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Gavin B. · 01-08-2013, 10:16 AM

A Short Guide to Dylan's Musical Legacy

Dylan's musical legacy of 37 albums is a bit overwhelming for those unacquainted with his work. But of those 37 albums, 8 albums released by Dylan between 1963 and 1975 are the ones that have endured as masterpieces.

1963- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan- It's the first album in which Dylan wrote all the selections and it established Dylan as an unparalleled songwriter, one of considerable skill, imagination, and vision.

1964- The Times They Are-A Changing- Dylan at the height of his protest music phase.

1965- Bringing It All Back Home Dylan makes his first move away from folk music and into rock and roll by including a few selections recorded with a rock band of studio musicians. But the strongest songs on the album are the acoustic folk songs like Mr. Tambourine Man and It's All Over Now Baby Blue.

1965- Highway 61 Revisited- This is the Dylan album that shook the entire music world. Dylan has completely crossed over from folk music to rock and roll and headlines the Newport Folk Festival backed by a high decibel rock band fronted by blues guitar wunderkind Mike Bloomfield. The crowd boos Dylan and festival organizer Pete Seeger attempts to pull the plug on the show. Seeger damns Dylan as a rock n' roll sellout. Dylan's angry existential anthem "Like a Rolling Stone" rises to #2 on the Billboard chart. The era of folk rock is born is born... there's no turning back after the summer of '65.

1966- Blonde On Blonde- The edginess of Highway 61 is replaced by Dylan's full embrace of surrealism and the existential absurd with the release of Blonde on Blonde. Blonde on Blonde is comprised entirely of songs driven by inventive, surreal, and witty wordplay, not only on the rockers but also on winding, moving ballads like "Visions of Johanna," "Just Like a Woman," and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." This is the most poetic album Dylan ever produced.

1967- John Wesley Harding- Dylan returns after being waylaid by a serious motorcycle accident with a quiet minimalist album of country tinged music. The the music is simple, direct, and melodic, providing a touchstone for the country-rock revolution that swept through rock in the late '60s.

1969- Nashville Skyline- This album was very important when it was released because it was Dylan's first full fledged album of country music. Over the years it's influence has diminished because of the quality of the songs. In his autobiography, Dylan slyly insinuates he deliberately wrote inferior quality songs to find out if the public would buy his albums even when the song content was awful. The upside is that Dylan quit smoking and is in the best singing voice of his 50 plus career as a musician.

1975- Blood On the Tracks- For many Dylan fans, Blood on the Tracks is the last truly great Dylan album. It's my own personal favorite because everything is nearly perfect: Dylan's voice is still crystal clear, the back-up musicians are stellar, the production is flawless and the songs are the most personal and self revealing that Dylan ever wrote. The theme of the album is about the dissolution of his 12 year marriage with Sara Londes Dylan who had been the artistic muse of many of his most powerful song over the years. Dylan's songs are alternately bitter, nostalgic, sorrowful, regretful, and peaceful. It's the most authentic set of songs he's ever written.

For a novice Dylan fan: The 8 albums listed above are the ones you really need to get up speed on Bob Dylan's most significant recorded works. Select the albums in an order you want but listen to the entire content of each album to maximize your enjoyment of the music.

Dylan was the first album oriented artist and the songs on these albums add up to larger artistic and philosophical vision. To fully appreciate the concept of each album, it's important to listen to the entire album in the order in which the tracks are recorded. I'm not usually this dogmatic about listening to music but Dylan is one of the few artists who actually selected the songs on his albums with a broader artistic theme in mind.

Many think that three more recent Dylan albums are important: Time Out of Mind (1997), Love and Theft (2001) and Modern Times (2006). I was personally disappointed with much of the content of these latter day Dylan efforts but all three albums are worth checking out, along with some other 2nd tier Dylan albums like Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964), New Morning (1970), and Desire (1976).

01-08-2013, 10:16 AM	#12 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	A Short Guide to Dylan's Musical Legacy Dylan's musical legacy of 37 albums is a bit overwhelming for those unacquainted with his work. But of those 37 albums, 8 albums released by Dylan between 1963 and 1975 are the ones that have endured as masterpieces. 1963- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan- It's the first album in which Dylan wrote all the selections and it established Dylan as an unparalleled songwriter, one of considerable skill, imagination, and vision. *1964- The Times They Are-A Changing-* Dylan at the height of his protest music phase. 1965- Bringing It All Back Home Dylan makes his first move away from folk music and into rock and roll by including a few selections recorded with a rock band of studio musicians. But the strongest songs on the album are the acoustic folk songs like Mr. Tambourine Man and It's All Over Now Baby Blue. *1965- Highway 61 Revisited-* This is the Dylan album that shook the entire music world. Dylan has completely crossed over from folk music to rock and roll and headlines the Newport Folk Festival backed by a high decibel rock band fronted by blues guitar wunderkind Mike Bloomfield. The crowd boos Dylan and festival organizer Pete Seeger attempts to pull the plug on the show. Seeger damns Dylan as a rock n' roll sellout. Dylan's angry existential anthem "Like a Rolling Stone" rises to #2 on the Billboard chart. The era of folk rock is born is born... there's no turning back after the summer of '65. *1966- Blonde On Blonde-* The edginess of Highway 61 is replaced by Dylan's full embrace of surrealism and the existential absurd with the release of Blonde on Blonde. Blonde on Blonde is comprised entirely of songs driven by inventive, surreal, and witty wordplay, not only on the rockers but also on winding, moving ballads like "Visions of Johanna," "Just Like a Woman," and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." This is the most poetic album Dylan ever produced. *1967- John Wesley Harding-* Dylan returns after being waylaid by a serious motorcycle accident with a quiet minimalist album of country tinged music. The the music is simple, direct, and melodic, providing a touchstone for the country-rock revolution that swept through rock in the late '60s. *1969- Nashville Skyline-* This album was very important when it was released because it was Dylan's first full fledged album of country music. Over the years it's influence has diminished because of the quality of the songs. In his autobiography, Dylan slyly insinuates he deliberately wrote inferior quality songs to find out if the public would buy his albums even when the song content was awful. The upside is that Dylan quit smoking and is in the best singing voice of his 50 plus career as a musician. *1975- Blood On the Tracks-* For many Dylan fans, Blood on the Tracks is the last truly great Dylan album. It's my own personal favorite because everything is nearly perfect: Dylan's voice is still crystal clear, the back-up musicians are stellar, the production is flawless and the songs are the most personal and self revealing that Dylan ever wrote. The theme of the album is about the dissolution of his 12 year marriage with Sara Londes Dylan who had been the artistic muse of many of his most powerful song over the years. Dylan's songs are alternately bitter, nostalgic, sorrowful, regretful, and peaceful. It's the most authentic set of songs he's ever written. For a novice Dylan fan: The 8 albums listed above are the ones you really need to get up speed on Bob Dylan's most significant recorded works. Select the albums in an order you want but listen to the entire content of each album to maximize your enjoyment of the music. Dylan was the first album oriented artist and the songs on these albums add up to larger artistic and philosophical vision. To fully appreciate the concept of each album, it's important to listen to the entire album in the order in which the tracks are recorded. I'm not usually this dogmatic about listening to music but Dylan is one of the few artists who actually selected the songs on his albums with a broader artistic theme in mind. Many think that three more recent Dylan albums are important: Time Out of Mind (1997), Love and Theft (2001) and Modern Times (2006). I was personally disappointed with much of the content of these latter day Dylan efforts but all three albums are worth checking out, along with some other 2nd tier Dylan albums like Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964), New Morning (1970), and Desire (1976).