Bob Dylan cover project, the 2010s
Bob took a weird detour in the 2010s. I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s what he has done his entire career. But I still cannot fathom why he decided to become Frank Sinatra. It is baffling and, if I’m being honest, it is not my favorite Bob flavor. Oh well! He doesn’t owe me anything.
Bob began the decade with Tempest, and album so good I was happy to hear it again. I had forgotten how much I liked this album when it first came out. As good as the music is, the cover design is exactly the opposite. I am still unsure what they were thinking with that cover. So I took inspiration from the title song and drew the Titanic at the port. This black and white, misty monolith is a much better representation of the music within.
For two of Bob’s Sinatra albums, Fallen Angels and Triplicate, my research led me to the discovery that there is a connective theme: playing cards. The original cover art for Fallen Angels is a photograph of a hand holding playing cards. Online sleuths told me that the specific brand of cards is called “Triplicate,” which is also the title of Bob’s next (triple) album. For my covers, then, I used the Triplicate playing card.
And finally, Bob’s most recent album as of the writing of this post, Rough and Rowdy Ways, released at the height of the pandemic in 2020. Although I like the photograph they used for the original cover, I decided to feature Bob himself, with an accessory he has been seen in frequently over the past 20 years: a cowboy hat. I gave a nod to Milton' Glaser’s iconic 1960’s poster of Bob with flowing rainbow hair by trailing a desert-hued ribbon behind his head.
This is the conclusion of my Bob Dylan covers project. I am surprised and pleased I managed to draw all 39 original studio albums. It took me almost exactly one year from start to finish.
