Thea Gilmore John Wesley Harding Review

On its original UK release in 1967, the response to Bob Dylan’s John Wesley Harding was one of shock. Gone were the 12-minute songs about Sad-Eyed ladies; gone was the corkscrew-haired Messiah, last seen and heard on 1966's Blonde on Blonde. Here was a different looking and a wholly different sounding Dylan. Gone was angry, confrontational Bob; here was a smiling country crooner. 

Over the years the stature of John Wesley Harding has increased: it pointed many in the direction of then unfashionable country & western, it laid the foundations for what would become Americana, and few would find faults in any of its 12 tracks. In a world where everyone from Adele to PJ Harvey has covered Bob, it’s a brave step for someone to take a stab at any Dylan song, let alone such a cherished album. So it’s a tip of the Stetson to Thea Gilmore for trying, and a double dip for succeeding so thoroughly.

Her reasons for doing so are rooted in respect and affection for the original, but she is never overawed in tackling such much-loved songs. Her take on I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine won praise from Bruce Springsteen, himself no slouch in the field of Dylan covers. It is to her credit that she breathes fresh life into As I Went Out One Morning and The Wicked Messenger, and she even manages to slip out from under the Hendrix shadow on All Along the Watchtower; though she does pump up the volume on the sly Drifter’s Escape.

She turns the only song to break Dylan’s three-verse rule, The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, into an engaging skiffle shuffle. While I Pity the Poor Immigrant is transformed into a poignant testament to the untold millions who passed through Ellis Island.

Thea Gilmore’s take on John Wesley Harding is a worthy tribute to that great album – and with a playing time of 42.23, it even gives you an extra four minutes more than the original.