Blonde On Blonde (1966)

An’ here I sit so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get out of
Going through all these things twice

1. Rainy Day Women #12 and 35 (4:36)

2. Pledging My Time (3:50)

3. Visions of Johanna (7:33)

4. One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later) (4:54)

5. I Want You (3:07)

6. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (7:05)

7. Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat (3:58)

8. Just Like A Woman (4:50)

9. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (3:30)

10. Temporary Like Achilles (5:02)

11. Absolutely Sweet Marie (4:57)

12. 4th Time Around (4:35)

13. Obviously 5 Believers (3:35)

14. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands (11:20)

Review: Following the double-barrel shot of electricity that was Bringing it All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, Bob embarked on a world tour, bringing him famously to England as documented in Don't Look Back and Live 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert.  On this tour he played some then-unreleased songs that would find their way onto Blonde on Blonde.  

Blonde on Blonde is simultaneously completely unexpected and exactly what one would expect Bob to do after Highway 61 Revisited.

The album opens with the salvation army band sound of 'Rainy Day Women.'  This sounds unlike anything Bob has done before or since - band members playing instruments they are not versed in, overt drug references in every lyric.

Bob follows that up with a straight blues number, 'Pledging My Time,' which could have fit on Highway 61 Revisited, but hear it is filled with Bob's weary, 4-A.M. up-all-night voice drawling through such lyrics as "Won't you come with me babe, I'll take you where you wanna go, and if it don't work out, you'll be the first to know."

Next comes the first, and best, of many standout numbers on the album: 'Visions of Johanna.'  One of Bob's best songs ever, and a song I look forward to every time I put the album on.  Listed at 7 and a half minutes long, the song breezes by and is over before you know it.  Yet there is an eternal quality about it, as if as the songs fades out, the listener knows the Visions will continue on and on endlessly. Robbie Robertson's guitar interweaves seamlessly with Bob's verses  as if they were part of one entity.  Pure magic.

'One of Us Must Know' is a nice tune that has been overshadowed by the behemoths of the album.  The verses seem to drag aimlessly, whereas the chorus, punctuated by machine-gun drum fills, is direct.

'I Want You' is a charming 3 minutes that gives way to the paranoia and alienation of 'Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again.'  'I Want You' is one of the catchier and more lovely songs Bob had written at this tremendously productive time in his career.  'Stuck Inside of Mobile' as noted is a wonderfully surreal account of things happening all around the narrator that he has little control over.  It's another highlight on this great album.  Bob would go on to play some roaring live versions of the song in 1988, aided by the energy of guitarist G.E. Smith and a great garage band.

'Just Like A Woman' is probably the most notable of Bob's patented 'anti-love songs.'  Although the verses can be sweet at time, he sneers at the object of his disdain during the chorus.

Side 2 opens with 'Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine,' a manic cut that was even faster and more manic during Bob's 1974 tour with The Band.  One starts to notice that there is harmonica on every track.  It often is a pleasant accompaniment, but it can be a bit grating at times, like on the next cut, the sluggish 'Temporary Like Achilles,' and the follow up, 'Absolutely Sweet Marie.'

'4th Time Around' opens with harp as well, but here it is a welcome addition to the guitar arpeggios.  This song is famously a spoof/response to the Beatles' 'Norweigian Wood.'  As the story goes, Lennon recorded the Bob-sound-a-like 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away,' and this track was a wink back from Bob to the boys from Liverpool.  The closing harp solo is quite nice as well.

If there is such thing as a "throwaway track" by Bob during this period, 'Obviously 5 Believers' would be chief among them.  Its a blues that just isn't very memorable in tune, lyrics, or instrumentals.

The album closer is the majestic 'Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.'  Clocking in at over 11 minutes on an album that had already gone 61 minutes before this song, I dare say it overstays its welcome.  Still, it has a welcome harp break towards the end.

Overall, this album is often considered Bob's best, or in his top 2 along with Blood on the Tracks.  It is a great album, but I think it has too much filler to quite match the heights of Blood.  I place it just slightly below Bringing it All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited.  Still, any album with tracks like the magical 'Visions,' 'Stuck Inside of Mobile,' and other excellent songs like 'I Want You' and 'Just Like A Woman' is necessary rock and roll listening.

Rating: 9/10 *********/**********

Best 3 song run: Visions of Johanna / One of Us Must Know / I Want You

Song I'm most likely to skip: Obviously 5 Believers, obviously.

