10 Years Later: Bob Dylan Takes On Traditional Pop Standards With ‘Shadows In The Night’

Given the vagaries of Bob Dylan’s now sixty-year-plus recording career, it’s hard not to overthink his albums like Shadows In The Night. The temptation is especially significant in the case of this album, one of three LPs devoted to material from the Great American Songbook released in consecutive years beginning in 2015 (Fallen Angels and the deliberately-titled three-piece set Triplicate are the others). Except for a smattering of 1970’s Self Portrait, this first entry in the triad has no precedent in the man’s discography.

For many years, it’s been tempting to overthink what Dylan does or says in any respect, and indeed, what seems like a left-field choice for a full-length recording is all too ripe for over-analysis. Descending into the proverbial weeds can even lead to the cynical hypothesis the Nobel Laureate was fulfilling contractual obligations to Columbia Records.

But the perspective of a single decade suggests Bob demonstrated his respect for the material and, by extension, the artist who recorded all ten songs, Frank Sinatra. After all, around this time, Dylan regularly devoted a few concert selections per night to renditions of songs such as “Autumn Leaves,” this thirty-five minutes was recorded at Capitol Studios, where the titular leader of the so-called ‘Rat Pack’ often worked.

Like its companion pieces, this thirty-sixth studio album of Dylan’s epitomizes studio polish and professionalism. Engineered and mixed by veteran Al Schmitt and mastered by the equally expert Greg Calbi, Bob himself produced the long-player under the nom de guerre ‘Jack Frost,’ accompanied by his road band, most prominent of whom is Donny Herron on pedal steel.

Yet, haunting as is the sound of that instrument on the opener of “I’m A Fool to Want You,” the regular recurrence of its otherwise inviting tones by the LP’s mid-point indicates how one-colored is Shadows In The Night. As arranged and conducted by D. J. Harper on “That Lucky Old Sun”, a few more appearances of the tart horns would’ve certainly alleviated the nagging monotony arising from the prevailing mid-to-slow tempos.

Notwithstanding those shortfalls, it’s worth hypothesizing that Dylan aimed to once again reassert his ability to sing authoritatively and passionately (remember 1969’s Nashville Skyline?). To that end, he reportedly studied Sinatra’s vocals during the sessions, but rather than try to master the latter’s phrasing, Bob seemed intent on capturing the personal truths he found compositions in, such as “Why Try To Change Me Now.” 

Given Dylan’s demographic–he was seventy-four at the time of this release–there’s little doubt too that at least some of these Tin Pan Alley Standards, like “Some Enchanted Evening,” would undoubtedly hold personal significance for Dylan. Yet, whether or not the sequence of songs tells a story, it’s difficult to doubt Bob Dylan’s sincerity in either the conception or the execution of Shadows In The Night

All of this rumination may end up representing a surefire means to ignore the music itself for the sake of interpretation(s) thereof. However, the perspective of ten years on Shadows In The Night reminds how much of a definite delight it is to address Bob Dylan’s work: it’s well to recall the opening track on the Hibbing, Minnesota native’s most-recently released album, 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways, was an original number titled “I Contain Multitudes.”

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