The Flowers Of Indulgence - Dylan's Lost Songs, Vol. 1 (2024) Hi-Res

The Flowers Of Indulgence unearth some obscure gems as they root around the less-frequently visited corners of the Bob Dylan archive.

Dylan covers albums are not, in themselves, a rarity. Odetta may have been first off the mark with one, as long ago as 1965; The Byrds, The Hollies, Robyn Hitchcock and Gerry Garcia have all issued their own Dylan Tribute albums and, in 2018, A Tree With Roots compiled an intriguing collection of Fairport Convention’s interpretations of Dylan songs. And let’s not forget a particular favourite of ours, Emma Swift’s delightful Blonde On The Tracks – one of our 2020 Albums of the Year. I wouldn’t be surprised if the number of such albums available numbers into the hundreds. All have their merits and their points of distinction – a particularly outstanding version of an old favourite, perhaps, or the unmasking of a previously-unknown gem – and it’s here that the new album from The Flowers Of Indulgence makes its mark, because Dylan’s Lost Songs Vol 1 unmasks not just one but twelve obscure gems from the further reaches of Bob’s music cupboard.

Dylan’s Lost Songs Vol 1 takes the deepest of dives into the extraordinary rarities amongst Bob Dylan and the Band’s 1967 Basement Tapes recordings. The Basement Tapes were, for many years, the Holy Grail for Dylanologists. Tasty morsels like This Wheel’s On Fire, I Shall Be Released and Percy’s Song managed to slip the net, suggesting what a mighty treasure trove was lurking amongst the legendary tapes, but it wasn’t until as recently as 2014 that all 138 songs recorded at those 1967 sessions finally saw light of day, when they were released as Bootleg Series Vol 11: The Basement Tapes Complete. Most of us are still getting our heads around it all.

Recorded over a 3-day period in The Bothy Studios on The Moray Coast in North-East Scotland, Dylan’s Lost Songs Vol 1 features twelve of the lesser-known songs that emerged from The Basement Tapes sessions. The songs selected are ones that were, perhaps, hastily written and rehearsed, never properly finished or soon discarded. None of them have ever, to our knowledge, been covered before and, yet, there are some great songs amongst them; songs that, given the attention and TLC that has been focused elsewhere, could very easily have become classics in their own right; as we shall see.

The Flowers Of Indulgence are an enigmatic bunch and there’s considerable speculation circulating in the music press right now, regarding who exactly they may be. The album cover and the press materials don’t give anything away – the band members are listed as: Don Khan (lead vocals and guitars), Tiny Montgomery (lead vocals, bass and guitars), Silly Nellie (guitars), Skinny Moo (piano and organ), T-Bone Frank (drums and percussion) and The Rose Maries (backing vocals). Pseudonyms all, I suspect, but really, I don’t suppose that the real names of the musicians matter as much as the fact that they’re clearly Dylan aficionados who have gone to the trouble of resurrecting a clutch of largely unknown songs, treating them with care and respect and demonstrating to the world just what we’ve been overlooking for the past 57 years.

The twelve songs selected for the album represent the multi-facetted nature of Dylan’s writing. Outré rock and roll, tender love ballads, baroque folk, country singalongs and story songs all get a look-in and there are plenty points of reference for Dylan followers to latch on to. For example, Next Time On The Highway, the album’s raucous opening track, nods very clearly in the direction of Subterranean Homesick Blues. The sound is joyful, tight and clean and the guitars have an authentic 1960s ring to them.

I’m Alright is a big ballad with piano featuring prominently. The vocals are croaky and breathless and the lyrics – “I’m alright, I’m alright – I’m a three-time looser, babe, but I’m alright,” are archetypal Dylan. And I suspect that Dylan had been listening to Save The Last Dance For Me when he wrote Mary Lou, I Love You Too, a mellow song with a Hispanic feel that radiates warmth.

There are more hoarse, croaky vocals on 2 Dollars and 99 Cents, a sleazy, electric bar-room boogie, awash with howling guitars and made grittier by the deliciously alluring backing vocals, before the folky, bluesy On A Rainy Afternoon heralds the arrival of party-time. It’s a good-time singalong, driven along by strummed acoustic guitars, a simmering electric guitar and an irresistible chorus – “It’s a party on a rainy afternoon.”

The Flowers Of Indulgence assume the mantle of The Band, for One Man’s Loss – the album’s lead single. The Flowers are at full power for this one – the bass is vibrant, the piano tinkles and the organ swirls; there are at least three guitars in action, the drums are frantic and the harmony vocals are glorious and – close your eyes and you’ll almost believe that it’s Rick Danko singing the lead vocal.

Subtle organ, an intimate lead vocal and more lush backing vocals all contribute towards making the folky, sentimental, She’s On My Mind Again a real album highlight, before things get down ‘n’ dirty once more for Dress It Up, Have It All, perhaps the most uncompromising rocker on the album. It’s almost Highway 61 Revisited – revisited!

The baroque-sounding Can’t Make It Alone is a beautifully structured song and another of the album’s real highlights, the joyful Pretty Mary is a country-rock singalong with yet more charming backing harmonies, whilst the spirit of Just Like a Woman is summoned for the vulnerable, contemplative, I’m A Fool For You.

But it’s with Wild Wolf, the album’s closing track, that everything comes neatly together. There’s no doubt in my mind that several of the songs chosen for this project have been unaccountably overlooked for many years, and that’s a statement that applies particularly in the case of Wild Wolf. It’s a Dylan story-song, from the same mould as All Along The Watchtower; it’s thoughtful, atmospheric, and includes what is maybe the best guitar solo on the album. It’s folk-rock as Dylan himself imagined it – thank you, Flowers of Indulgence for bringing it to our attention.

Dylan’s Lost Songs Vol 1 is an intriguing, enjoyable album that uncovers some real lost treasures. My next question – Is there going to be a Dylan’s Lost Songs Vol 2?