Send "Thea Gilmore " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Guardian |
 "Should one attempt to reinterpret a 40-year-old, somewhat legendary piece of work? Probably not," writes English folkie Thea Gilmore. Nonetheless, as Bob Dylan's 70th birthday approaches, she has covered his album John Wesley Harding in its entirety as a tribute. The man himself will probably be tickled by her faithfulness to the original's sense of solitude; reflectiveness is something Gilmore does well, in a voice that becomes more beautifully burnished by the year. But even armed with that voice, and a country-folk band who respond with sensitivity to her every inflection, what can she add? There are some triumphs: accompanied by finger-picked guitar on I Am a Lonesome Hobo, she's a lost soul; the autumnal weariness of Dear Landlord is equally affecting. But All Along the Watchtower is sleepy and slow, negating the lyric's urgency, and so it goes. Gilmore is always worth hearing, but this one is for completists only....full text |
| Independent |
| Thea Gilmore's 70th birthday tribute takes the form of re-recording her favourite Dylan album in its entirety, triggered by her acclaimed 2002 cover of "I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine", which sustains its solemnity despite the inclusion of congas. Part of its success is due to Robbie McIntosh's glistening lead guitar details, so his presence throughout this project is welcome, with his astringent tone on "As I Went Out One Morning" appropriate to the song's dark chord sequence, and his rock chops bringing a sleek, streamlined momentum to "Drifter's Escape" and "The Wicked Messenger". Elsewhere, piano, dobro and mandolin lend natural illumination to "Dear Landlord", while Gilmore's take on "All Along the Watchtower" is pitched midway between Dylan's and Hendrix's, as a relaxed strummer with delicate guitar highlights....full text |
| Contactmusic |
| Every so often during the course of a persons life they feel the need to indulge themselves in someone else's world. The want to explain who their influences were and are, the longing to bring a lesser known work to a new audience or just the chance to pay homage to some of their favourite tracks very often sees an artist release an album of covers. Nick Cave indulged on 'Kicking Against The Pricks', Tori picked some corkers on 'Strange Little Girls', Sinead beautifully and sympathetically sang her heart out on 'Am I Not Your Girl?' and most successfully Tom Jones was reborn again upon the release of 'Reloaded'. Equally as prevalent is the tribute album. Artists seemingly jump at the chance to put their mark on a classic, or even obscure, track from the back catalogue of anyone who is deemed worthy, anyone from The Jam, through Bowie, Cohen, Berlin (That's Irving, not the New Wave lot) to Sinatra and Simone. Less than infrequently you will see a whole album reproduced in its entirety from the original track listing. 'John Wesley Harding' by Thea Gilmore is just that. By way of her own very special, personal tribute to Bob Dylan, and in celebration of his 70th birthday, Thea has put her own stamp on his successful 8th album, 'John Wesley Harding'. The album was, and is, itself a collection of songs themed around the life of the American outlaw John Wesley Hardin. At the time of its original release 40+ years ago, coming after Dylan's landmark double album 'Blonde On Blonde' it reached number one in the UK and number 2 in the US, an achievement unlikely to be repeated here. Quite why Thea has picked this particular album remains something of a curiosity, other than the fact that she'd already covered one of the tracks off it many moons ago as part of a Dylan tribute album.............so done one may as well do the remaining 11? She clearly loves his music, has been influenced by him, partly through her Fathers record collection, from an early age and is herself more than capable of reproducing any of his work. (Whatever die hard Dylan fans may tell you) All twelve tracks, in their original running order, are given the Gilmore treatment. Most are reworked very well, some dare I say it are better than the originals! Thea's take on the double band name inspiring 'The Ballad Of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest' is a case in point. The original sounds like a its been rehashed over the score to Puff The Magic Dragon, whilst Thea's version is given more gravitas and structure. Her voice has always been very emotive and the nuances of her vocal delivery make it easy for her to make any song her own. The title track opener perfectly demonstrates just how good her interpretation is because once you've heard her sing it, that's all you want to hear. However sympathetic she has been in recreating Dylan's work she cannot help but to transform the original by performing it in her own style. 'As I went Out One Morning', 'Dear Landlord', I Pity The Poor Immigrant' and 'I Am A Lonesome Hobo' all come out with new life breathed into them. Where Thea is less successful in her reinvention is on the more well known work of 'I'll Be your Baby Tonight' and the track that has subsequently become associated with Jimi Hendrix, 'All Along The Watchtower'. The honky-tonk Country twang of the former and the loose and jazzy feel of latter don't work well here. This is why choosing an entire album, rather than a selection material, has made it difficult to maintain the consistency of quality that is usually assured in her own individual work....full text |
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