Rating: 3/5
Review:
I have read mixed things about this album. Many people think it's just another bad Dylan
rip-off, although Gene Sculatti describes it as "the sole masterpiece of
the fake-Dylan field," which encouraged me to try it. I'm afraid I'm with the majority; it's not
terrible (which sets it above quite a lot of stuff from that period), but it's
really pretty ordinary.
Dick Campbell and his producer Lou Reizner set out to make a
Dylan-esque record in the wake of Highway 61 Revisited. Frankly, they didn’t manage it. In spite of a pretty star-spangled backing
band including Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, the sound seems limp and tame
compared with Highway 61, and the songwriting and performance aren't anywhere
near "masterpiece" standard.
Campbell tries to sound like Dylan, but often sounds like just another
mid-60s folkie with occasional flashes of Barry McGuire, and most of the time
it's about as angry and threatening as a Peter, Paul & Mary album. The lyrics seem to lack much real bite and
are sometimes simply badly written; Sandi, for example repeats the name
"Sandi" over and over again, but every time the emphasis is on the
wrong syllable.
To me, this is a mildly interesting period piece. It's not so bad that I actively dislike it,
but it's not one I'll be playing much, that's for sure.
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