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Wonderful but Not so Invisible Songs, 1 May 2008
Invisible Republic (later renamed Old Weird America) is the title of a controversial book by writer Greil Marcus on Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes. In it Marcus argues the existence of an american tradition of songs that existed on the periphery (hence Invisible) of mainstreem culture which has established an almost mythical universe (hence Republic)that constitutes an invisible history of the American psyche inhabited by all sorts of mysterious and eerie characters created by the imagination of songsmiths: Preachers, gamblers, lovers, adulterers, murderers, witch doctors, moles that root mountains down... This forgotten tradition is taken up, according to Marcus, by Dylan on Basement Tapes, reshaped and given a new life.
Apart from the controversial argument and the often frustratingly convoluted prose, the book has one more soft spot for the reader: the vast wealth of songs that are "analysed, categorised, finalised or advertised" mainly recorded in 1920's and 30's are obscure, hard to find and in many cases out of print and when not familiar with the songs talked about the book becomes even more difficult to follow.
I imagined that the cd titled "Songs From The Invisible Republic" would cure this ill and give me incentive to dive into Marcus' intoxicating book once again, better equiped to cope with the ocean of references this time. Alas! The cd offers few of these fabled songs...This means that the cd is somewhat mistitled. Hence the four and not five stars.
What this double cd really offers is wonderful songs that have had direct or indirect influence on Bob Dylan and is accompanied by a very well written and highly informative booklet. Here you can find songs that Dylan covered, lifted or just loved. You will be amazed by the number of the songs included here that Dylan copied almost note for note while crediting them as his own. You will get the meaning of his Love and Theft album and you may also agree that one needn't view this kind of theft disparagingly but on the contrary as an act that places Dylan in that oral tradition in which borrowing and copying was the only means of preservation. Even "pure" artists like Woodie Guthrie where doing the same thing all the time and as I learned from reading the booklet, Muddy Waters' Rollin' and Tumblin, which R.L. Burnside recorded as his own, as did Dylan on Modern Times, is actually a 1929 song by Hambone Willie Newbern... Moreover, because of Dylan's stature his thefts are actually an encouragement and enticement to look for and discover the roots. With this cd one might get acquainted, if he is not already, with such artists as Karen Dalton, Gene Austin, Frankie Laine and others that one might have not heard of before that are worthy of further exploration.
Overall this is a well researched and very good collection of important and beautiful old folk and blues songs that had some relevance for Dylan accompanied by a well writen booklet. Essential to the Dylan aficionado and useful to anyone who loves this kind of music. NOT, however, an companion to Greil Marcus' book with the same title.
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£11.98
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£10.98
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£8.98
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