A Bunch of Bob Dylan Albums Part 1 (Times They Are a-Changin'/Bringing It All Back Home/Highway 61 Revisited/Blonde on Blonde)

I remember right around this same time last year, my goal was to finish the Bob Dylan section by the end of 2014...As is the case with most of my goals,  it didn't happen...But know what? I'm doing it this year! However,  I've been kinda dreading the Dylan section. It's the same feeling I had when I was about to tackle the Beatles section...Here's an artist who's been discussed to death!!! (Yes, the official cause of death for all four Beatles and Bob Dylan was determined to be endless discussion...)

So what could I possibly contribute to the conversation that everyone else hasn't? My opinions on Bob Dylan are basically the same as everyone else...I think the early stuff's great! Big surprise! When I read other record review sites I always skip the Beatles and Dylan sections...There hasn't been a single new or novel thing said about either artist in decades!!! But I didn't want to skip the Dylan section because it goes against the prime directive of this blog...To listen to all the albums I own in alphabetical order...So I decided to just do a very quick rundown of each Dylan record I own...Maybe a few rambling sentences that lets you know what I think of each one (spoiler alert: I think they're great!)...

Oddly enough, I don't own the first few Dylan albums from his acoustic folk period. Why? This will probably sound blasphemous to most music fans but I'm just not really that interested in acoustic folk...Not even by Bob Dylan...Plus I've heard most of the songs 10 thousand times!!!!! If I loan out a copy of "Freewheelin'" and don't get it back, it's not a biggie cos I can replay the entire album in my head...So without any further ado... Here's the first in a series of quick rundowns of the scattered Bob Dylan albums I own...



Bob Dylan: The Times They Are a-Changin'

1964

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. The Times They Are a-Changin'  2. Ballad of Hollis Brown  3. With God on Our Side  4. One Too Many Mornings  5. North Country Blues  6. Only a Pawn in Their Game  7. Boots of Spanish Leather  8. When the Ship Comes In  9. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll  10. Restless Farewell

I find this album kinda tedious...The title track is Earth-shakingly fantastic, but the rest of it is the most dour, preachy acoustic folk meanderings I've ever heard... As monochrome as the cover...I found a vinyl copy of this in the dollar bin at Eastside Records and rarely put it on...And when I do I usually skip around a lot...This could have been a good 45 though! Imagine the title track backed by "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" (where he rhymes "table" with "table" a record three times!!)?  I'd also accept a follow-up single containing "One Too Many Mornings" b/w "Boots of Spanish Leather".... Skip it unless you live in a coffee house and have no sense of humor whatsoever...        


 Bob Dylan: Bringing It All Back Home

1965

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Subterranean Homesick Blues  2. She Belongs to Me  3. Maggie's Farm  4. Love Minus Zero/No Limit  5. Outlaw Blues  6. On the Road Again   7. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream   8. Mr. Tambourine Man  9. Gates of Eden  10. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)  11. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Now this is where I really get into Bob Dylan. This and the next two records are among my all-time favorite albums...He really hammers home that he was the greatest lyricist on the planet at this point ...The album is split between acoustic material and electric judas material and both forms are equally powerful..He's equally adept at humor ('Subterranean Homesick Blues" and 'Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" (which is one of my favorite Dylan tracks) as he is at the serious stuff (the absolutely stellar "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding")...And "Mr. Tambourine Man" is one of the few Dylan songs in the "overplayed" category that I can still listen to...It still contains a world of mystery after my 10,000th listen...That's serious craftsmanship...I consider this and Highway 61 to be the best introductions to his vast discography...Do yourself a favor and just buy 'em both on the same day and binge binge binge..



Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited

1965

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Like a Rolling Stone   2. Tombstone Blues  3. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry  4. From a Buick 6  5. Ballad of a Thin Man  6. Queen Jane Approximately  7.      Highway 61 Revisited  8. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues  9. Desolation Row  


I love the hell out of this album...It's almost all electric and it has this wiry energy, where the band is just sloppy and cracking as Dylan blows his harmonica recklessly and delivers reel after reel of motormouth poetry...There has never been a better cross-country driving record....Personal favorites: "Queen Jane Approximately" and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"...One thing that's rarely mentioned  is how damn funny Bob was at this point..."The sun's not yellow, it's chicken!" is one of the best lines in any song ever...End of discussion...




Bob Dylan: Blonde on Blonde

1966

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1.  Rainy Day Women #12 & 35  2. Pledging My Time  3. Visions of Johanna  4. One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)  5. I Want You  6. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again  7. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat   8. Just Like a Woman  9. Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine  10. Temporary Like Achilles  11. Absolutely Sweet Marie  12. 4th Time Around  13. Obviously 5 Believers  14. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands

Epic double album. It's weird, because although it's often lauded as his best album, I don't personally know a single person who worships this album as much as I do...To me, this is easily his best, but I'm somewhat hesitant to recommend it until you're absolutely foaming at the mouth for more Dylan after becoming addicted to "Bringing it All Back Home" and "Highway 61 Revisited"...I could get lost in this album for hours...Every song is a whole little city that I want to live in...Is "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" too long? I don't know. I never want it to end, so the answer is no...So many favorites here: "Visions of Johanna," "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)," "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again," " Absolutely Sweet Marie ," " 4th Time Around"...All drop dead classics.  It should be noted that this is where the "generic Dylan" voice first occurs as far as I can tell...The nasal, breathy, rising "hehhHHH heh heHHHH..." that you do when you're imitating Bob Dylan... I will admit this album has a few songs I actively dislike such as the dumb "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" and the repetitive blues joke "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat"...But everything else is of such staggering quality that the low points aren't really worth a mention...

Well, that's all the Dylan I'm willing to talk about today...We'll check out another handful in the next post...