# Bob Dylan (1941- )



## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I wanted to create a thread devoted to the music of Bob Dylan. I only found tw.w other threads, one was "Is Bob Dylan a Great Singer" and the other one was "Bob Dylan vs. Joni Mitchell" - neither was a general thread on his recorded legacy.

*That what this thread will be, a place to discuss Bob Dylan's recorded legacy.*

*The Bob Dylan Official Website*

*The Bob Dylan Wikipedia article*

I submit that *Bob Dylan* is one of the major musical artists to emerge from the 20th century. His writing and style came out of the Folk, Blues, Country, traditions. His music has been influenced by artists such as *Charlie Poole*, *Dock Boggs,* *Hank Williams*, *Woody Guthrie*, *Muddy Waters,* and early Rock & Roll musicians including *Chuck Berry*, *Little Richard*, and *Buddy Holly*; as well as ragtime blues, work songs, Georgia sea shanties, Appalachian ballads and cowboy songs.

His lyrics draw on world literature including _The Iliad_, _Odyssey_, Shakespeare, the King James Bible, _Moby Dick_, _Don Quixote_, _Ivanhoe_, _Robinson Crusoe,_ _Gulliver's Travels_, _Tale of Two Cities,_ and _All Quiet on the Western Front_.

Bob Dylan's bedrock style is most directly found in _*The Basement Tapes*_. Here we hear that "*Old, Weird America*" identified by Greil Marcus at the root of his music - the America before technological changes that flattened out our regional differences.

For all of these reasons I consider Bob Dylan one of the most important musicians, songwriters, singers, stylists to emerge from the 20th century.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

You may remember last year I was on quite a Dylan kick and I added many titles to my collection. In fact I more than doubled my previous amount of Dylan records. It all started when I walked into a local record store and they were spinning The Times They Are A Changin'. I suppose that initial period 1962-66 is seen as his most vital although I enjoy many other releases including John Wesley Harding up through his early 90s stuff.

I haven't gotten back to all those new CDs since earlier last year but I've been getting the urge to get back in to it. I really enjoy a number of the Bootleg series releases so I want revisit vols. 1-3, The Cutting Edge, and Another Self Portrait.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

starthrower said:


> You may remember last year I was on quite a Dylan kick and I added many titles to my collection. In fact I more than doubled my previous amount of Dylan records. It all started when I walked into a local record store and they were spinning The Times They Are A Changin'. I suppose that initial period 1962-66 is seen as his most vital although I enjoy many other releases including John Wesley Harding up through his early 90s stuff.
> 
> I haven't gotten back to all those new CDs since earlier last year but I've been getting the urge to get back in to it. I really enjoy a number of the Bootleg series releases so I want revisit vols. 1-3, The Cutting Edge, and Another Self Portrait.


I am glad you mentioned _Another Self Portrait_. That record along with _John Wesley Harding_ and _The Basement Tapes_ (the Bootleg, not the 1975 grossly abridged release) constitute the Holy Grail of Dylan's stylistic identity. This is what *Greil Marcus* referred to as the _*Old, Weird America*_ - his book on the Basement Tapes.










Dylan's early career can be divided into three periods:

*1962-1964*: _Bob Dylan_, _Freewheelin' Bob Dylan,_ _The Times They Are A-Changin'_; _Another Side of Bob Dylan_
*1965-1966*: B_ringing It All Back Home_, _Highway 61 Revisited,_ _Blonde on Blonde_
*1967-1970*: _The Basement Tapes_, _John Wesley Harding_, _Nashville Skyline,_ _(Another) Self Portrait_

IMO, these records make up the primary body of Dylan's art - and then a gap of two+ decades until _Good As I Been To You_ and _World Gone Wrong_, leading to the late career return to his roots:

*Leadbelly, Charlie Poole, Dock Boggs, Hank Williams, Charley Patton, Buddy Holly, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, the New Lost City Ramblers, Jean Ritchie, string bands; ragtime blues, work songs, Georgia sea shanties, Appalachian ballads and cowboy songs*

- these styles and artists all figure into Dylan's musical heritage.

His lyrics draw on _Don Quixote, Ivanhoe, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, Tale of Two Cities; Moby Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front_ and _The Odyssey_, as well as *Shakespeare* and the *King James Bible*.

