Joe, I hope you know that even if this series doesn't succeed in making you a Bob Dylan devotee, even if your opinion doesn't change one iota over the next 40 (!) weeks, it is still a tremendously valuable series...the discussion you guys are having, breaking down his music, talking about how it makes you feel, both positive AND negative, etc., is absolutely next level...it's already made me look at Dylan in a new way and we're only 2 albums in! (I'm like you in that I like Bob Dylan a lot but I have a hard time putting him on the level of, say, the Beatles or maybe Radiohead on my list of most pleasurable listening experiences, and as a result I"ve never really done a deep dive). When all's said and done, these 40 episodes will be a profoundly important body of critical work that will contribute greatly to the ever-ongoing Dylan discourse...I hope you guys keep it up!
It took me a long time to love Bob Dylans Dream, but now its one of my favorites. The lyrics are amazing in their wisdom and maturity, especially being written by a 21 year old
This series is excellent. A lively, informative discussion. As a Bob fan who respects but doesn't love these early albums, it has started to give me an entry point to some otherwise overlooked gems.
Hey guys, as a big time Bob Dylan Head, I love this series already! I remember that you guys said you were going to get into some of the tracks that were left off these albums and I just want to say that is a must. Songs like “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues,” “Let Me Die In My Footsteps,” “Long Ago, Far Away,” “Tomorrow Is a Long Time,” or “All Over You” from the first self-titled album are great early songs of Bob’s. Also, a song like “Who Killed Davey Moore?” which was left off freewheelin’ is a personal favorite of mine from early Bob. I can’t wait for your next reaction to “The Times They Are a-Changin.” Easily my favorite from early Dylan, and is an album that left a huge mark on this period of political organizing and involvement. Thanks again, boys!
It's hard to be black in America without knowing these names in black history. The trouble is that most non-black Americans don't, and are rarely taught in American schools. Most young black students have to learn their own history on their own. These names need to be remembered. Just as Thomas Jefferson or Betsy Ross. If America is based on freedom and human rights, the educational system should teach the evolution of this to young people of how far we've come and how far we need to achieve in the future. Without that we take All of our freedoms for granted. Uncle Bob Rules!
I see a pattern starting to emerge which I guess is inevitable and that is comparing Dylan to himself. If a song isn’t an iconic masterpiece, of which he has volumes, then its treated as a weak song. I am not saying he never wrote a weak song but, even Bob Dylan’s Blues is so interesting and charismatic coming from this young man. Hard to turn away from listening.
Great, balanced discussion here. Dylan's passion for and knowledge of Bob always comes through and Joe brings his real experience and honest perspective. It's entertaining to watch you challenge each other and be engaging in the process. Bob was really unlocked for me when he goes electric but I enjoy this era a lot too, looking forward to seeing what Joe thinks of the next album.
@@richardsonfamily7594 I don't need to discover him, I've listened to him since the 60s. He's just not one of my favorites but like his music and enjoy this series.
I love this lyric at the end of Talkin' World War III Blues: Half the people can be part right all of the time and Some of the people can be all right part of the time but All the people can't be all alright all of the time I think Abraham Lincoln said that "I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours", I said that
Oh-oh…Joe is getting into “grudging respect” territory for Bob (though he didn’t express it quite that way) on this episode…while recognising the masterful quality of five or so songs. Mr. Sevey, as always, fought his corner very well, and brought home why this Freewhellin’ is both an important and enjoyable record. Personally, I love this album, all the way through, even the “cabaret folksinger”-type songs (Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream, in particular)…which are both a reflection as to the style of the times and a step above them. But the core 5 songs…come on, they are transcendent, so powerful and gripping. What comes across more than anything else for me here is the sheer intelligence and insightfulness Bob offers to the world, combined with bravery and a demand for serious attention. This is the emergence of the Voice, a point of view, a call for respect of a different attitude and way of thinking that so resonated with his and future generations. And I love his guitar playing, his command as a vocalist, and the space and inflections he provides for his lyrics…lyrics which are mature, wise, angry, opinionated, and demanding of attention. They rightly must be given space, and he achieves that. A little disappointed that you guys didn’t refer to some of the other excellent songs by Bob in this period that weren’t on the album…you hinted you would on the previous video…and maybe you spent too much time in this episode on the next album…but it’s a journey, and a complete piece of work by a supremely important artist, so I kinds get it. As always, really enjoyed it, and found the conversation to be of very high quality and insight. Looking forward to the next one! Best, JPE
I think Dylan is an underrated melodist, as is demonstrated when other singers (with greater range) cover his work. The Neville Brothers awesome cover of With God on our side is a good example. Lanois's production on it was one of the reasons Dylan hired him to produce Oh Mercy.
