Mary Lee's Corvette
Blood on the Tracks
Leonora Records

by William Michael Smith

Talk about walking a tightrope with no net. How about a venue approaches you about a special gig, part of a series they've devised where they have bands in to play a classic album live, beginning to end? Just play the album.

So you're cocky and thinking, "How high can this tightrope be? I've got a good band, we know what we're doing, we can use the bread."

So your band draws Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks.

Might as well string that damn tightrope from Mt. Everest to the Matterhorn. And grease it with butter.

OK, how long do we get to rehearse?

How does a week sound? OK, take two weeks.

In a nutshell, that's about how the deal went down for Mary Lee Cortes and her band, Mary Lee's Corvette. And had it not been for someone at the soundboard having the presence of mind to push record, the performance would have been lost. But someone did push record and, as Cortes was loading her equipment outside Arlene Grocery in New York City, the soundman handed her a tape.

It has been years since I listened to the 1974 (Jeezus, has it been that long?) Dylan original, but listening to Cortes's record I was struck by how many words there are, how long and involved these lyrics are, what a feat of memory to memorize such a wild, twisted, literate torrent of words, much less regurgitate them while playing with an ensemble in a concert situation. I saw Cortes's husband, Roscoe Ambel, in Houston shortly after I received the album and asked him the obvious question; had Cortes performed the record from memory? She had. I marveled that anyone could memorize all that material in two short weeks and digest it well enough to not only repeat it but breathe life into it.

Ambel grinned, his look seeming to say, "I'm glad someone else had that job."

"Yeah, they don't write songs with all those words anymore. Some of those songs, like "Idiot Wind," "Simple Twist of Fate," and "Jack of Hearts," they just go on and on and on."

Introducing Dylan's epic "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts," Cortes tells the audience, "There's like fifteen verses. So does anybody here actually know all of them? Does anybody want to come up and sing one or two?" Two anonymous members of the audience volunteer and their amateurish performances serve both as a spontaneous, fresh moment and as the only noticeable blemish on the album.

"Some labels have called about maybe putting the record out," Ambel noted, "so that track may be rerecorded at some point. But in spite of that, they really caught the energy and vibe of that one." Indeed the band is cooking at full flame on the track, as guitarists Andy York and Rod Hohl and organist Andy Burton spur each other with intricate fills and flourishes.

According to Ambel, Cortes had never played harmonica until she got the gig.

"I was on tour when that gig happened, and when I got home, she played me the tape. I asked her who was playing the harmonica and she said she was. She's really a serious musician, but I still thought that was pretty impressive, because she actually got the Dylan vibe with it."

After a tentative start on the difficult "Tangled Up In Blue," Cortes masterfully replicates Dylan's harmonica licks on "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go," but no more than she does the rest of this difficult set of songs. With able assistance from slide guitarist York, the band finds a sinister blues groove on "Meet Me In the Morning," and they capture the bemused mystic feel while completing the vocal gyrations of "Simple Twist of Fate." Cortes has a direct delivery completely devoid of diva vocal gymnastics. She plays it straight and sings it real. Her version of "If You See Her, Say Hello" catches the slightest nuance in the lyric and the mood she builds is genuine Dylan, as is her folky "Shelter From the Storm."

I can't imagine Cortes taking this show on the road, and that leaves only two options: watch for a possible additional performance at Arlene Grocery (there are rumors) or buy the CD. Given the faithful recreation of the album, Dylanphiles should find this a welcome addition to their music racks. But despite the powerful lyrics and the mystical aura this album maintains despite the 25+ years since it was issued, Dylan is not the only attraction here. Mary Lee Cortes and her band are a topflight Americana act who just happen to have decided to walk this tightrope once for the thrill. They never look down, never lose their balance, never fall. Hell, they couldn't afford to. There was no net.

*Contact LeonoraRecords-at-aol.com or check out www.maryleescorvette.com If you find Blood on the Tracks somewhere else, it's just a simple twist of fate.

And this just in! Mary Lee will be reprising Blood on the Tracks at Joe's Pub, New York, New York, June 15. If you're in the neighborhood.


Contact William Michael Smith at: wms-at-rockzilla.net

 
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