From rec.music.dylan Wed Sep 13 07:43:30 1995
From: Patricia Jungwirth <tricia.j@AARDVARK.APANA.ORG.AU>
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 1995 15:31:00 EST
Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Rutland Stone Reviews Dylan

'Bob Dylan Plays Monopoly' - Bob Dylan and Friends - Assoul Records

Many of us have been wondering just what he was going to do next. Well, here it is. A genuine breakthrough. 'We were just sitting around one afternoon with the Band, John (Lennon), George (Harrison) and Arthur (Brackets), wondering what to play when Rik (Danko) suggested we play Monopoly. Somebody turned the tape (recorder) on and bingo we realised we had a new album. Then bingo, we played Bingo.' Sounds simple, doesn't it? Yet genius such as Dylan's often looks simple. For example try reading out 'You have been assessed for street repairs, fifty dollars per house, one hundred dollars for each hotel' in quite the way Dylan stresses 'assessed' - here is all the angst of being a very dear landlord. In this of course he is ably supported by Harrison (George), who plays his 'Get Out of Jail Free' card magnificently, while the Band - Rik Danko (Mayfair, Park Lane), Robbie Robertson (Vine Street, Marlborough Street and the Electric Company), Garth Hudson (The Stations and The Water Works) and Levon Helm (Bass Guitar and Drums) are well on form. Only Lennon (John Lennon) seems out of place on Monopoly, wandering around the board refusing to pay rent, burning his money, and exhorting everyone to give up their property to form a Community Chest. But in the end it's Dylan's game, and you can't take away the moment when Rik Danko's little silver top hat lands on his Coventry Street Hotel and Dylan screams triumphantly 'Rent!'. A fitting climax to a rainy afternoon.

from 'Rutland Dirty Weekend Book'
first published 1976 by Eyre Methuen, London, 1976
Copyright Eric Idle

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