I like this series.. It's a great idea, and Joe seems committed to it... Bob Dylan is worth the deep dive, and co-host Dylan is very insightful And nice shout out to Ryan (i use the phrase "a good bit" all the time now.. lol)
In the spring of ‘03 some friends and I took a road trip exploring Route 66 and the Great American Southwest: The Grand Canyon, Sedona and Santa Fe called to us. Dubya’s Invasion Of Iraq commenced the day before we left. Several burned CDs accompanied our thousands of miles, and one mix in particular sticks out in my memory. Depeche Mode’s cover of Route 66 (Beatmasters Mix, of course!) lifted our spirits, political in its own way. It also contained Bob Dylan’s Masters Of War. This directly channeled the raw emotion & dissent we were all feeling 18 months after 9/11. Released for a generation fighting a different war, it spoke volumes then, yet its message rang true 40 years on, and now 60: sadly, an eternal protest song. Listening to this song now still feels like an angry punch in the gut. Familiar with only a few Dylan songs at this point in my life, this must have been the first one to speak so deeply to me. It’s hypnotic and venomous simultaneously. Listening to you two discuss your own lightbulb moments with Dylan is quite beautiful to me. Your eloquence doesn’t go unnoticed, and there is a melodic lilt to both of your voices - makes for a pleasant listening experience!
@@davidellis5141 Hi David! Well, how about that?! My two strongest sight-seeing memories are of the Georgia O’Keefe Museum and St. Francis Cathedral. It was an amazing trip! I envy your dry heat. Hope you have a lovely weekend.
His phrasing and delivery is insane and the imagery is so strong even at this early stage in his career, I love this album for me it's like he's telling us on this album get ready for what about to come and my God what came after this album was inspirational, music would never be the same again, years later when John Lennon listened to tangled up in blue for the first time he said Dylan is several years ahead of us all again, how true was that, Even when Dylan released blonde on blonde everybody was trying to top it.
@@PatricksPlaybook for me it has to be blonde on blondes as the greatest album ever not just the greatest Dylan album, but it is hard it deciding what Dylan album is the best,
@@elston3153 Mad respect what an incredible record Blomde on Blonde is!! I'm probably influenced by Highway 61 Revisted as my favorite album because I love the song Desolation Row so much!! I also grew up living near Highway 61 in Minnesota!
I listened to who's gonna buy you a ribbon when im gone and its really good! and girl from northern country is one of my fav songs and im ashamed i didnt see the connection to scarborough fair but now it makes sense, still its different enough, that one is also a favourite of mine
It's funny because you always talk about the electric phase of his career but my favourite one is this (the folk one) and I think I was lucky to discover Dylan in order, so when I heard the folkie one for the first time I didn't know almost nothing of the others Dylans.
Fair play to you Joe. Once we get into our head how we feel about an artist it can be hard to alter that perspective. As I get older I try to appreciate some relatively new artists as much as I have always liked more established acts. There's not that many lol, but there are a few - Sam Fender, Wolf Alice, 1975, The Smile (technically a new band, lol). Stuart.
Oh, my God, Joe..."Bob Dylan's Dream?!?!" Didn't you ever have friends from your childhood that you haven't seen in years? Was your childhood so bad that you left it all behind? Looking at the track list and comparing it to the outtakes...yeah, I see that it could have been A LOT better. If you swap out "Bob Dylan's Blues," "Oxford Town" and "Down The Highway" and replace them with "Let Me Die In My Footsteps," "Walls of Red Wing" and "Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues"...then I think you pretty much have a 5-star album.
Once you've explored all the "classics", don't neglect to check out his latest album Rough and Rowdy Ways, it's very listenable with some of his greatest lyrics.
