I’ve always had a somewhat confused and mixed relationship with Robert Zimmerman. Like a lot of the most famed folk in popular music, from Elvis to Sinatra, the Beatles to Led Zep, I think he’s been overly reverenced. That’s not to say that these artists haven’t occasionally, or even consistently, been great, or even brilliant. It’s just that the focus on them leaves less time and space for noticing and enjoying other stuff.
That said, I’m currently enjoying revisiting Bob’s oft-maligned Christian phase. I grew up in a Christian household in which this phase of Bob-ness helped confer some much needed hipster cool on our dreadfully dull religion. Well, that’s how I saw it, way back when (I was nine when this came out!). Now I’m no longer religious, let alone Christian. And quite a lot of overtly religious music is anathema to me. Although I must admit I love early Christian choral music, like Tallis or Victoria, etc.
Many professional hipsters slagged Bob’s Christian music off at the time. I may be prejudiced, thanks to my childhood exposure to it. But I think a lot of it is really great. The title track here, and In The Summertime, are terrific. And along with one or two others, are sufficiently vague in their religious overtones. The elegaic paean to Lenny Bruce is beautiful, and whilst the lyrical content of Property of Jesus does make me cringe, the music is great. The musicians involved are top drawer, the ensemble feel live and organic, and the music very rootsy, in an aptly gospel r’n’b vein.
Not perfect, but surprisingly good. And certainly not the fall from grace that hipster journos such as the writers at Rolling Stone pronounced it to be at the time. Definitely worth having and enjoying.