Bob Dylan's "Street Legal" - Classic or Dud?

If it was anyone but dylan, Joker! Hysterical! Face!, i'd be worried that you were building this up a bit too much. but if you like him, the catalogue goes on forever. your next two purchases should be the freewheelin' bob dylan, and bringin it all back home, imo.

anyway I'm playing Kate Bush now so things have got very complicated, I'm afraid. But I will rent the Bob Dylan video of Don't Look Back. Is there any Donovan in the video????!

BTW, guess it was in the High Fidelity movie, too:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146882/quotes
Barry: Don't tell anyone you don't own "Blonde on Blonde". It's gonna be okay.

sorry, anyway, High Fidelity, yeah. I should probably own that on DVD. They talk about Stereolab in that don't they? And Beta Band too.

It's all good.

Remember Joy Division loves your mother.

Sorry this is a Bob Dylan thread. I understand that. Sorry.

Not sure! Nothing blatant, I don't think. She's in the film an awful lot, though. I think there's a scene where she's singing Love is Just a Four-Letter Word and he's ignoring her, typing away. That could be interpreted as something. I need to watch my DVD again ASAP.

i was trying to sort that out. i actually thought momentarily of dylan crossed with gingivitis.

anyway I'm playing Kate Bush now so things have got very complicated, I'm afraid. But I will rent the Bob Dylan video of Don't Look Back. Is there any Donovan in the video????!

Basically the Donovan thing in Don't Look Back goes like this. The whole first part of the movie Bob keeps hearing about Donovan in the papers and such. "Who's this Donovan?!", he's never heard of him before. Eventually they meet in a hotel room and Donovan plays "To Sing For You". Bob goes, "That's a good song, man!" and then Donovan asks him to play "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". Bob throws down a searing version, occasionaly throwing Donovan a glance that seems to say "I'm eating you alive", but he kind of always looks like that so I'm not sure if it's intentional. So, whether or not Donovan just got pwned is up to you, most people say yes.

I smile a little and say: "Yeah."

found here:
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/features/article314344.ece

He certainly didn't try to humiliate Donovan, but singing "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" after Donovan's forgettable little ditty did the trick.

As for "Saved" and the other albums from his Jesus-period, the lyrics are kind of weird, but musically they aren't all that bad. Sure the Knopfler-style was more realized on the less fundamentalist "Infidels", but really, musically, Dylan was a lot worse on "Down In The Groove" than he was during any of his Jesus-albums.

I really like this record. I've never attended carefully to the lyrics so I can't answer Alfred's initial comments right now. But I like the way it sounds: punchy and direct. "Changing of the Guard" is an excellent song and opens the album strongly: "Eden is burning"! The melodies are quite strong throughout, even if the lyrics aren't. For instance, "Baby Stop Crying" is pretty dreary on paper, but the song is greater than the sum of its parts, and the chorus gets you singing along (as my daughter and I were this morning): high praise in my book! Are the backing vocals on the album cheesy, like a Neil Diamond revue? I don't think so, though they're certainly striving for grandiosity and so I can see how that could come across as cheesy. On the whole I think it's a very enjoyable listen.

Compare it to Knocked Out Loaded, which sounds like it's recorded in an empty arena: kinda mining a similar groove to Street Legal but for the most part not living up to it. Still, it's not a bad album either: not a million miles away from Are You Passionate?

re the backing vocals on the album cheesy, like a Neil Diamond revue?

Dylan admitted at the time that he was going for this sound.

not a million miles away from Are You Passionate?

Never thought about that!

As a rule you find fpolks in two camps re. Street Legal: they love it, or they hate it [or Classic, Dud if you will]. I have to say I'm someplace in the middle. I believe its good, not great - but some of the points made in this thread have gotten me thinking. I may need to revisit this platter. Thanks everyone!

Street Legal is great. I think I might prefer it to Desire, actually. But (in keeping with my role as Captain Bootleg here), people should check out tapes from the 1978 US tour for really excellent versions of these songs. It's definitely still that glitzy, Neil Diamond band, but with a kinda hard rock edge that I really like. The versions of Changing of the Guards are like runaway trains.

I have a show from LA on November 15, 1978 in the queue.

I also prefer Street Legal over Desire: someday I think Desire'll really click for me but even the live performances don't really do it for me (listened to Live 1975 last night---I like "Love Minus Zero / No Limit" and the other solo-ish numbers a lot, the whole band performances less).

whoa, Katey Sagal was in Dylan's band at the time? but she's not on the album, alas.

I definitely prefer it to Desire – it's weirder and unpleasanter in more interesting ways – but I don't want to listen too closely to find out.

another middle-aged perv

Not sure I'd describe Bob as middle-aged here. He was all of 37 when he made this.

