Positively Bob: Willie Nile Sings Bob Dylan is the eleventh studio album by American singer and songwriter Willie Nile. It was released on 23 June 2017 by River House Records. The album is a tribute to Bob Dylan and his music. Nile says of the music, "these songs meant the world to me when I was younger and they mean the world to me now. The mystic leap of faith it took to write them, and the courage it took to believe and make a stand in hopes for something better, makes my heart sing and wander now as it did when I first heard them".
Background
In March 2017, Nile announced that he would be doing an new album of nothing but Bob Dylan covers. Nile's participation in performing four songs at a 75th birthday Dylan tribute show at NY City's Winery in May 2016, planted the seed for "Positively Bob".. Nile called on James Maddock, who had accompanied him at the City Winery Tribute, for guitar and background vocals, Spin Doctors member Aaron Comess on drums, and longtime Nile band members Matt Hogan and Johnny Pisano to round out the team. The recordings were made at Comess' Brooklyn studio, His House - Insbruck Studio.
Critical reception
Nile got the ultimate seal of approval for his album of Bob Dylan covers when Dylan told his online followers to "check out" Nile's record. "Willie brings his distinctive 1970s punk-meets-folk attitude to a great collection of songs", Dylan's Facebook page advised. Music historian and critic, Rev. Keith A. Gordon says "Nile honors the Master with ten brilliant musical portraits that capture Dylan’s essence while staying true to Nile’s own unique and always-evolving muse. J. Poet, in "Magnet Magazine", wrote "The ardent energy that marks Willie Nile’s best work is in full effect on this tribute to the greatest songwriter of the 20th century. Pablo Gorondi, of The Associated Press, writes "Nile is too good and sincere to merely imitate Dylan and pays his highest compliment by performing the 10 songs as if they were his".
Track listing
All songs, words and music, written by Bob Dylan. "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (3:20) "Rainy Day Women ♯12 & 35" (3:21) "Blowin' in the Wind" (3:50) "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" (3:56) "I Want You" (3:34) "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (2:35) "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" (3:11) "Every Grain of Sand" (3:53) "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" (3:49) "Abandoned Love" (4:12)