Customer Reviews
A soundtrack - but so good - By: , 15 Dec 2004 
Having come to this album through the film, I never cease to be amazed at how Bob Dylan got this so right. Usually, soundtracks are bitty & without the film action to guide them, seem spare. This is not the case of PAT GARRETT..., which is so convincing an albumin its own right. I guess the style fittedin well with his own country blues leanings of BLONDE ON BLONDE & the later BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, (which must have been his reward from the Byrds & their having used so many of his songsin the past).
Dylan threads his themes very well, & there is a touch of repetition that might have been borrowed from classical sources (to the great benefit of the album). While most songs are country folk, I like "Turkey Chase" which is heading into Bluegrass, with I guess Roger McGuinn on banjo. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is also well-positioned on the album, & pops up almost as a surprise due to the size of its popularity.
I have only one slight, slight quibble (oh, here it comes...); the two versions of "Billy" at the end do have the feeling that Dylan pre-empted the modern practice of bonus tracks without ever having gone through the re-issue phase. These two versions do seem a little bit tagged on at the end, but memory fails me, & I cannot say for sure if they are usedin the film or not (last seenin 1995 by myself). That said, it is interesting to see Dylan playing with the lyrics, his voice, & choice of instrumental styles - all three versions of "Billy" are both different & sit well enough to make it difficult to say which is best (which is probably why all were included). Also Dylan's playful humour comes out morein these versions.
To be honest, it may be sacrilegious to say, but I would have to say that this is my favourite Dylan album, which is almost embarrassing to admit BECAUSE it is a soundtrack.
A great easy listening album - By: dave.annie@ic24.net, 05 Nov 2000 
When Rudy Wurlitzer, the writer of the screenplay for the Sam Peckinpah movie 'Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid', approached his friend Bob Dylan, he originally intended for him to write the soundtrack. He wrote 'Billy', a fine example of Dylans ability to master the ballad. Dylan had been lying low since his motorcycle accident, so this was his first work for some time, & there is a beautifully easy nature to the music. It is light & soothing with many a raw journey into a mexican dusty night on a tequilla stained veranda. The listener is lulled into the scene as the story is told until we are brought back to home with the masterpiece of Dylans simple yet masterful 'Knocking on Heavans Door'. I originally bought this album a couple of years ago on Vinyl for a fiver, at that time for this track alone, which I never saw on another album. 'Heavans door' is short, with only two verses, & my only fault with this album is that Dylan did not provide more verses. The listener is left eager for more.
I highly reccomend this album to anybody who enjoys a cosy candlelit evening by a fire, stare into the flames & imagine your there.