Song Tiers: A+: Visions of Johanna
                     A: Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, I Want You
                     A-: One of Us Must Know, Just Like A Woman
                     B+: Rainy Day Women #12 and 35, 4th Time Around
                     B: Absolutely Sweet Marie, Most Like You Go Your Way, Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat,                             Pledging My Time
                     B-: Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
                     C: Temporary Like Achilles, Obviously 5 Believers

Steven Sroczynski is an author and attorney from Massachusetts.  He can be reached at steve.sroczynski@gmail.com

Copyright 2015 by Steven Sroczynski.  All rights reserved.  This blog, or any portion of it, may not be reproduced without the express written consent of its author, Steven Sroczynski.

Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

Once upon a time you dressed so fine, threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?


1. Like a Rolling Stone (6:13)
2. Tombstone Blues (5:58)
3. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry (4:09)
4. From a Buick 6 (3:19)
5. Ballad of a Thin Man (5:58)
6. Queen Jane Approximately (5:31)
7. Highway 61 Revisited (3:30)
8. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (5:31)
9. Desolation Row (11:21)



Review: Highway 61 Revisited is Bob Dylan's 6th studio album, arriving at the end of August in 1965.  He had already released Bringing it All Back Home that year, the album that involved electric instrumentation for the first time in the young folk singer's career.  Much has been written about Bob's decision to "go electric" in 1965.  By the time Highway 61 Revisited came out, it seemed that Bob had left his acoustic folk roots more or less in the past.  Every song is predominantly electric, with the exception of the epic closer Desolation Row.

But all that history is secondary to the jolt the listener receives the moment the album begins.  The bold pop of a snare drum kicks off Like a Rolling Stone.  What can be said about the song at this point?  It was named the top song of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine.  The song's lyrics appear to be directed at a former lover, Bob sneering "How does it feel?  To be on your alone / a complete unknown / like a rolling stone."  The song could just as well be interpreted as another goodbye to the folk establishment.

The album doesn't let up from there, moving to the upbeat guitar driven, surreal Tombstone Blues This tune contains the great line "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken."  At 5:58, the song is just 15 seconds shorter than the famous opener.

The pace slows down for the bluesy It Takes a Lot to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry, then it quickens for From a Buick 6. These songs haven't gotten much live play from Bob, but Train especially is a nice relaxed number.

Ballad of a Thin Man makes things a bit spooky with its opening dark piano riff.  Clocking in at around 6 minutes, it is another one of the heavyweights of the album.  The song was famously directed towards an interviewer who Bob made very uncomfortable with his verbal jabs.  Bob had grown tired of the media at this point, especially those who asked him questions without having the slightest idea (and maybe didn't even care) what they were talking about.  It's a vicious vision of the reporter as an outsider, with the refrain "You know something's happening here but you don't know what it is."

The mood lightens a bit with the next track, Queen Jane Approximately.  But the lyrics do not, at least some of them, possibly aimed at Joan Baez.  Its one of the more underrated tracks in Bob's canon, with a world-weary theme that keeps returning to the a sneering Bob: "Won't you, come see me, Queen Jane."

The title track follows, an absurdist hard-rocking blues which doesn't have the impact it should due to an out-of-place clown whistle that opens the song and shows up, unwelcome, a few more times.

Another underrated song follows with the wonderful Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues.  Now the song titles themselves are getting absurd!  This is actually a fairly straight forward number, with a series as verses and no apparent chorus.  The song closes with the narrator finally going back to New York City.  The song was covered nicely by Neil Young in NYC at The 30th Anniversary Concert.

The album closer is one of Bob's first epics, the 11 minute apocalyptic Desolation Row.  The song feels fuller than his earlier solo acoustic compositions on account of the additional lead acoustic guitar of Charlie McCoy - an interesting choice since the superb Michael Bloomfield played on the rest of the album.  Still, McCoy is more than up to the task, filling in without taking over the song. Numerous literary characters make an appearance in the song, including Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, "Einstein disguised as Robin Hood," Cain and Abel, and many others.  He later sings "All these people that you mention, yes I know them, they're quite lame."  Bob bookends the album with 2 of his greatest songs ever.

Rating: 10/10  **********/**********

Best 3 Song Run: Highway 61 Revisited/Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues/Desolation Row (mostly for desolation Row)

Song I am most likely to skip: Highway 61 Revisited.  That annoying siren - no contest.

Song Tiers: A+: Like A Rolling Stone, Desolation Row
                     A-: Queen Jane Approximately, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Ballad of a Thin Man
                     B+: It Takes a Lot to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry
                     B: Tombstone Blues
                     B-: From a Buick 6, Highway 61 Revisited

Steven Sroczynski is an author and attorney from Massachusetts.  He can be reached at steve.sroczynski@gmail.com

Copyright 2015 by Steven Sroczynski.  All rights reserved.  This blog, or any portion of it, may not be reproduced without the express written consent of its author, Steven Sroczynski.