Hey Joe check out the documentary No Direction Home, directed by Scorsese, if you haven't seen it. Really captures Dylan's music during that time and the whole aura. Freewheelin' is of course a classic incredible album, but I do agree with some of the critiques you mention and I do like Times better. Masters of War seems to get overlooked at times, but is every bit the masterpiece Hard Rain and Don't Think Twice is.
Great discussion. Really drawing me in to this series and piquing my interests for takes on other artists.I think I am starting to understand where Joe has been coming from which is more an aesthetic for music than strictly lyrics and for rabid Dylan fans it starts with the lyrics. Dylan Sevey made the point that Dylan's lyrical prowess was like the Beatles' musical prowess. On THIS album, if the lyrics are not your wheelhouse, it can seem limited and stiff at times. I got into Dylan late for my era and I listened to this every night in 1966. I was a pretty repressed kid and very intellectually oriented and kind of hated the insipidness of 50's rock and roll because I could not get into my body. It was through Dylan and especially this album that I opened up to popular music because the lyrics really meant something. He legitimized popular music for me. I do remember seeing Help at a local theater in 1965 and just being transported by the Beatles ' sound but it took me years to really appreciate them. (In 1967 we would get stoned, put our head between two small speakers on a portable record player and go crazy listening to Sargent Pepper- what a f***ing trip that was.) "Like a Rolling Stone" was on the radio in 1965 but I was not ready to get it. And I remember in 1965 listening on radio (transistor) to the Sound of Silence and the guitars and sound just reverberated everywhere. So like others I consider this for its time a masterpiece. There was N-O-T-H-I-N-G like it. You had to live in the times in order to appreciate the Earthquake that it was. Joe, Dylan had to sing the lesser "Talkin" World War III Blues" because the song originally slotted was "Talkin" John Birch Society Blues" which is a much stronger, sharper satire but Columbia freaked out and censored it. If you hear it (It's on TH-cam) you will see it makes the album stronger.
"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" is stunning, maybe my favorite song of his first 4 albums. I agree that this is his only real protest album,less humor than Freewheelin,less personal stuff too,outside of "Boots of Spanish Leather" I think Times is just as much of a classic as Freewheelin, but a little bit more dour and harder to listen to. Great series!
Dylan Sevey is making such brilliant, subtle and convincing passionate pleas for bob dylan's art, but then the judge just casts his robe aside, saying "why must you even try". (i mean: 7 better albums in the year 1963? come on.)
great episode as always guys! this album is an interesting case for me. the heights are obviously among his best and I do enjoy the lower points but they feel even lower up against those incredible moments. I kind of wonder if a song like Bob Dylan’s Blues would have made a little more sense on that first album. interesting to think about.
I think Joe is right about the guitar playing on Freewheelin' being a step back in interest compared to the debut. You walk away from Freewheelin' thinking about the songs and the singing but not the guitar so much. That's what's wonderful about "It's Alright Ma" to come later: it's got great guitar playing (and energy) *and* it's got the profound lyrics as well.
Dylan you should have your own channel you are brilliant!! Have you ever thought that Bob Dylan may have had the best or most interesting song titles of all time? It takes a lot to laugh it takes a train to cry comes to mind!! The next several albums you guys discuss are his sweet spot in my opinion particularly Highway 61 Revisted which is a top 10 album from anyone in my opinion!! Freewheelin is great but i do think it pales slightly to the next 4. But like you said any artist would love to have 1 song remembered forever and this album has the greatest anti war songs of all time!! Keep up the wonderful work!! Dylan are you a Beatles fan?
May I ask how you are listening to these albums? In stereo or mono? I only ask it because I think for Bob Dylan’s first 8 albums, the definitive way to listen to them is the mono versions. This is especially true for the acoustic albums, the stereo versions are not very well mixed. So I would recommend checking out the mono versions if you haven’t already. The guitar vocals and harmonica are much clearer and more present, and there is no strange reverb added.
Freewheeling is the blueprint album for the solo singer songwriter. Steve Earle says Dylan invented the job with this one. Hes not wrong. Quality discussion lads.
