Bob Dylan

Best known as the album with "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," Pat Garrett is a full-on gem, much like the film it's a soundtrack for. Made up of mostly instrumental pieces, the songs have an air of longing and emptiness; the variations on "Billy" are loose, arid and seem almost cast aside. When Dylan croaks in with the lyrics, it's completely gut-wrenching.

Bob Dylan was the source of pop music's unpredictability in the Sixties. Never as big a
record-seller as commonly imagined, his importance was first aesthetic and social, and
then as an influence. It was from that vantage point that he accumulated unprecedented
power and authority, to the point where it must have eventually threatened his peace of
mind. Janis Joplin couldn't survive having so many people dependent on her to f... More >

At least the strings on this soundtrack are mostly plucked and strummed, rather than bowed en masse, but it's still a soundtrack: two middling-to-excellent new Dylan songs, four good original Bobby voices, and a lot of Schmylan music. (Grade - C+)