Bringing it All Back Home (1965)

While preachers preach of evil fates

Teachers teach that knowledge waits

Can lead to hundred-dollar plates

Goodness hides behind its gates

But even the president of the United States

Sometimes must have to stand naked

1. Subterranean Homesick Blues (2:21)

2. She Belongs To Me (2:49)

3. Maggie's Farm (3:57)

4. Love Minus Zero/No Limit (2:51)

5. Outlaw Blues (3:06)

6. On The Road Again (2:37)

7. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream (6:33)

8. Mr. Tambourine Man (5:28)

9. Gates Of Eden (5:44)

10. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (7:33)

11. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (4:15)

Review: A few jangly chords, a couple notes on a screeching lead guitar, then the full band comes in.  Dylan, high pitched and just a bit nasally: "Johnny's in the basement, mixin' up the medicine / I'm on the pavement, thinkin' 'bout the government."And in a matter of 10 seconds, Bob Dylan put the world on notice.  The king of folk rock had gone electric.

Once the initial shock of 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' is through, one of Bob's finest, most tender love songs has already begun: 'She Belongs To Me.'  Not enough has been said about this beautiful ballad.  "She never stumbles / She's got no place to fall."

Back to some more jangly chords for the electric protest song 'Maggie's Farm.'  "I ain't gonna work on Maggie's Farm no more!"  What is Maggie's Farm, exactly?  The government?  The folk movement?  Some other entity?  An actual farm in upstate New York?

Mirroring the first 2 songs on the album, Maggie's Farm is followed by the tender 'Love Minus Zero / No Limit.'  If the title doesn't make much sense, the lyrics are more easily distilled down to a simple ode to a lover.  But in typical fashion, Bob couches the ode in his surrealistic poetry, as he had been doing with most songs at this time.  Again, underrated and beautiful.  

Next up are the two most forgettable songs on the album, not to say they are bad at all: 'Outlaw Blues' and 'On the Road Again' are 2 lighthearted bluesy electric numbers.  

'Bob Dylan's 115th Dream' is a guilty pleasure of mine.  A maniacal tale of arriving on land from the Mayflower to passing Christopher Columbus at the end, and getting himself into all sorts of hi-jinx along the way.  The song seems a precursor of sorts to Bob's great, lengthy first-person songs such as 'Black Diamond Bay' and 'Brownsville Girl,' which he would write decades later.  A series of verses with no chorus, it is worthwhile for the lyrics and Bob's clever delivery.  

The final 4 tracks "bring it all back" to acoustic Bob.  

'Mr. Tambourine Man' and 'Gates of Eden' contains heaps of Bob's terrific surrealistic poetry, similar to songs such as 'Chimes of Freedom' and 'My Back Pages' from his previous album.  

'Mr. Tambourine Man' was of course better known by The Byrds sing-songy radio-friendly cover, but Bob does a fine job here, accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar, harmonica, and a mellow lead guitar.  

'Gates of Eden' might be one of the most bizarre Bob tunes released.  

"The motorcycle black madonna

Two-wheeled gypsy queen

And her silver-studded phantom cause

The gray flannel dwarf to scream."

"Dense" doesn't begin to explain the depths of these words!  Its a fine song, I just don't think anyone will ever have any idea what it's about.  But I suppose that could be said for many Dylan songs.  

The final 2 acoustic tracks might be the greatest works on this masterpiece.   

'It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)' is simply one of the greatest songs ever written.  An ode against, well, just about everything.  Materialism, authority, you name it - its probably covered within this brilliant song.  The choruses bring it back, again, to a plea to his mom that its alright.

'Its All Over Now, Baby Blue' is held in even higher regard by some Dylan fans.  Running a meager 4 minutes (compared with 'Its Alright Ma' gong over 7 minutes), it still manages to attain its place towards the top of Bob's massive canon.  A goodbye to someone or something - again, perhaps the folk movement generally or Joan Baez specifically.  Accompanied by acoustic guitar and bass - a few verses, a harp solo, and a final verse - it might be the prototypical Bob song.

Indeed, the album might be the prototypical Bob Dylan album.  Solo acoustic, band acoustic, band electric - it's all in here.  Bob sounds rejuvenated too, hitting all the right notes with force, something that hadn't been heard since 'Freewheelin, but here he sounds better as he is older and more confident.

Historically the album has its place.  It begun an "electric trilogy" that consists of itself, Highway 61 Revisited (1965), and Blonde On Blonde (1966) - 3 of the most important albums in rock n roll history.  Bringing It All Back Home generally gets the short end of the critical stick among these 3 rock albums.  Which is not to say it has a bad reputation - just that it seems to be given 4.5's whereas Highway and Blonde get 5's.  Personally, I find the acoustic songs a welcome mix as they balance out the cacophony of the electric ones.  Highway and Blonde would be almost entirely electric, which in my opinion gets a bit grating, especially on the epic 72-minute Blonde on Blonde.  So maybe its the balance, maybe its his voice (peak 60s voice for me here, powerful but not overly drawling), or maybe its the fact that its the very first full Dylan album I ever listened to start to finish, but for some reason this is the album out of the trilogy I come back to time and time again.