His wife, Sara, has said that in his writing room there was a floor stand with a large Bible open on it which he would refer to all the time as he was writing.

For me, his work from 1992 until the present has been some of his best work, matching his 1962-1970 recordings.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I went on a Dylan kick some years back and acquired over 50 CD sets! There also are a couple of bootlegs out there with Dylan and Tom Petty together. So many wonderful albums to talk about I don't know where to start. I really like his early work, well demonstrated in this gem of an album:


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

SixFootScowl said:


> I went on a Dylan kick some years back and acquired over 50 CD sets! There also are a couple of bootlegs out there with Dylan and Tom Petty together. So many wonderful albums to talk about I don't know where to start. I really like his early work


I'd be interested in knowing what bootlegs you acquired. Can you list some of them?


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

I've only got 8 *Dylan* albums, although for me that's quite a lot of albums for a single artist. One's a double: *No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7)*

I have no arguments against the claim that Bob Dylan is one of the major musical artists to emerge from the 20th century.

His influence is deep, sometimes direct, and at other times interestingly indirect.

A singing poet, with a voice that's . . . well . . . not very polished. And still, a very major influence.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

SanAntone said:


> I'd be interested in knowing what bootlegs you acquired. Can you list some of them?


It was long ago and I can't remember the website where I saw them listed. The other things is, if I knew the site, I could not post it here as I think a link to bootlegs would violate the site rules. But didn't they finally release some of the Dylan/Petty stuff on official bootleg series? If not, they should.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

SixFootScowl said:


> It was long ago and I can't remember the website where I saw them listed. The other things is, if I knew the site, I could not post it here as I think a link to bootlegs would violate the site rules. But didn't they finally release some of the Dylan/Petty stuff on official bootleg series? If not, they should.


They may have, but I have not kept up with all of the Official Bootlegs. I only get the few I am especially interested in.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

This channel has some interesting documentaries.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Started in with Another Self Portrait this morning. This set along with Vols.1-3 are the ones I enjoy the most. But there are several I don't have. And I don't have any of the expanded sets which are too expensive at 120 dollars for six CDs. But I believe they're available on Spotify.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

I believe I've bought _Blonde on Blonde_ more times than any other album. Most underrated of the 20 or so albums I know - _Street Legal_.


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

jegreenwood said:


> I believe I've bought _Blonde on Blonde_ more times than any other album. Most underrated of the 20 or so albums I know - _Street Legal_.


I consider Blonde on Blonde the finest album ever released.

In any genre.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

eljr said:


> I consider Blonde on Blonde the finest album ever released.
> 
> In any genre.


 I have to ask.................. are you serious?
I mean it's good but not making me speechless.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Rogerx said:


> I have to ask.................. are you serious?
> I mean it's good but not making me speechless.


I know that I'm likely in the minority here, but I think that "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" is annoying. One of the worst opening tracks to an album by a major artist.

I have a list

*worst opening tracks to an album by a major artist*

Bob Dylan/Blonde On Blonde - Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Chicago/Chicago VI - Critics' Choice
Billy Cobham/Inner Conflicts - Inner Conflicts
Beach Boys/15 Big Ones - Rock and Roll Music
Ringo Starr/Sentimental Journey - Sentimental Journey
Elton John/Too Low For Zero - Cold As Christmas (In The Middle Of The Year)
U2/Rattle and Hum - Helter Skelter
Emerson, Lake & Palmer/Love Beach - All I Want Is You


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

Rogerx said:


> I have to ask.................. are you serious?
> I mean it's good but not making me speechless.


Yes. But before you become mute :lol:, examine the criteria used.

"I"

I consider it the finest.

Art has a personal and universal meaning.

I think we can all agree (universal), Blonde on Blonde is a note worthy album.

So then what makes it the finest, to me? (personal)

Blonde on Blonde simply releases more endorphins within, in me than any other album.

For decades.

Time and place mixed with emotion. The album expressed who I am, gave me solace in what I faced, was a friend in torment and joy.

It served as a backdrop to my best times, my worst times.

I'll make no case for it musically.

But the virtuoso of the performance intertwined with the emotions of my life make it the finest. To me.

Had it not been around in my formative years, it would never gain such lofty expression from me.

