimes overlooked, like The Times They Are A-Changin, contains enough genius to justify the overall career of most any other songwriter. Dylan is so “special,” the author reminds us, that in time he may be recalled in much the same manner that Shakespeare is studied and reflected upon today.
The insights of others into the lyrics of Dylan can be an enjoyable pastime, as it is here. Two of Jim’s choices from the Biograph box set release drew me to consider their lyrics afresh. “Up To Me” and “Abandoned Love” were recorded in the Blood On The Tracks and Desire sessions and were left off of the track list for the final releases. These ‘out-takes’ would possibly be the finest songs that many in the music industry might ever muster. Yet, with a talent as prodigious as Dylan’s, they nearly were left unreleased and unheard by the record buying public. This taken in conjunction with the fact that Dylan came on the scene while JFK led us through the Cuban Missile Crisis, speaks to the caliber and longevity of his muse.
Beviglia finds Dylan at his best “when he goes for broke.” Many feel Dylan never went for it more than with “Visions of Johanna,” as does this writer. Beviglia lists these songs at #13, which made me a tad bit annoyed. His own #1 is a song from 1965 that closes out Dylan’s first double album (no ‘spoiler’ here for the top of the chart). After exhaling a deep breath, I did find myself simpatico with his analysis of each of these songs.
Live For Live Music asked Beviglia for some top list opinions, just for fun. His favorite cover of a Dylan song is Diana Krall’s ‘A Simple Twist of Fate.’ His #1 choice for a song that rises to a higher plane live is “I Don’t Believe You,’ from The Bootleg Series Vol. 4. The author found that it was hard to associate this with the acoustic version released on Another Side of Bob Dylan. “The band banging away,” he said, “kind of transformed” it, turning it into “a colossal song.”
When asked for the three releases he would bring with him to a desert island, Beviglia chose ‘Blonde On Blonde,’ ‘Blood On The Tracks,’ and ‘The Times They Are A-Changin.’ “Blonde” is beloved for the “sheer scale of all those great songs.” He remarked that ‘Blood’ is “the best album about relationships that’s ever been written.” And then he asked rhetorically, “How do you go wrong with that lineup of songs?”
In order to spur a reaction among the Dylan-heads, I asked what song Beviglia could most live without. After hesitating at the prospect of drawing the wrath of the faithful, he chose ‘The Ugliest Girl in the World,” co-written with the Grateful Dead’s lyricist Robert Hunter. He found Dylan’s part in it to be “mailed in.”
Beviglia has only seen Dylan live twice and he is not one of the collector’s who have nearly every Dylan show ever recorded. His knowledge of the officially released catalog, however, is quite impressive. He has given Dylan fans a book to enjoy and inspire opinionated debate. The author has given us the opportunity to have another excuse to go back and reconsider some tracks that we may have overlooked. For that, we owe him a debt of thanks. For more of what the list contains, we recommend you purchase the tome for your library.
Sometime near summer, we can look forward to Counting Down Bruce Springsteen: His 100 Finest Songs. Bruce’s studio work may have been sometimes unfairly under-appreciated, due to the juggernaut of his live performances. Beviglia plans on calling attention to that, helping us to expand our debates into the swamps of Jersey.
Order Jim Beviglia’s Counting Down Bob Dylan: His 100 Finest Songs here.