In terms of Dylan's own travels, he had recently met the Beatles and introduced them to hallucinogens, which led to their own 'Rubber Soul' in 1965, and 'Revolver' the following year.  So really, the importance of this album cannot be understated.  Until this point Dylan had been a folk troubadour, but now he showed he could rock too.  Later this year 'Highway 61 Revisited' would solidify his rock credentials as he would release 'Like a Rolling Stone,' one of the single greatest tracks of all time.  But more on that next time...

Rating: 10/10  **********/**********

Best 3-Song Run: TIE between She Belongs To Me-Maggie's Farm-Love Minus Zero/No Limit and Gates of Eden-It's Alright, Ma-It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Song I'm most likely to skip: None of them.

Song Tiers:
A+: It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
A: She Belongs To Me, Love Minus Zero/No Limit, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Mr. Tambourine Man
A-: Bob Dylan's 115th Dream, Gates of Eden
B+: Maggie's Farm
B: Outlaw Blues, On The Road Again


Steven Sroczynski is an attorney and author from Massachusetts.  He can be reached at Steve.Sroczynski@gmail.com

Copyright 2015 by Steven Sroczynski.  All rights reserved.  
This blog may not be reproduced, whole or in part, without the express written consent of its author, Steven Sroczynski. 

Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)

 

Ah, but I was so much older then

I'm younger than that now

1. All I Really Wanna Do (4:07)

2. Black Crow Blues (3:16)

3. Spanish Harlem Incident (2:29)

4. Chimes of Freedom (7:13)

5. I Shall Be Free No. 10 (4:51)

6. To Ramona (3:55)

7. Motorpsycho Nitemare (4:36)

8. My Back Pages (4:28)

9. I Don't Believe You (4:26)

10. Ballad In Plain D (8:21)

11. It Ain't Me, Babe (3:35)

Coming on the heels of Bob's most prolific protest period, 'Another Side of Bob Dylan' must have been a minor shock to Bob's fans.  Of course these fans, those that stayed at least, would quickly become accustomed to the expecting the unexpected from this voice of freedom.

A year earlier Bob opened 'Freewheelin' with the folk classic 'Blowin' in the Wind.'  Earlier in 1964 Bob opened 'The Times They Are A-Changin' with the title folk anthem.  And he opens 'Another Side' by singing "All I really wanna do ... is baby be friends with you!?"

Expectations aside, the opener is a great catchy little tune, Bob expanding his vocal range about as much as possible.  Bob may not be changing national politics with this song, but he sure is having fun singing it.

'Black Crow Blues' and 'Spanish Harlem Incident' are two relatively minor songs in Bob's vast canon.  First person storytelling and joking abound on these tracks and indeed throughout much of the album.

On the fourth track we finally get a glimpse at the singer-songwriter's legendary abilities with 'Chimes of Freedom,' one of Bob's most complex tracks to this point.

Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild whipping hail / the sky cracked its poems in naked wonder / the ringing of the church bells ...leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder / striking for the gentle, striking for the kind, striking for guardians and protectors of the mind / and the poet and the painter far beyond his rightful time / and we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Is it a protest song?  Most likely.  But rather than the straightforward approach taken on his previous albums with songs such as 'Only A Pawn In Their Game,' 'Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll' and the title track, here his protest lyrics are couched in wild, surreal, imaginative imagery.  If he strains to sing the right notes, Bob can be forgiven for this on account of the edge-of-your-seat lyrics.  "Each un-harmful gentle soul misplaced inside a jail."  A decade later Bob would write 'Hurricane' which spelled this thought out with real life situations and people, narrating each chapter of the gentle soul's story, but here he let the imagery do the talking.  Grand and noble ideas and philosophies were hinted at, but stories were not told, at least not in traditional realistic fashion.

'Chimes of Freedom' is notable for signaling the beginning of the surreal, dense, often confusing or illogical imagery that he would become famous for in the trifecta of albums that followed this one.  It is certainly a brother in song to 'Mr. Tambourine Man' which would appear on his next album.

And in typical fashion, Bob follows up this grand declaration of freedom with the hokey "I Shall Be Free No. 10."  The references (Goldwater, Cuba) are dated but the song gets by with a recurring guitar/harp riff that Bob takes the time to explain at the end of the song: "Its nothin ... its somethin' I learned over in England."  

Switching it up yet again, we get a more traditional love song with 'To Ramona,' which sounds out as a straightforward plea to a former lover.

