Outstanding track from Amnesty International Chimes of Freedom sets best performance standard
Taj Mahal on the R&B Blues Cruise (photo Joseph A. Rosen)
Stephen Pate – There is no substitute for getting the groove in rhythm and blues.
That’s the beat so hot you can’t stop tapping your foot, swaying or getting up and dancing.
Some people have it and most don’t.
Taj Mahal and The Phantom Blues Band have the deep groove on their cover of Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream for Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan in support of Amnesty International.
Taj Mahal has set the gold standard for the song Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream, just like Jimi Hendrix set the high water mark for All Along the Watchtower. Taj Mahal’s arrangement converts Dylan’s shaggy dog story to a hip rap of subtle humor. It’s the most infectious and happy song on the 4-CD set.
Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band – Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream
The 115th Dream is a satirical song, recorded in 2004 for Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan’s genre busting first rock / electric blues album.
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream was an extended joke, so funny that Dylan stopped the song to laugh out loud in the studio. It’s a witty, surrealistic tale of America that jumbles up Moby Dick, the Mayflower and Ban the Bomb liberalism.
Bob Dylan’s original recording of Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream
It’s not a song that translates well as a cover. Believe me I’ve tried to perform it and it falls flatter than pita bread. Notwithstanding that, 115th Dream is #68 on Mojo Magazines 100 top Bob Dylan songs.
Taj Mahal’s rap
Instead of trying to replicate Dylan, Taj Mahal sets his band on a heavy rhythm and blues romp. Over the band playing riffs like the boys in The Blues Brothers, Taj Mahal raps the song deadpan, which makes the jokes even funnier than they were 47 years ago.
To top it off, Taj Mahal has the raspy Dylan voice of an old bluesman, which he is of course, although he’s a year younger than Dylan.
The performance is priceless and becomes an ear worm. It’s one of the best tracks on Chimes of Freedom.
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal is one of the great modern day blues artists. He started his career with Ry Cooder. His songs like Fishing Blues and Leaving Trunk are classics.
Blues morphed to R&B, then Funk, and now rap and hip-hop. Taj Mahal is a keeper of the older flame. Taj Mahal tours and plays constantly and we were fortunate to see him last fall at the Fredericton Harvest Blues Festival.
Taj Mahal and The Phantom Blues Band (photo Phantom Blues Band)
A good place to hear Taj Mahal’s best is The Best Of Taj Mahal.
The Phantom Blues Band formed as a studio band on Taj Mahal’s CD Dancing the Blues. Since they have toured and headlined with Taj Mahal.
The band has that combination of musical skill and familiarity that makes for a dynamite R&B band. They get the groove and work it. You can tell Phantom Blues Band like to play as an ensemble. It’s the same swing that John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd fronted in the movie Blues Brothers using Stax Studio musicians like Donald Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper.
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream circa 1988
Dylan doesn’t usually perform 115th Dream but he did record one performance with G.E. Smith, Kenny Aaronson and Christopher Parker at Radio City Music Hall in 1988.
That version gets a groove but not, in my opinion, of the same depth as Taj Mahal. What do you think?
Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream from 1988
Chimes of Freedom The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International
Most of the talent and engineering on the 73 song, 4-CD set was donated and the profits will go to the worthy work of Amnesty International. For the complete set list and artists, see Mama You’ve Been On My Mind – We Are Augustines – video
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