Remember two things. Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962. Global annihilation feared. Also, folk music was protest music and worshipped by its fans (the reason for the betrayal felt with Dylan going electric, selling out). That gives these albums extra weight….heavy weight
My song ratings: Blowin' in the Wind - 5 Girl from the North Country - 5 Masters of War - 5 Down the Highway - 4 Bob Dylan's Blues - 3.5 A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall - 4.5 Don't Think Twice It's Alright - 5 Bob Dylan's Dream - 3.5 Oxford Town - 4 Talkin' World War III Blues - 4 Corrina, Corrina - 3.5 Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance - 3.75 I Shall Be Free - 5
I love Bob Dylan but I typically relisten to his lighter/fun storytelling songs...Down the Highway, Bob Dylan's Dream, Honey Just Allow Me.., etc, and less so with the more serious/profound stuff. I don't think Dylan has ever wanted to be taken too seriously, or at all, and I think that comes through in most of his music.
Hi Joe, you're entitled not to like Bob Dylan, music is subjective, in a career spanning 60 years there are albums i don't like too but there are at least 8 i worship, i'm particularly fond of his bootleg series. He is indeed one of my favourite artists, he is probably the one i've listened too the most over the years, Neil Young is within easy reach of him
correct me if im wrong... but is there even one bridge on this album (or the first album).... this is one reason that I think Joe would find the songcraft a bit tedious... contrast this to the Beatles, who have kick ass bridges from the jump....
TBH I was really hoping you'd see this post Joe, .... bc once I realized the lack of bridges... it was shocking-- I dont think many of those early folk songs he was covering and cribbing from had them either and of course thats what he was learning from .. the droning on quality in his stuff is for sure in part bc of lack of bridges.... .it would be a cool Trivia question": whats the first Dylan penned song with a bridge?... --- spoiler: I dont think theres any on the next album either.. ... I heard Lay Lady Lay yesterday ... it has a bridge and you can just feel the interest in the song pump up ... (tho I dont really like that song lol )@@TastesLikeMusic
good way to put it. he was absolutely playing a bit of a character on several tracks, and those are the ones I find more forgettable. and maybe not disingenuous, but definitely inauthentic
As enjoyable as these are, have the TLM trio split up? It seems a long time ago now since the three of you were together. I also seem to remember a top 20/25? rundown of your favourite singers. Have I missed them or are they still going?
I've always been baffled as to how anyone could like Scarborough Fair. It's a horrible song -- the narrator is telling some guy to tell his ex to do a whole bunch of stuff for him, like make him a shirt, and then he keeps repeating his shopping list to make sure he doesn't forget it. WTF??? Dylan went to England and learned it from the folk singer Martin Carthy, and then made it into a MUCH better song. Later Paul Simon visited Cathy too and learned the finger picking for it and turned it into a mega-hit, and didn't give Carthy a cent.
I think Freewheelin is a little overrated. Good album, some unbelievable tracks written for his age too. But I always preferred the album experience of Times They Are A Changin. Dylan’s Melodie’s are underrated
The Free-Stealing Bob Dylan. I don't condemn Bob for plagiarizing just acknowledging that good writers borrow; great writers steal. Don't Think Twice It's Alright Dylan took the tune for "Don’t Think Twice" from his friend Paul Clayton, a folk singer in Greenwich Village, the song "Scarlet Ribbons for Her Hair". Seems pretty plagiaristic but Paul didn't think twice about it, it's alright when you get a handsome reward to live out years in obscurity. 10 Girl From the North Country". Great song but not so good execution here. Dylan's version on Nashville Skyline is utterly charming. Nashville's smoother more melodic duet has a fuller sound than Bob's sparse vocals and minimal guitar on the original.. 9 Master of War - a solid protest song. The tune was based on Jean Ritchie's "Nottamun Town" melody. Dylan actually vehemently calls for the death of the "men behind desks" aka "the military-industrial complex" who feed the global war machine for profit and fun. 8 Blowing in the Wind. A great song. 10 Its melody was adapted from a 19th-century African-American spiritual called 'No More Auction Block for Me'. Down the Highway. Inspired by Robert Johnson's song. Robert wrote Crossroads. "I went down the Crossroads and fell down on my knees" The best version is probably from the supergroup "Cream". 4 I shall be free. Inspired by black blues singer Leadbelly. Nirvana did a version of 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night' also known as 'In The Pines' but I don't like that one either. 2 It's a hard Rain that's Gonna fall. I think it's considered one of his great ones but I'm not feeling it. Pretty monotonous just important for the Cause. 7
The Paul Clayton song is called Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I'm Gone). Holy crap! That's a revelation. Dylan might've been the Led Zeppelin of his day. I'll check your other attributions...