Back to more comedy with 'Motorpsycho Nightmare' ... Cuba gets another mention, as does Fidel Castro.  Bob's "funny" songs never seem as funny as he thinks they are, at least not the ones that made his early albums.

'My Back Pages' has become a near-classic, second only to 'Chimes' in complexity on the album.  30 years later this would become the highlight of Bobfest, the verses sung in succeeding fashion by Bob's contemporaries and buddies Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison, along with Bob himself.

'I Don't Believe You' is a genuine surprise highlight of this album.  A great guitar accompaniment and vocal performance by Bob surpass the one-joke-ness of the lyric.  Always a fun song.

'Ballad in Plain D' is a rare misfire of a ballad by Bob.  An autobiographical song that seems to apologize to a former lover for falling in love with her sister, even the poetic question that closes the 8 minute song fails to strike a meaningful chord with the listener.

Luckily, Bob doesn't end the album there; we get an 11th track, the superb 'It Ain't Me, Babe.'  Probably the signature track of the album, a genuinely excellent anti-love song in a career full of them.

Overall the album is split between songs I could do without - the jokey numbers along with the Ballad - and songs that are essential to Bob's canon.  This is well shown in Bob's live sets, with It Ain't Me Babe, I Don't Believe You, Chimes of Freedom, Ramona, and My Back Pages thankfully getting just about all of the time in Bob's setlists.  The other songs, if they appeared at all, would quickly be eliminating from Bob's setlists from 1965 onward.  If Bob could at times be a questionable judge of his own work, his after-the-release selections of live material, at least from this album, were spot-on.

Thankfully, the great songs on this album - notably It Ain't Me, Babe, Chimes of Freedom, and I Don't Believe You - and to a slightly lesser extent My Back Pages, To Ramona, and All I Really Wanna Do - are so strong that they overcome the slight numbers that round out the album.

Rating: 8/10     ******** / **********

Best Song: Chimes of Freedom 

Best 3-song run: Chimes of Freedom / I Shall Be Free No. 10 / To Ramona (Ballad in Plain D, all 8 minutes of it, ruins what would be winner in 'I Don't Believe You' through 'It Ain't Me, Babe' to close the album)

Song I'm most likely to skip: Ballad in Plain D

Tier A+: Chimes of Freedom, It Ain't Me, Babe
Tier A-:  I Don't Believe You, My Back Pages
Tier B+: To Ramona, All I Really Wanna Do
Tier B:    I Shall Be Free No. 10
Tier C:   Black Crow Blues, Spanish Harlem Incident, Motorpsycho Nitemare
Tier D:   Ballad in Plain D


Steven Sroczynski is an author and attorney from Massachusetts.  He can be reached at Steve.Sroczynski@gmail.com

Copyright 2015 by Steven Sroczynski.  All rights reserved.  
This blog may not be reproduced, whole or in part, without the express written consent of its author, Steven Sroczynski. 

The Times, They Are A-Changin' (1964)

1. The Times, They Are A-Changin' (3:15)
2. Ballad of Hollis Brown (5:06)
3. With God on Our Side (7:08)
4. One Too Many Mornings (2:41)
5. North Country Blues (4:35)
6. Only A Pawn in Their Game (3:33)
7. Boots of Spanish Leather (4:40)
8. When the Ship Comes In (3:18)
9. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll (5:48)
10. Restless Farewell (5:32)

All songs written by Bob Dylan








Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam 
and admit that the waters around you have grown


Review: Bob Dylan opened his previous album, 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan,' with 'Blowin' in the Wind,' which quickly became a folk standard, popularized by the folk trio Peter Paul & Mary.

He opens this album in similar fashion, with the anthemic 'The Times, They Are A-Changin.'  Like 'Blowin' and many other songs Bob wrote around this time period, 'The Times' would be covered by myriad other artists - Peter Paul & Mary put it on their live album released the same year - but unlike 'Blowin,' Bob's version probably remains the most famous cut,  It's inclusion in the opening sequence of the 2009 blockbuster film 'Watchmen' gets across the song's timelessness.

Despite the apparent optimism in the opening title track, this is an album with a lot of despair.

The next track, 'Ballad of Hollis Brown,' is a 5 minute bluesy riff about a farmer who runs out of money, crops, and friends, and the song ends in shocking fashion, although a glimmer of hope is seen in the very end "...seven new people born."

From the farms to the schoolyard for the history lesson of 'With God On Our Side,' a song that is never quite as clever as it seems to try to be.  Still, an attack on faith back in 1964 - this was unheard of!  Perhaps Bob's inclusion of Biblical figure - Jesus, Judas - in traditional fashion placated the church and religious folks.  The final line, "If Gods on our side, he'll stop the next war" also could be taken a couple of ways.  The second protest song on the album, it is also one of the weakest tracks.  It was a concert favorite, Bob often performing it with his partner Joan Baez.  Still, its a laborious melody and it goes on for far too long.  The harmonica, which was used to great effect on 'The Times' and would be likewise used on the following track, is a bit grating and overwrought here.  A weak link on an otherwise strong fence.

