Jackie Greene / Sal Valentino & Friends Positively 12th And K: A Bob Dylan Tribute CD

Recorded live at Marilyn's, Sacremento, California between August 2002 and January 2003.

On two separate nights in August 2002 and January 2003, several singer/songwriters and musicians in the local scene gathered at Marilyn's on 12th & K Streets in Sacramento, CA to pay tribute to Bob Dylan. Highlights from those two evenings are assembled on this 13-song CD, Positively 12th and K: A Bob Dylan Tribute which, though billed to Jackie Greene/Sal Valentino & Friends, is more of a various-artists compilation. Beau Brummels fans should note that Valentino sings lead on just four of the tracks; singer/songwriter Greene takes lead on four others, with the Jackie Greene Band serving as the backing group for nine of the cuts. Lesser-known singers Mick Martin, Sherman Baker, Lew Fratis, and Billy Harper, Jr. serve as the vocal frontmen on the remainder of the program. These are good musicians doing energetic, straightforward covers of an assortment of Dylan tunes both celebrated ("Subterranean Homesick Blues," "Isis," "It's All over Now, Baby Blue," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "All Along the Watchtower," "I Shall Be Released") and more obscure ("Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?," "Not Dark Yet," "Everything Is Broken"). It sounds like everyone on-stage and in the audience had a jovial time, but as an audio document, it's less exciting than it must have been to be there, for obvious reasons. The existence of not just the more exciting Bob Dylan originals, but also many other more exciting and imaginative Dylan covers over the preceding 40 years, doesn't put this high on the list for those seeking interesting or novel reworkings of the Dylan canon. ~ Richie UnterbergerI_ø

This CD contains the best of two sold-out shows at Marilyn's at 12th and K Street in Sacramento, California, and it documents a magical night of paying tribute to this generation's best songwriter, Bob Dylan. The first was an all acoustic show in Aug. 20

Full performer name: Jackie Greene/Sal Valentino & Friends.

Personnel: Jackie Greene (vocals, various instruments); Sal Valentino (vocals, percussion); Lew Fratis (vocals, electric guitar); Steve Price (percussion).

Personnel: Sal Valentino (vocals, percussion); Jackie Greene (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, keyboards); Billy Harper Jr., Sherman Baker (vocals, acoustic guitar); Lew Fratis (vocals, electric guitar); Mick Martin (vocals, harmonica); Ben Lefever (drums); Steve Price (percussion).

Recording information: Marilyn's, Sacramento, CA (08/2002-01/2003).

Photographer: Tom Witt.Dirty Linen (2/04, p.70) - "As Greene and Valentino handle the vocal duties, the overall performance never gets too reverential or idolizing....The evening was a hoot..."