@@stevehoran5595 I think it's not uncommon for folk singers to borrow from traditional songs but this is blatant. Bob doesn't seem to give Paul any kind of credit but Bob does transform the song into a much better song, in my opinion. Yeah, let me know; I didn't even look up or hear songs that I don't review here. I am pretty sure Led and Dylan are at the top of their class in this way.
Reminds me of the old National Lampoon magazine bit called the "Ventures of Zimmerman". There's a panel where guitar-toting Dylan has the works of Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly open in front of him and sings, "And the songs, I am a-changin'!" In the past, blues and folk artists borrowed and adapted previous material all the time. It only became an issue when copyrights and money started entering the picture.
@@oppothumbs1 You're right about Masters Of War sounding like Nottamun Town. You're also correct about folk music often repurposing old melodies. The Star Spangled Banner was famously adapted from a melody associated with a gentlemen's society. Dylan's With God On Our Side is taken from The Patriot Game by Dominic Behan which in turn was taken from an old Irish folk song. Now this begs a couple questions. If Dylan's going to "borrow" melody for Masters of War, why take one as hum-drum as Nottamun Town? He probably would've done better coming up with something original. Masters of War ends up as a tiresome rant. It's no War Pigs!🙂 The second question is much more basic: what is a songwriter? Is it someone like Paul McCartney who writes great melodies but his lyrics are often a bit lightweight? Or is it someone like Dylan whose lyrics are admired but his melodies tend to be pretty dreary, whether borrowed or not? Dylan is often praised as a great songwriter but I don't think that reputation is based on the strength of his music - though covers of his songs often sound great. My own opinion is that a song needs to work both lyrically and musically to be great. Anyway, I better cut this short or I'll end up writing a book...
@@deanjonasson6776 Lol. Many great songwriters can't be pinned down for plagiarizing or it's subtle or it just goes unnoticed. I checked on other famous singer-songwriters I like and it's rare to find any as nearly as blatant as Bob. These are writers who followed Dylan and some are charged with being influenced by Dylan or other earlier artists but they didn't steal so obviously. I think Bob's greater originality will show its face in the next few albums. In 2001, Bob released an album titled “Love and Theft".
Perhaps you should take it up with the Independent’s former chief music critic Andy Gill, who wrote it and the New Yorker who then quoted it in their piece on Bob Dylan? Somehow I think they’re more knowledgeable on the subject than you. - Joe
@@TastesLikeMusic : Good one. Your spelling is at least better that the insight expressed that Dylan was vague in his lyrics and lacked energy, which are vapid. I still appreciate your efforts to analyze Dylan album by album. It's a grand undertaking.
So if Bob Dylan borrows ideas or melodies or is influenced its not that big of a deal but if john lennon does norwegian wood bob dylan writes a song about it n how they are biting dylan.... lol....kinda bein a hypocrite dont ya think?
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Also big props to Dylan Sevey for his extraordinarily erudite commentary on the albums.
Joe, I hope you know that even if this series doesn't succeed in making you a Bob Dylan devotee, even if your opinion doesn't change one iota over the next 40 (!) weeks, it is still a tremendously valuable series...the discussion you guys are having, breaking down his music, talking about how it makes you feel, both positive AND negative, etc., is absolutely next level...it's already made me look at Dylan in a new way and we're only 2 albums in! (I'm like you in that I like Bob Dylan a lot but I have a hard time putting him on the level of, say, the Beatles or maybe Radiohead on my list of most pleasurable listening experiences, and as a result I"ve never really done a deep dive). When all's said and done, these 40 episodes will be a profoundly important body of critical work that will contribute greatly to the ever-ongoing Dylan discourse...I hope you guys keep it up!
It took me a long time to love Bob Dylans Dream, but now its one of my favorites. The lyrics are amazing in their wisdom and maturity, especially being written by a 21 year old
This series is excellent. A lively, informative discussion. As a Bob fan who respects but doesn't love these early albums, it has started to give me an entry point to some otherwise overlooked gems.