'One Too Many Mornings' is another song of heartbreak, in the same vein as 'Dont Think Twice' from the previous album.  A beautiful little song.  'You are right from your side, I am right from mine.'  Bob is peerless in poetically stating the simple truths of life.

From pleasant to sour, 'North Country Blues' is a commentary on the closing of a mine and the subsequent effect on the jobs of the community.  Sung well, the song paints a bleak, hopeless picture of life for the miners and their families when they lose their jobs.

Back to protest songs with 'Only a Pawn in Their Game,' a song that opens with the death of Medgar Evers, it's refrain aimed towards poor white folks who are used by the rich white folks and divided against blacks.

The heartbreaking 'Boots of Spanish Leather' is one of Bob's best.  Quite similar to 'Girl of the North Country' from his previous album in melody and guitar, it describes a narrator communicating with his love who sailed across the ocean, the narrator trying to convince her to come back until finally accepting their separate fates in the end.

'When The Ship Comes In' is an attack on the powerful.  There is a lot of venom behind this song, though you might not know that in listening to it - Bob sings it sweetly enough.  A nice little chestnut that has been mostly forgotten.

'The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll' is Bob's second track here about a black person killed by a white person.  But unlike 'Only a Pawn in Their Game,' here the entire song is about this injustice.  Lyrically the song is brilliant.  Bob may take some creative license with the facts (a harbinger of things to come), but the song couldn't be spoken any better.  Bob continues his habit of last verses/lines that strike the listener to the bone.

The closer is 'Restless Farewell,' the most unique song in the set.  Sung in first person, it seems to have Bob looking back a bit wistfully.  In talking about his friends the song has something in common with 'Bob Dylan's Dream,' but whereas that song was pure nostalgia, here Bob is making a proclamation - farewell - to the past.  Indeed, he would not return to protest songs for several years, much to the dismay of his fans.  Again the last line is telling "...I'll bid farewell, and not give a damn."  The folk crowd would learn this a year later in harsh fashion.

Overall another excellent collection of material from Bob.  Even more amazing is how many terrific songs he wrote but did not include on both this album and Freewheelin'.  In 1991 The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 would reveal many of these songs.

If the only weak points on the album are a live favorite (With God On Our Side) and maybe the 2 song stretch of 'North Country Blues' and 'Only A Pawn,' your songwriting is tremendously strong.

Rating: 10/10 **********/**********

Best song: The Times, They Are A-Changin' (but One Too Many Mornings and Boots of Spanish Leather are right there)

Best 3 song run: Boots of Spanish Leather/When the Ship Comes In/The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

Song I'm most likely to skip: With God on Our Side

Steven Sroczynski is an author and attorney from Massachusetts.  He can be reached at Steve.Sroczynski@gmail.com

Copyright 2015 by Steven Sroczynski.  All rights reserved.  
This blog may not be reproduced, whole or in part, without the express written consent of its author, Steven Sroczynski.  

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)

How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?


1. Blowin' in the Wind
Bob Dylan 2:49

2. Girl from the North Country
Bob Dylan 3:23

3. Masters of War
Bob Dylan 4:38

4. Down the Highway
Bob Dylan 3:32

5. Bob Dylan's Blues
Bob Dylan 2:28

6. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Bob Dylan 6:53

7. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Bob Dylan 3:40

8. Bob Dylan's Dream
Bob Dylan 5:02

9. Oxford Town
Bob Dylan 1:50

10. Talkin' World War III Blues
Bob Dylan 6:27

11. Corrina, Corrina
Traditional 2:44

12. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
Bob Dylan / Henry Thomas 2:00

13. I Shall Be Free
Bob Dylan 4:47



Review: It might be his 2nd album, but The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the folk maestro's first album of any significant and lasting importance.  And what significance it is!

Within 5 seconds of pushing the play button, the listener hears the familiar refrain "How many times..." of 'Blowin' in the Wind,' one of the great American folk songs of the 1960's and all time for that matter.  Of course it was a bigger hit for the more conventional voices of the group 'Peter Paul and Mary,' but Bob's voice is confident and powerful throughout this record.  His voice has deepened a bit and he sounds like he's singing with his voice, not trying to sound like someone else as he did on some cuts from his debut album Bob Dylan.  Despite his youth, Bob sounds like a much older man, with the knowledge and experience of someone who has seen much.  He doesn't yet have the drawl, mock, and sneer that he would gather for his mid 60's trilogy of Bringing it All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, but he sounds like Bob Dylan, if a bit better at this point than many of the imitators would have you believe.