Time and place being so important to art. Individuality.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I bought this CD recently -

*1970*










74 previously unreleased studio recordings from 1970, most taken from the sessions for the "New Morning" and "Self Portrait" albums. Also included are the nine songs from the legendary session with George Harrison.

This period of Dylan is the most interesting to me, really from 1967 (Basement Tapes, John Wesley Harding) through 1970 (Nashville Skyline, Self Portrait, New Morning). This album along with _The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait_ and _The Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin' Thru, 1967-1969_ offer a fairly comprehensive coverage of this period. All of these CD sets are excellent, IMO.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Bob Dylan is my favorite popular music artist and is on my Mt. Rushmore of music (along with Mozart, Miles Davis and... I'd probably have to really think about the 4th). I discovered him in my early 20s and immediately became obsessed with him, listening to his entire discography--with some albums getting over a dozen plays--over a period of several months. Though my infatuation cooled off after that I still periodically return to him and find myself feeling that his is among the rare music that really seems to matter, making most everything else I listen to (which is a lot) seem inconsequential by comparison. He's simply had a profound affect on how I listen to and think about music, as well as even having an impact on my poetry (which I haven't written in a long time).

If anyone wants any advice or recommendations, feel free to ask. If I had to try to sum up his career and output I'd do it like this: 

Essential listening: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin', Another Side of Bob Dylan, Bringing it All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding, The Basement Tapes, Blood on the Tracks, Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, Bootleg Series Vol. 1-4

Excellent, but not essential: New Morning, Nashville Skyline, Desire, Oh Mercy, Modern Times, Together Through Life, Tempest, Rough and Rowdy Ways, Bootleg Series Vol. 5-6, 8, 11, 13, Before the Flood

Worth exploring after the rest: Self-Titled Debut, Planet Waves, Street Legal, Slow Train Coming, Infidels, Good as I've Been to You, World Gone Wrong, Hard Rain, MTV Unplugged, Bootleg Series Vol. 7, 9-10, 12, 14-15 

Not Recommended: Self-Portrait, Dylan, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, Saved, Shot of Love, Empire Burlesque, Knocked Out Loaded, Down in the Groove, Under the Red Sky, Christmas in the Heart, Shadows in the Night, Fallen Angels, Triplicate, At Budokon, Real Live

I think the only Dylan I've yet to hear is the latest (Vol. 16) Bootleg, but I'll get around to it eventually. What's remarkable about Dylan is that even with the stuff I don't like--such as his Self-Portrait and Saved/Shot of Love, the Bootleg Series has often had me reevaluating these periods. "Another Self-Portrait" (Bootleg Vol. 10) is much better than the Self-Portrait album, with a lot of great material that was mysteriously left off the album (same is true of Vol. 1-3 of the Bootlegs and his 80s material). Meanwhile, Bootleg Vol. 13 (Trouble No More) really brought his "Christian" material to life when played live when it seemed so dead and boring on the studio albums. I'm not as big a fan of the Bootlegs that are predominantly outtakes and alternative takes of the studio material (like Vol. 12 and 14), but even those are great for hardcore fans that want to hear how these songs came to be and what they could've been.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Rogerx said:


> I have to ask.................. are you serious?
> I mean it's good but not making me speechless.


I'm not sure if I'd be as hyperbolic as eljr, but I can sympathize with that sentiment. Blonde on Blonde is my favorite Dylan. It's stylistically his most diverse and experimental album. Every song feels like it's own unique thing, and it has a handful of my all-time favorites (especially Visions of Johanna, Stuck Inside of Mobile..., and Just Like a Woman). It's a truly kaleidoscopic album in the vein of The Beatles' White Album, Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, or The Rolling Stones's Exile On Main Street, but I honestly think the songs are simply better than on The Stones or Beatles albums, but I do think the Zeppelin gives it a run for its money. It's one of those albums that every time I return to it I find something new to appreciate, and find myself loving songs that previously I'd thought were pretty good or just OK.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*She Belongs to Me* (Take 1, Solo Acoustic)






I still prefer him with just his guitar.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

One of the young ladies in one of our high school choirs has decided to sing *TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE* for our "*Solo Night*" concert next month.

I'd always thought it was a *Billy Joel* song (he DID release a successful cover of it in 1997). She's familiar with it because *Adele* recorded it for her album *30* in 2008.








