At last count I had 186 Dylan albums, official, unofficial, studio, live and box sets making a total of 4574 tracks. I could, and probably will, review many of them, but for now because of the season, here's the oddest recording Mr. Zimmerman has ever made.
Amanda Petrsich, in her review of this album on Pitchfork.com described Dylan's voice as a "craggy, get-off-my-lawn snarl" which makes the decision to do Christmas songs even stranger. At the bottom of it though was a benevolent and charitable motive. All of Bob's royalties went to Feeding America in the USA, Crisis in the UK, and the World Food Programme.
So here it is, Bob's nod to Christmas, despite being born and raised Jewish (he converted to Christianity in the 70's). All the favourites are here - 'Do You Hear What I Hear', 'Winter Wonderland', 'Silver Bells' et al. Never one to miss an opportunity, Bob sings 'Must Be Santa' with the verse ..
"Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen
Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen
Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton".
Bob produced quite a number of his own albums, often using the pseudonym Jack Frost. That name seems especially relevant to this one, it gives it an even more Christmassy feel.
There's not much more to say really. This is a Dylan Christmas album. It does what it says on the tin. It has festive songs in Dylan's voice. Nobody should buy this record by mistake. It should be perfectly obvious what you're going to get.
Enjoy .. I certainly did.
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