What else can be said about 'Blowin' in the Wind'?  I leave that to the listener to decide.  Suffice to say it is still relevant today, like many of Bob Dylan's anthems on this album and it's follow-up, 'The Times They Are A-Changin'.  Sadly, it will likely still be relevant in 50 years.

Bob follows up 'Blowin' with the beautiful love song 'Girl from the North Country.'  He borrows the melody from 'Scarborough Fair' but the song is separate enough from 'Fair' to stand on its own.

Next we get another protest song, 'Masters of War.'  If Eddie Vedder did a magnificent cover at the 30th Anniversary Concert in 1992 (and numerous other times in concert), Bob's vocal is focused and angry, effectively conveying his sense of disdain and fury towards those who would send our kids off die.  Bob would later claim the song was geared toward the Military Industrial Complex, and this is heard early on in phrases such as "Those who build the big bombs" and "Those who build the death planes."  Still, it is hard not to see this is an antiwar song.  Bob played it in a ramshackle fashion in 1991 at the Grammy Awards, when operation Desert Storm was in effect.  Quite clearly he was protesting.  These 3 songs have frequented Bob's live set throughout much of his career, and rightfully so.

After 2 less complex songs - 'Down The Highway' and 'Bob Dylan' Blues', Bob performs the magnificent 'A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall.'  A jaw-dropping lyric with a fine melody to match.

Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?

Who did you meet, my darling young one?

I met a young child beside a dead pony

I met a white man who walked a black dog

I met a young woman whose body was burning

I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow

I met one man who was wounded in love

I met another man who was wounded with hatred

And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard

It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall

The above is just one verse out of five equally brilliant ones.  If anyone still doubted Bob's lyrical ability at this point, surely this song put those doubts to rest.  In just under seven minutes, Bob essentially writes a treatise on the fear and unease many had at this time with respect to nuclear war.  But instead of writing it in a straightforward manner he writes words a poet would be proud to have signed.

As if that wasn't enough, Bob drops another masterpiece on the listener next with 'Don't Think Twice, It's Alright.'  A goodbye to a one night stand or a relationship?  Either way, "I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind / you could've done better but I don't mind / you just kinda wasted my precious time / but don't think twice it's alright." Some of the best acoustic finger-picking of his career thus far (Girl of the North Country is another good example) and a whining low harp solo after each lonely verse.

7 songs in at this point, and 5 of them are downright classics.

The rest of the album is more scattershot: A (rare) sentimental ode to his friends, 'Bob Dylan's Dream;' the brief protest song 'Oxford Town;' The semi-funny 'Talkin' World War III Blues;' a fine full band arrangement of 'Corrina, Corrina' that effectively shows a bit of Bob's vocal chops.  The final 2 songs are reminiscent of the earlier run of 'Bob Dylan's Blues' and 'Down The Highway': The silly 'Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance' and a song called 'I Shall Be Free' which is never as funny as Bob seems to intend it to be.  'Dream' and 'Corrina' are the best of this latter-half lot.  'Corrina' shows that Bob is capable of performing with a full band, albeit entirely acoustic, and 'Dream' is a fine song showing a side of Bob we rarely see, speaking fondly of his friends who he will apparently never see again, "ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat, I'd give it all gladly if our lives could be like that."

A vast improvement over his first album, obviously due to the inclusion of his original songs.  There are some songs here you can skip, but even those are better than the filler on much of his first album.  The original songs here - notably those first 5 of 7 tracks - are so great, and so enshrined in American culture, that I can't rate this album any higher than the maximum,  Bob would follow up this masterpiece with more protest material with his next release, 'The Times They Are A-Changin'.

Rating: 10/10 **********/**********

Best Song: A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall (today, anyway)

Best 3-Track Run: Blowin' in the Wind / Girl from the North Country / Masters of War

Tier A: Blowin' in the Wind, Girl from the North Country, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Don't Think Twice It's Alright, Masters of War

Tier B: Bob Dylan's Dream, Corrina, Corrina, Oxford Town

Tier B-: Talkin' World War III Blues, I Shall Be Free

Tier C: Down the Highway, Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance, Bob Dylan's Blues

Song I'm most likely to skip: Probably none of them, but if I had to choose ... 'Down the Highway' has a guitar part that is repetitive and its stuck in between so many classics...


Steven Sroczynski is an author and attorney from Massachusetts.  He can be reached at Steve.Sroczynski@gmail.com

Copyright 2015 by Steven Sroczynski.  All rights reserved.  
This blog may not be reproduced, whole or in part, without the express consent of its author, Steven Sroczynski.  