This is, evidently, a very popular song for major AND minor artists to cover. Well over 200 cover versions have been recorded and released, including *Garth Brooks, Joan Osborne, Trisha Yearwood, Maria Muldaur, Bryan Ferry, Neil Diamond*, and the *Manchester String Quartet*.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

pianozach said:


> One of the young ladies in one of our high school choirs has decided to sing *TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE* for our "*Solo Night*" concert next month.
> 
> I'd always thought it was a *Billy Joel* song (he DID release a successful cover of it in 1997).


Not one of my favorite Dylan songs, precisely because it sounds like a Billy Joel song.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

pianozach said:


> One of the young ladies in one of our high school choirs has decided to sing *TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE* for our "*Solo Night*" concert next month.
> 
> I'd always thought it was a *Billy Joel* song (he DID release a successful cover of it in 1997). She's familiar with it because *Adele* recorded it for her album *30* in 2008.
> 
> This is, evidently, a very popular song for major AND minor artists to cover. Well over 200 cover versions have been recorded and released, including *Garth Brooks, Joan Osborne, Trisha Yearwood, Maria Muldaur, Bryan Ferry, Neil Diamond*, and the *Manchester String Quartet*.


The original album it's from (Time Out of Mind) is probably the best of Dylan's late period as well (though I go back and forth between it and Love & Theft). Dylan has a song on his last album that I could imagine becoming similarly widely covered: 




I remember first hearing that one and marveling at Dylan's ability to write songs that sound ancient, as if they've existed forever somewhere and he just plucked them out of that eternal state to realize them in our specific time and reality.

I wonder if SanAntone will appreciate this one especially.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> The original album it's from (Time Out of Mind) is probably the best of Dylan's late period as well (though I go back and forth between it and Love & Theft). Dylan has a song on his last album that I could imagine becoming similarly widely covered:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I like _Time Out of Mind_, generally, but that one song I always thought was throw away. His latest is interesting for different reasons, it's a dark record. And often he does "pluck" an old song and re-write it to serve his purposes. He's said that sometimes he will start with an old folk song and sing it over and over and then start singing different lyrics and finally transform it into the song he wants to write.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

SanAntone said:


> I like _Time Out of Mind_, generally, but that one song I always thought was throw away. His latest is interesting for different reasons, it's a dark record. And often he does "pluck" an old song and re-write it to serve his purposes. He's said that sometimes he will start with an old folk song and sing it over and over and then start singing different lyrics and finally transform it into the song he wants to write.


It often seems the case that an artist's "throwaway" songs either become their biggest hits or among their most covered. For those curious I asked if you'd appreciate I've Made Up My Mind... specifically because that song's lyrics references your username.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

New book: _Listening to Bob Dylan_










Musicologist Larry Starr takes a bit of a different approach to Dylan's music in his appealing book, _Listening to Bob Dylan_ (Illinois). Combining the passion of a fan with the insights of a musicologist, he asks simply: Would we love Dylan's music even if the songs did not have lyrics? He contends that we too often focus on Dylan simply as wordsmith, a lyricist, and fail to listen to the entire performance of the song: the music, the composition of the melody and harmony, the arranging, the roles of certain instruments. As he puts it in the book, Starr wants to restore "Dylan's music and performances to the central, essential position they occupy in his output and achievement. The book does not at all neglect the lyrics. Rather, it considers the lyrics as one part of a remarkable whole that is experienced by listening to Dylan's work." (*No Depression*)

Larry Starr is emeritus professor of music history at the University of Washington. He is the author of _George Gershwin_ and coauthor of _American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3_, sixth edition.

Not sure if I will buy this book, but it sounds interesting and a bit different than the usual book on Dylan. I am actually more interested in his other book on American Popular Music.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

*Bob Dylan Is Back With a New Book That Explores 'Modern Song'*



> The Philosophy of Modern Song, due out Nov. 8 via Simon & Schuster, mostly focuses on music by other people, with more than 60 essays he penned about Stephen Foster, Hank Williams, Nina Simone, Elvis Costello, and more. According to an announcement from the publisher, Dylan "analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal." (No Depression)


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

Interesting but I don't need a book to tell me how to listen to popular music, thanks. As for Dylan's talent as a lyricist-I'll look elsewhere for insights on the human experience. Dylan was/is a great musician in the folk-rock tradition and his lyrics only work within the context of his music.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> It often seems the case that an artist's "throwaway" songs either become their biggest hits or among their most covered. For those curious I asked if you'd appreciate I've Made Up My Mind... specifically because that song's lyrics references your username.