This record is wildly uneven, but Changing of the Guard and Where Are You Tonight alone make it essential.

i think we talked about the LA 78 show on some other thread. It's killer. you don't like the band on Live 75? They're definitely weird sounding, but I dig it. Kinda glam-country-rock.

I think I need to put it on at the ~right~ kind of party because it (= Live 1975) never clicks for me in more, uh, casual listening.

I think Bob's shouty singing voice on Live 1975, Desire, & Before the Flood, is my second least favorite Bob voice: least favorite remains the The Times They Are A-Changing voice (which I listened to this morning with no new affection resulting).

woah, weird. rolling thunder dylan is high up for me on favorite live dylan. first track on 75 is mad joyous.

The "Hard Rain" on Live 1975 is pretty great; was Bob emulating Bryan Ferry's version?

and yeah, agree on preferring Street Legal to Desire. Higher highs (opener and closer for sure xp), and less grievous lows (no Joey)

ha, i like Joey, though I can see why some do not like it at all. I think it's too bad he didn't play it live on the Rolling Thunder tour, because most of those songs are improved upon live imo. There's an amazing version of "Mozambique" on a bootleg I have.

Yeah, the "Sara" on Live 1975 is terrific.

yeah Rolling Thunder 'Desire' takes are the definitive for me, coulda used Joey I suppose. Hurricane and One More Cup of Coffee and especially Isis are like woah on that tour

The first leg of the Rolling Thunder tour is second only to the 1966 shows in the Dylan tour book for me. Great stuff.

xpost yeah, I think One More Cup of Coffee is kind of a silly song, but Bob sells it on the Live 75 set!

1975 is interesting because I think it might be the only time in Dylan's career where he and his audience seemed to actually be in sync, where he delivered what people wanted of him ...

The Hard Rain live album has the best version of Shelter From The Storm. What a huge omission leaving that off the Bootleg Series Rolling Thunder set.

well, that was from the 1976 leg of the Rolling Thunder tour ... don't think they played it in 1975. but yeah, amazing version.

"Mozambique" is twaddle, ain't it?

yeah, it totally is! but it's fun on this live version ...

I love Mozambique

So, having it given a few years to sink in since my first post above, I would never rank Street Legal above Desire...but weirdly, lately it's the Dylan album I'm putting on most often. There's a long stretch in the middle that basically washes past without making any impression, but the big loud numbers are kind of wonderfully craggy and washed-up and grungey sounding. Yeah, I wish the vocals weren't so muffled and weak on "Changing of the Guard," but "Where Are You Tonight" really benefits from the "still drunk the next day" vibe of this whole thing. And yeah, "New Pony" is awesome. BROW-DANNNG! The only thing is I keep hearing it as "I had a pony / her name was Lucy-Poo" which isn't quite what he's going for but whatever.

revive inspired by this:

Street-Legal has a few stinkers, especially the one that goes -

Can you cook
can you sew
can you make flowers grow
can you understand my pain?

sung as if he were held at gunpoint.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, May 24, 2011 2:09 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

This is my new favorite Dylan album... it's very #based

Out of all the Dylan albums I've listened to, which includes many but not all of the supposedly bad ones, this is the ugliest and the hardest to understand.

i have a very half baked theory that this record is dylan's first born again record ... before he knew he was born again.

i don't even know what that means but ... hey is the Street Legal on this new Complete Albums thing the remixed version or a new remaster of the original mix? Important!
I feel like they could do an 'Another Self Portrait' style rehab of this period, tho, with cool rehearsal outtakes and live stuff.

If it means it shows his contempt for other people, then yes.

Doctor Casino otm, "New Pony" and "Changing of the Guard" are aces

I even love "Señor" now.

GENTLEMEN, he said, I DON'T NEED YOUR ORGANIZATION!!

THEY SHAVED HER HEAD (shaved her head!!!)

http://images.entertainment.ie/images_content/rectangle/620x372/LeaveBritneyAlone.jpg

I see Robbie Fulks is touring his cover of this album (& putting it out as a 2lp). Only know him vaguely through Bloodshot, has anyone seen this? Love Street Legal and like Fulks cover of Is Your Love in Vain that's up on youtube.

I love the way he channels bo diddley on “new pony”

she could feel my despair
as i climbed up her hair

It's amazing how "Baby Stop Cryin'" was the hit...in Europe.

Renegade priests
RENEGADE PRIESTS

― or at night (Jon not Jon), Monday, July 10, 2017 5:44 PM (five years ago) bookmarkflaglink