Bob Dylan (1962)

Now, a very great man once said

That some people rob you with a fountain pen

1. You're No Good
Bob Dylan / James Fuller 1:40

2. Talkin' New York
Bob Dylan 3:20

3. In My Time of Dyin'
Blind Willie Johnson / Traditional 2:40

4. Man of Constant Sorrow
Traditional 3:10

5. Fixin' to Die
Booker T. Washington White / Bukka White 2:22

6. Pretty Peggy-O
Bob Dylan / Traditional 3:23

7. Highway 51 Blues
Curtis Jones 2:52

8. Gospel Plow
Traditional 1:47

9. Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
Rev. Gary Davis / Eric Von Schmidt 2:37

10. House of the Risin' Sun
Terry Holmes / Traditional / Booker T. Washington White 5:20

11. Freight Train Blues
Mississippi Fred McDowell 2:18

12. Song to Woody
Bob Dylan 2:42

13. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
Blind Lemon Jefferson 2:43


Review: Released a couple months before he turned 21, Bob Dylan's self-titled debut is striking in a number of ways.  The first is his method of singing: His voice, as it should, sounds younger than on any other of his albums.  It is higher, less raspy, less nasally, still unique but more typical of the folk singers of the day.  He still sounds gruff at times on it, but the gruff sounds on purpose - Dylan sounds as though he is purposefully trying to rasp/deepen his voice at times on many of the tracks.  He is trying to emulate the blues singers that he admired.  Indeed, this album can form a trilogy along with Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong which came along 30 years later.  All of these albums are largely comprised of covers (the latter 2 entirely so) and have other similarities: the gruff, raspy voice (on the latter 2, not on purpose but due to decades of wear and tear), and the only accompaniment being self played acoustic guitar and heavy harmonica use.

Indeed, of the 13 tracks, only 'Talkin' New York' and 'Song To Woody' are wholly original compositions.  Bob gives himself partial arrangement credits on 'You're No Good' and 'Pretty Peggy-o', and the rest are straight covers or Traditional songs.  The most famous is surely 'The House of the Risin' Sun,' made famous by 'The Animals' a short time later.  Bob's version is, as expected on this wholly acoustic affair, laid back, but nonetheless an impressive sign of Bob's ability to interpret songs.

The other notable songs on the album are 'Song To Woody', which has now shown up on some compilation albums,   The song is a warm, pleasant, plaintive dedication to his mentor Woody Guthrie "and to Cisco and to Sonny and to Leadbelly too."  Bob would revive the song for some fine renditions during his later touring years, notably in 2000.  The melody is lifted from one of Guthrie's own songs, but still it stands as the most promising sign of Bob's talent at this point.

So what of the rest of the album?  'Talkin' New York' is Bob's first stab at the "Talkin' Blues", and its not bad at all.  He would improve upon this with 'Talkin Bear Mountain Massacre Blues' and 'Talkin John Birch Paranoid Blues' which he wrote a short time after.

Looking at the song titles, the album seems preoccupied with death: 'In My Time of Dyin,' 'Man of Constant Sorrow,' 'Fixin to Die,' 'Gospel Plow,' 'House..,' and the closer 'See That My Grave is Kept Clean.'  A bit dire for a man not yet 21?  Still, he is emulating the bluesmen of the day, and what better topic to be down about than death?  'Constant Sorrow' and 'Baby Let Me Follow You Down' are well done renditions of songs that would later show up in his live setlists.  In the case of 'Baby,' as soon as famous his 1965/1966 World Tour, of course in an electric arrangement.  It would then largely disappear.  'Constant Sorrow' made a brief, but welcome, appearance in 2002 as a rip-roaring distorted electric riff.

The rest of the album is largely forgettable, if unoffensive.

One of the other more striking things about the album is the harmonica: How often it appears and how well played it is.  The harp has long been recognized as the only instrument Bob had any sort of unique acumen for (guitar?  piano?  more on that in future posts), and at this early stage Bob was able to play harp interludes that were some of his more melodious.  That being said, he still showed his tendency that would hold true throughout his career to linger and whine on a single note well after the note overstayed its welcome.

Overall, a fine effort, but it really doesn't come close to hint at the legendary folk classics he was about to start writing and recording (Blowin in the Wind, The Times They Are A-Changin'), much less his epic mid 60s electric rock records that he would put out just a few years later.

Rating:  6/10 ****** / **********     

Best Song: Song To Woody

Best 3-Track Run: Talkin' New York / In My Time of Dyin' / Man of Constant Sorrow


Steven Sroczynski is an author and attorney from Massachusetts.  He can be reached at Steve.Sroczynski@gmail.com


Copyright 2015 by Steven Sroczynski.  All rights reserved.  
This blog may not be reproduced, whole or in part, without the express written consent of its author, Steven Sroczynski.