"I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" is from his latest record, Rough and rowdy Ways (2020) - a very good late career collection of new songs. This is the first album of new original songs since the excellent _Tempest_ from 2012, and so it is of great interest to Dylan fans. He is in fine voice, and the songs display his various styles and songwriting forms.

"I've Made Up My Mind" is a 32-bar song in the tradition of the Great American Songbook, a canon of songs he devoted his last three albums to singing prior to this record. The brief listing of San Antone in the song is purely coincidental since I chose my screen name a long time ago after seeing an article where they raised the speed limit to 85 on the interstate outside of San Antonio, Texas.

I've been listening to _Rough and Rowdy Ways_ several times since its release and each time come away feeling that it is among his best efforts.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

SanAntone said:


> "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" is from his latest record, Rough and rowdy Ways (2020) - a very good late career collection of new songs. This is the first album of new original songs since the excellent _Tempest_ from 2012, and so it is of great interest to Dylan fans. He is in fine voice, and the songs display his various styles and songwriting forms.
> 
> "I've Made Up My Mind" is a 32-bar song in the tradition of the Great American Songbook, a canon of songs he devoted his last three albums to singing prior to this record. The brief listing of San Antone in the song is purely coincidental since I chose my screen name a long time ago after seeing an article where they raised the speed limit to 85 on the interstate outside of San Antonio, Texas.
> 
> I've been listening to _Rough and Rowdy Ways_ several times since its release and each time come away feeling that it is among his best efforts.


If indeed it is possible to identify such a thing, what would be your desert island Bob album? Mine would be Bringing It All Back Home. I already loved his music but when that came out it was a lightbulb moment for me. Of course there are plenty of other equally great albums but that one just resonated.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Bob Dylan, for me, is a completely unique personality in music. No one has come close to him in his remarkable combination of music, lyrics, and abundance of output over many decades. He richly deserved, in my view, his Nobel. No one is remotely like Bob Dylan. I am a song-oriented listener as contrasted with an album-oriented one, but my favorite Dylan album remains _Blood on the Tracks_. Every song on that album is a gem, and they cohere as a wistful recollection of past love and loves, where even one of Dylan's greatest outpourings of vilification and venom and rage is, in the end, turned back upon himself as someone sharing in love's sad dissolution--I refer to _Idiot Wind_, where Dylan's gift for overflowing, Whitmanesque prolixity is like a fountain or geyser of inspired vitriol. His voice is perfectly matched to his material, always, giving his songs an authenticity few else have managed. A great artist!


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Strange Magic said:


> Bob Dylan, for me, is a completely unique personality in music. No one has come close to him in his remarkable combination of music, lyrics, and abundance of output over many decades. He richly deserved, in my view, his Nobel. No one is remotely like Bob Dylan. I am a song-oriented listener as contrasted with an album-oriented one, but my favorite Dylan album remains _Blood on the Tracks_. Every song on that album is a gem, and they cohere as a wistful recollection of past love and loves, where even one of Dylan's greatest outpourings of vilification and venom and rage is, in the end, turned back upon himself as someone sharing in love's sad dissolution--I refer to _Idiot Wind_, where Dylan's gift for overflowing, Whitmanesque prolixity is like a fountain or geyser of inspired vitriol. His voice is perfectly matched to his material, always, giving his songs an authenticity few else have managed. A great artist!


Love _BOTT_, but I still have to go with _Blonde on Blonde_. As for "Idiot Wind," I love the version on _Hard Rain_, although I never bought the album on CD.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Barbebleu said:


> If indeed it is possible to identify such a thing, what would be your desert island Bob album? Mine would be Bringing It All Back Home. I already loved his music but when that came out it was a lightbulb moment for me. Of course there are plenty of other equally great albums but that one just resonated.


I had written a reply but the post got lost in one of the forum crashes.

To answer your question, my favorite Dylan album is _*John Wesley Harding*_.

