(From left to right: Cindy Cashdollar, Will Bryant, Joan Osborne, Lee Falco & Gail Ann Dorsey)
When I spoke to Joan Osborne in March 2024 following her performance at City Winery in Boston, I told her it was the first time I had seen and heard her in concert since September 2000.
To which she replied, "Well, don't make it another 24 years before you see me in concert."
Well, this time around it was only 15 months between concerts. On Saturday night, my friend Don Hammontree and I attended a concert at the Cabot Theatre in Beverly, Massachusetts featuring Joan Osborne covering a selection of Bob Dylan songs billed under the theme of Dylanology.
I dare say that Osborne can be said to have a doctorate in Dylanology. Osborne covered Dylan's "The Man in the Long Black Coat" from his 1989 album Oh Mercy on her 1995 breakout album Relish. In 2017, Osborne recorded an album of Dylan covers called Songs of Bob Dylan and has now returned to Dylan with the release of her new live album Dylanology Live which was originally recorded in 2018.
Accompanying Osborne this evening was pedal steel guitarist Cindy Cashdollar, Will Bryant on keyboards, Anders Osborne on lead guitar (no relation - at least one they are aware of), Lee Falco on drums and Gail Ann Dorsey on bass. This, of course, is the same Gail Ann Dorsey who spent many years touring with David Bowie and is a longtime friend of Fanny.
What was most remarkable about the proceedings was how much Osborne gave the spotlight to her bandmates. Dorsey and Bryant did a duet of "Shelter from the Storm" from Blood on the Tracks while later in the evening Dorsey covered "Lay Lady Lay" from the Nashville Skyline album. Falco sang lead vocal on "When I Paint My Masterpiece" from Greatest Hits, Volume II and then later in the evening took the stage alone to sing "Song for Woody" from Dylan's 1962 eponymous debut album.
For his part, Anders Osborne sang lead on four songs - "Man in Me", "Maggie's Farm", "Mozambique" and "Isis". The first song is from Dylan's 1970 album New Morning and would later be featured in the Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski. "Maggie's Farm" appeared on Dylan's 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home while "Mozambique" and "Isis" both appeared on Dylan's 1976 album Desire. I remember Desire being regularly played in my early childhood along Blood on the Tracks and Nashville Skyline. Hearing "Mozambique" and "Isis" simultaneously took me back in time while hearing something altogether new.
Although Cindy Cashdollar did not sing, she sure made her pedal steel guitar, slide guitar and dobro sing. She would be most prominent on "Tryin' to Get to Heaven" from Dylan's 1997 Grammy winning album Time Out of Mind which was also produced by Daniel Lanois. Indeed, Cashdollar played slide guitar on the original recording of "Tryin' to Get to Heaven".
But make no mistake. This collaboration was Joan Osborne's creation. For her, it was the Daniel Lanois produced Oh Mercy which connected her to Dylan through her covers of both "Man in The Long Black Coat" and "Shooting Star" resulting in her most impassioned performances of the evening. Her voice imbues the spirit of Dylan's words and phrasing. She is not merely covering the tune, but she is taking up residence in his words.
Osborne also made it clear that this evening was not about her. Prior to the encore, a number of fans were clamoring for her to play "St. Theresa" from Relish. Although appreciative of the request, Osborne made it clear that tonight was about Bob Dylan.
However, Osborne noted that with this year being the 30th anniversary of Relish that she planned to be up in this area later this year for another show devoted to commemorating that album. In which case, it might be only a matter of months before I see and hear Joan Osborne again.
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