Outside Counsel

I've been trying to settle on my personal hit single for the summer, but nothing has really grabbed me the way a song ought to if it is going to define a season. I have, however, been enjoying Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins' "Rabbit Fur Coat", and have been giving consideration to their cover of "Handle With Care" and “The Charging Sky”. I'm not sure when I last thought about The Traveling Wilburys-- 1988 was a long time ago. It is interesting to look at what else Dylan was up to in this period. He released "Dylan and the Dead" and "Down in the Groove" that year, and "Oh, Mercy" in '89. Collaborating with the Greatful Dead is one of thise ideas that probably made sense at the time, but the end result is just a Dead album, with worse singing than usual. "Down in the Groove" is not something I've ever felt the urge to listen to a second time, and although "Oh, Mercy" is an improvement, it is likewise not a side that anything particularly positive can be said about. The Wilburys, though, somehow work. Christgau said at the time that, "this is the fun get-together it's billed as--somebody was letting his hair down, that's for sure. My nominee is Dylan, who dominates half the tracks and is the only man here capable of writing a clever lyric on call. Maybe he's a genius after all," and gave it an A-. Listening to Jenny Lewis warble "Handle With Care" it occured to me that one of the reasons the song works may be that everyone who contributed to it (Lynne, Harrison, Petty and Orbison all get co-credit) was trying to write up to Dylan's contribution. I'd be willing to bet that Petty wrote most of it-- the bridge is pretty clearly Orbison, probably with Lynne helping him over the rough spots.

It's funny-- although we tend not to think of Dylan as collaborating, in fact he has frequently written with other people: most of "Desire" was co-written with Jacques Levy; his work with The Band was as a full partnership, and produced a great deal of signature material, and, of course, he often wrote with George Harrison. (I'd say that "If Not For You" is one of the tenderest, sweetest love songs he ever wrote. Interestingly, on his website he is listed as sole author.)