Artist's Choice - Bob Dylan: Music That Matters To Him

Artist's Choice - Bob Dylan: Music That Matters To Him Review

Tracks: (1) Pee Wee Crayton - Do Unto Others; (2) Clancy Eccles - Don't Brag, Don't Boast; (3) Stanley Brothers with The Clinch Mountain Boys - The Fields Have Turned Brown; (4) Gus Viseur - Flambee Montalbanaise (Valse); (5) Red Prysock - Hand Clappin'; (6) Sol Hoopii & His Novelty Quartette - I Like You; (7) Ray Price - I'll Be There (If You Ever Want Me); (8) Stuff Smith & His Onyx Club Boys - I'se a Muggin' (Part 2); (9) Charley Jordan - Keep It Clean; (10) Junior Wells - Little by Little (I'm Losing You); (11) Patty & the Emblems - Mixed-Up, Shook-Up Girl; (12) Getatchew Kassa - Tezeta (Fast); (13) Flaco Jimenez with Toby Torres & Jose Morante - Victimas del Huracan Beulah; (14) Wanda Jackson - I Gotta Know; (15) Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra - I Hear Music; (16) Junior Parker - Pretty Baby.

Bob Dylan: MTV Unplugged

Bob Dylan: MTV Unplugged Review

Unplugged albums are frequently corny, but this was an important artistic move for Dylan in 1995, when many fans had given up on his incomprehensible singing and lackluster concerts. With sympathetic backup musicians, including organist Brendan O'Brien and guitarist John Jackson, Dylan returns the coherence to his originals ("All Along the Watchtower," "The Times They Are A-Changin'," "Desolation Row," "Like a Rolling Stone") and rearranges them just enough to freshen their sound. The previously unreleased "Dignity" is one of Dylan's best songs this decade, and it fits nicely with the rickety versions of "John Brown" and the finale, "With God On Our Side." --Steve Knopper