Ferry on Letterman
Bryan Ferry Peforms On "Late Show With David Letterman" June 26th, Coinciding With Release Of His New Album, Dylanesque Autograph Session Scheduled For June 27th
at New York City’s J&R Music and Computer World
Bryan Ferry will celebrate the June 26th release of his new album, Dylanesque, with an appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman" that evening. The following day, June 27th, Ferry will autograph his new CD at J&R Music and Computer World (23 Park Row, New York, NY) at 12:30 p.m.
With Dylanesque Ferry, a founding member of Roxy Music and one of Britain’s most distinctive singer-songwriters, interprets 11 classic songs of American icon Bob Dylan, including "The Times They Are A-Changin,’" "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door," "Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues," "Simple Twist of Fate," "Positively 4th Street," "All I Really Want To Do" and "Make You Feel My Love."
"Bryan Ferry’s new album Dylanesque is proof that when one legend interprets the work of another, the results can be magical," said Nylon. "In Ferry’s able hands Dylan’s classic songs take on an entirely new personality." Ferry’s version of "Gates of Eden" was recently USA Today’s "Pick of the Week" while Harp noted that hearing "Ferry cutting and quivering through the portent of ‘Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues’ is one slow dazzle."
While Dylanesque took only about a week to record, its roots go back to Ferry’s first solo album, 1973’s These Foolish Things. Recording "A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall" for the album, Ferry recalls thinking it would be great to make a whole album of Dylan songs. He did include the occasional Dylan cover on his subsequent solo albums, but it wasn’t until late 2006 that he began making the album he’d conceived of nearly 35 years prior.
Collectively, these interpretations comprise their own emotional world - a fresh and vivid place, cut at times by deep shadows and open to the weather of its mood. Ferry uses the medium of Dylan's songs - their lyrical power, their tenderness, insight or portentous nuance - in order to make a musical statement that is in part a portrait of Dylan, and as importantly a self-portrait.
"As far as the words are concerned it's a bit like an actor tackling Shakespeare," says Ferry. "I like finding the melodies that Dylan's hidden away in there."
