Recently tried to get into Dylan, bought Free Wheelin', Highway 61, and Blood on the Tracks to sort of get a good cross section of him. Think I enjoyed Blood on the Tracks most. Feel like the music and lyrics were consistently strong on all three albums (maybe Free Wheelin' is a slight notch lower in terms of lyrics). Feel like I like him best when he's not adopting this particular vocal affectation a lot, it comes off a little ill fitting at times imo
That whole '69-'71 period where he was just making simple, folksy music in the woods and deliberately eschewing the whole "prophet of our time" thing is one of my favorites. I can understand why it was heresy then but looking back it's a lot easier to see it as just a delightful little niche era.
"When I Paint My Masterpiece - Demo" from Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 might be in my top 5 all time Dylan recordings. Just thought I'd let you guys know lol
Anyone else love the crap out of John Wesley Harding? It seems to have a good enough rep, but of all his canonical releases, it doesn't seem to get much attention.
There's a general aura of mystery about that record that I really love. Greil Marcus wrote a book about it and called it "The Old, Weird America" (he was talking about The Basement Tapes, but it applies). I also like that it ends with "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," which is very much a forerunner for the "back to basics" motif his next few records took.
Was inspired by this thread to get back into New Morning and I ended up grabbing it when I saw it at the record store the other day. Great album! I particularly love all of the piano based stuff.
I know some people wanted to try to get into his gospel output. Just heard this for the first time and it's fantastic Hear Bob Dylan's Lost Gospel Masterpiece 'Making a Liar Out of Me'
His gospel stuff is really underrated, hopefully this new Bootleg Series gets more people on board with it. This performance is incredible
A lot of his diehards think the gospel years were his best ever as a live performer, which is tough to dispute. Shot of Love is a record everyone with more than a casual interest in Dylan should hear, in my opinion. I've struggled over the years to really connect with Slow Train and Saved, but I think they have great moments and qualities, too. Excited for this set.