The songs, with imagery drawn from the Bible and Shakespeare are mysterious and evocative of an older time. These songs are presented in a stripped down production with minimal instrumentation (two Nashville musicians, Kenny Buttrey, drums; and Charlie McCoy, multi-instrumentalist) with Dylan's voice, harmonica, and guitar taking center stage.

His first album since his self-imposed exile after his motorcycle accident JWH totally different from what was being released by the contemporaneous artists. It also ushered in his new stylistic sound, coming out of The Basement, with a smaller band, and a focus on what Greil Marcus has called _Old, Weird America_.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Barbebleu said:


> If indeed it is possible to identify such a thing, what would be your desert island Bob album? Mine would be Bringing It All Back Home. I already loved his music but when that came out it was a lightbulb moment for me. Of course there are plenty of other equally great albums but that one just resonated.


If forced to choose I would pick Blonde on Blonde, for the reasons I gave HERE, but in certain moods I could easily go with Freewheelin, BIABH, John Wesley Harding, The Basement Tapes, Blood on the Tracks, or Time Out of Mind. I feel like I love all of these albums for completely different reasons. My selection of BoB is probably just down to its diversity: an album for all moods rather than one.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Was moving some CDs around, making room for some I found when I was cleaning out a storage unit. There are some Dylan box sets I had been missing for the past four years since we moved from Nashville out here in the country. 

I found the _Complete Basement Tapes_, the _1965-1966 The Cutting Edge_, the first eight records in their original mono sound, and this one:

*The Bootleg Series Vol. 15: Travelin' Thru, 1967–1969* is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The 13th installment in the ongoing Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, it was released by Legacy Records on November 1, 2019. The compilation focuses on recordings Dylan made between October 1967 and May 1970 for his albums _John Wesley Harding_ and _Nashville Skyline_, and appearances on _The Johnny Cash Show_ and special _Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends_.










These recordings document my favorite period in Dylan's career, and it is fun to be listening to them after so long a lapse.


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

SanAntone said:


> _John Wesley Harding_ and _Nashville Skyline_, and appearances on _The Johnny Cash Show_ and special _Earl Scruggs: His Family and Friends_


What a great time in his recording life. Love this stuff.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> It often seems the case that an artist's "throwaway" songs either become their biggest hits or among their most covered. For those curious I asked if you'd appreciate I've Made Up My Mind... specifically because that song's lyrics references your username.


Again, I'm reminded of covers of Beatles throwaway songs or that weren't even singles that became hits.

Joe Cocker - With a Little Help From My Friends
Sergio Mendez and Brazil '66 - Fool On the Hill 
Earth, Wind, and Fire - Got to Get You Into My Life
Ambrosia - Magical Mystery Tour
Fiona Apple - Across the Universe

. . . And the list goes on and on.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

My copy of this appeared on my Kindle this week:

*The Philosophy of Modern Song*










Eclectic choice of songs, but good reading so far.


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## Boychev (Jul 21, 2014)

SanAntone said:


> Dylan's early career can be divided into three periods:
> 
> *1962-1964*: _Bob Dylan_, _Freewheelin' Bob Dylan,_ _The Times They Are A-Changin'_; _Another Side of Bob Dylan_
> *1965-1966*: B_ringing It All Back Home_, _Highway 61 Revisited,_ _Blonde on Blonde_
> ...


This is an understandable judgment to make, but in my humble opinion Dylan's highest peaks were his live recordings with The Band from the first half of the 70s, his lives from the Rolling Thunder tour, and the studio albums Desire and Blood on the Tracks. It was at this point where he most masterfully blended his country, roots, and blues influences with his loud electric rock aspirations and his poetry matured accordingly as well. A song like Isis has the earth-shattering mythicism of his 65-66 material repackaged in a warmer, folksier, more playful and ultimately more touching storytelling form.

What I mean to say (I guess) is: early Dylan was floating in the clouds - whether the clouds of romantic politics or the clouds of romantic poetry. He needed to get down in the dirt to shine the brightest.

Popular music criticism focuses too much on Dylan the young boy protest song genius of 62-63 and Dylan the surrealist enigma of 65-66. Dylan the mystic carnival entertainer of 74-75 deserves just as much attention I would say.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Deleted


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

New interview with Zimmy.






Bob Dylan Interviewed by Wall Street Journal’s Jeff Slate | The Official Bob Dylan Site







www.bobdylan.com


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