Full Moon And Empty Arms

The Bard in 2013: Another night on a never-ending tour.

In recent years, Bob Dylan has increasingly embraced rootsy American traditionalism. It makes a lot of sense then, that the 73 year old Dylan's first record since "Tempest" in 2012, excluding his latest archival releases, would be a covers album. Dylan, who is so well known for his songwriting, has recorded the songs of others before. In 1993, he released "World Gone Wrong", where he rearranged traditional American songs, and in 2009, he tackled Christmas hymns and carols on "Christmas In The Heart", which turned out better than the idea suggests it might.

As Rolling Stone reported, ads inserted into advance copies of Dylan’s recent "The Basement Tapes Complete" collection confirmed that the album will be titled "Shadows In The Night". Dylan initially hinted at the record back in May when he released a breezy cover of Frank Sinatra's 1945 tune "Full Moon And Empty Arms." But as it turns out, the album will feature 10 tracks, all made famous by Sinatra, making this a tribute album, for all purposes.

The following is a written statement from Dylan himself about the album. "It was a real privilege to make this album. I've wanted to do something like this for a long time, but was never brave enough to approach 30-piece complicated arrangements and refine them down for a 5 piece band. That’s the key to all these performances. We knew these songs extremely well. It was all done live. Maybe one or two takes. No overdubbing. No vocal booths. No headphones. No separate tracking, and, for the most part, mixed as it was recorded. I don’t see myself as covering these songs in any way. They've been covered enough. Buried, as a matter a fact. What me and my band are basically doing is uncovering them. Lifting them out of the grave and bringing them into the light of day."

Here’s the full tracklist for "Shadows In The Night":

1. “I’m A Fool To Want You”

2. “The Night We Called It A Day”

3. “Stay With Me”

4. “Autumn Leaves”

5. “Why Try To Change Me Now”

6. “Some Enchanted Evening”

7. “Full Moon and Empty Arms”

8. “Where Are You?

9. “What’ll I Do”

10. “That Lucky Old Sun”

"Shadows In The Night" will be released on February 3, 2015, but is available for pre-order on iTunes and Amazon now. Here’s what to expect when Bob covers Frank. His vocal delivery is a lot less sloppy and much cleaner than on most of his recent recordings, but it's definitely still Bob.

Dylan has recently been doing multiple nights at theaters across North America, though his set list rarely changed. The vast majority of the songs came from his most recent albums. "She Belongs To Me" is the only track of the night he performed from his 1960's catalog, and "Tangled Up In Blue" and "Simple Twist of Fate" are the only other songs he played that came out before 1997. He hasn't played so few songs from the first decade of his career since his Gospel shows of the late 70's. The current leg wrapped up December 3rd at New York's Beacon Theater.

Ol' Swoon Eyes in 1945.

To put this tune in context, here's Frank Sinatra's 1945 recording for Columbia Records, made with Axel Stordahl and his Orchestra. The song was written by Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman, although it was melodically based on Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto #2. Sinatra had the biggest hit with it, and subsequently, the song was recorded by many other stars of the 40's thru the 60's, including the Erroll Garner Trio, Eddie Fisher, Robert Goulet, Sarah Vaughan, Jerry Vale, Caterina Valente, The Platters, Carmen Cavallaro, and Jim Nabors(!). You can already hear the natural ease with which he controlled his vocal phrasing. Sinatra would soon take this ability to new artistic heights in his great recordings for Capitol Records in the 1950's.

I feel compelled to note that this recording sounds pretty darn good for having been transcribed from an old 78 rpm record. Modern audio restoration technology certainly does have its benefits.

I don't need to tell you where to find recordings by either Bob Dylan or Frank Sinatra. Both of these men usually command two of the more densely filled bins in any record store, unless you tend to shop at a big box. If you're after specific titles, or if you're just getting started with either of them, I will direct you to your best local independent musical emporium that is staffed with knowledgeable people who love music, and can direct you to the essential titles without being snobbish about it. For you vinyl heads, there are lots of titles being freshly reissued, so you have a wealth of choices. On that note, if anyone knows of a super-clean vinyl copy of "Sinatra At The Sands", please contact me.