Music Review: The Cactus Blossoms, ‘If Not for You (Bob Dylan Songs Vol. 1)’
The Minnesota-based brother duo puts their harmony-rich spin on four Bob Dylan tunes.
The Cactus Blossoms Dylan EP cover art.
If you go back far enough in their history, there was a time The Cactus Blossoms wove quite a few covers into their live shows (and even on their earlier records). Like many bands, I’m sure, their catalog of originals grew to the point where there’s not much room for other artists’ songs in their setlists. But sometimes—especially at their occasional First Avenue mainstage shows or during their Mondays-in-January residency at the Turf Club in Saint Paul—they still sneak in an unexpected cover.
In recent years, I’ve seen them perform beautiful renditions of a couple Bob Dylan songs; not the ubiquitous ones that a casual listener like myself would recognize, but probably very well-known to devoted Dylan fans—and there are a lot of those here in his home state!
When a cover eventually drops out of live-show rotation, it’s a bit jolting if I don’t have a recording of it to fall back on when I’m in the mood to hear their version of it. (The Kinks’ “Who’ll Be the Next in Line,” Hank Williams Sr.’s “Tennessee Border” and Waylon Jennings’ “Only Daddy That’ll Walk the LIne” are the biggest losses for me!) So the new EP, If Not for You (Bob Dylan Songs Vol. 1), is an especially welcome gift. It includes the two Dylan songs I’ve heard The Cactus Blossoms do live, as well as two new-to-me tunes from the Minnesota-born folk legend.
The title track is one of the familiar ones, and the EP version has a nice laid-back swing rhythm and a retro-countrypolitan feel thanks to tinkling piano by Alex Hall and subtle pedal steel touches courtesy of Joel Paterson. It’s one of Dylan’s more country-leaning tracks, so this rendition isn’t too far afield of the original, but the brothers’ harmonies—employed all the way through, which is less common on their newer material—make it an unmistakable Cactus Blossoms song. The sweet and understated lyrics about love fit well in their oeuvre; it’s one of the most wholesome, upbeat Dylan songs I’ve heard.
I wasn’t familiar with “To Ramona,” but I was intrigued by the cryptic but evocative lyrics comforting and counseling a woman in emotional torment, and the Latin flavor of the melody, its 3/4 tempo almost reminiscent of the traditional Mexican song “Cielito Lindo.” There are a plethora of music critics who feel they’ve at least partly uncovered the titular subject’s identity—Ramona is Black! She’s Latina! More specifically, she’s Joan Baez!—and cracked the code of the song’s meaning: Dylan is dissing hippie socialism, or decrying conformity, or mansplaining away a woman’s pain, or being genuinely empathetic about her struggles, depending on who you believe.
The Cactus Blossoms. Photo credit: Tom Smouse, 2021.
But Bob’s smarter than all those reviewers—smart enough not to leave any incontrovertible evidence of his true literal meaning, if he has one. Jack Torrey’s emotional delivery on The Cactus Blossoms’ version definitely makes me lean toward an empathetic reading of the lyrics, which makes it far sweeter to listen to than if you ascribe to some of the other interpretations.
Page Burkum takes lead vocals on the next track, “Went to See the Gypsy,” as he has in live performances as well, and it’s gorgeously rendered. He delivers the enigmatic lyrics in a way that suggests sadness and regret, though it’s hard to tell what exactly transpires: It’s a story song that paints vivid pictures in your mind but leaves the core of what’s happening in the shadows. (Critics are divided on this one, too, and theories abound—including that it’s about Dylan’s possibly apocryphal meeting with Elvis!)
I find myself chasing after meaning through “dark and crowded” rooms, through late-night streets where “lights were shining,” but it eludes me, just like the gypsy and the pretty dancing girl leave the narrator seemingly without what he was seeking, watching the sunrise over a “little Minnesota town.” Regardless, it fires up the imagination while tugging at the heartstrings and makes you want to listen over and over.
Torrey and Burkum return to continuous harmonies for the last song, ending the EP once again on one of Dylan’s lyrically simpler, more emotional songs, “Tell Me That It Isn’t True.” One hopes this isn’t the head-over-heels narrator of “If Not for You,” now lost in paranoia that his lover is seeing someone else and about to leave him. There’s something almost childlike in the simple plea that ends every verse, asking for an assurance that’ll put his fears to rest.
Though it’s only four songs, the EP manages to display an impressive range of Dylan’s songwriting abilities, showing how he can skillfully render simple, classic themes as well as create poetic masterpieces where every word seems to add a dozen possible meanings to the song. If Not for You of course showcases Torrey and Burkum’s individual vocal skills and the indelible enchantment of their harmonies. It preserves two amazing covers so fans never have to worry about losing them forever. And that “Vol. 1” in the title dangles the tantalizing prospect that more covers are forthcoming!
The Cactus Blossoms. Photo credit: Tom Smouse, 2021.
Carol Roth. Photo credit: Dan Lee.
Carol Roth is a full-time marketing copywriter and the primary music journalist and social media publicist for Adventures in Americana. In addition to studying the guitar and songwriting, Carol’s additional creative side hustle is writing self-proclaimed “trashy” novels under the pseudonym T.A. Berkeley!