‘A Hard Rain…’ is an anthem of protest, but the first psychedelic/dream lyrics mixed in. A landmark song, preceding the ‘65-66 albums
Hey guys, as a big time Bob Dylan Head, I love this series already! I remember that you guys said you were going to get into some of the tracks that were left off these albums and I just want to say that is a must. Songs like “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues,” “Let Me Die In My Footsteps,” “Long Ago, Far Away,” “Tomorrow Is a Long Time,” or “All Over You” from the first self-titled album are great early songs of Bob’s. Also, a song like “Who Killed Davey Moore?” which was left off freewheelin’ is a personal favorite of mine from early Bob. I can’t wait for your next reaction to “The Times They Are a-Changin.” Easily my favorite from early Dylan, and is an album that left a huge mark on this period of political organizing and involvement. Thanks again, boys!
John Birch Society Blues was censored from being on it.
It's hard to be black in America without knowing these names in black history.
The trouble is that most non-black Americans don't, and are rarely taught in American schools.
Most young black students have to learn their own history on their own.
These names need to be remembered.
Just as Thomas Jefferson or Betsy Ross.
If America is based on freedom and human rights, the educational system should teach the evolution of this to young people of how far we've come and how far we need to achieve in the future.
Without that we take All of our freedoms for granted.
Uncle Bob Rules!
I see a pattern starting to emerge which I guess is inevitable and that is comparing Dylan to himself. If a song isn’t an iconic masterpiece, of which he has volumes, then its treated as a weak song. I am not saying he never wrote a weak song but, even Bob Dylan’s Blues is so interesting and charismatic coming from this young man. Hard to turn away from listening.
Loving this series. 'Girl from the North Country' is always in my Dylan top ten. Sublime.
Great, balanced discussion here. Dylan's passion for and knowledge of Bob always comes through and Joe brings his real experience and honest perspective. It's entertaining to watch you challenge each other and be engaging in the process. Bob was really unlocked for me when he goes electric but I enjoy this era a lot too, looking forward to seeing what Joe thinks of the next album.
Really enjoying this series!
Thank youuuuu
@canadianstudmuffin is this helping you discover dylan?
@@richardsonfamily7594 I don't need to discover him, I've listened to him since the 60s. He's just not one of my favorites but like his music and enjoy this series.
I love this lyric at the end of Talkin' World War III Blues:
Half the people can be part right all of the time and
Some of the people can be all right part of the time but
All the people can't be all alright all of the time
I think Abraham Lincoln said that
"I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours", I said that
Oh-oh…Joe is getting into “grudging respect” territory for Bob (though he didn’t express it quite that way) on this episode…while recognising the masterful quality of five or so songs. Mr. Sevey, as always, fought his corner very well, and brought home why this Freewhellin’ is both an important and enjoyable record. Personally, I love this album, all the way through, even the “cabaret folksinger”-type songs (Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream, in particular)…which are both a reflection as to the style of the times and a step above them. But the core 5 songs…come on, they are transcendent, so powerful and gripping. What comes across more than anything else for me here is the sheer intelligence and insightfulness Bob offers to the world, combined with bravery and a demand for serious attention. This is the emergence of the Voice, a point of view, a call for respect of a different attitude and way of thinking that so resonated with his and future generations. And I love his guitar playing, his command as a vocalist, and the space and inflections he provides for his lyrics…lyrics which are mature, wise, angry, opinionated, and demanding of attention. They rightly must be given space, and he achieves that. A little disappointed that you guys didn’t refer to some of the other excellent songs by Bob in this period that weren’t on the album…you hinted you would on the previous video…and maybe you spent too much time in this episode on the next album…but it’s a journey, and a complete piece of work by a supremely important artist, so I kinds get it. As always, really enjoyed it, and found the conversation to be of very high quality and insight. Looking forward to the next one! Best, JPE
Love this series please keep them coming, the longer the vid the better!
I think Dylan is an underrated melodist, as is demonstrated when other singers (with greater range) cover his work. The Neville Brothers awesome cover of With God on our side is a good example. Lanois's production on it was one of the reasons Dylan hired him to produce Oh Mercy.
I like this series.. It's a great idea, and Joe seems committed to it... Bob Dylan is worth the deep dive, and co-host Dylan is very insightful
And nice shout out to Ryan (i use the phrase "a good bit" all the time now.. lol)
In the spring of ‘03 some friends and I took a road trip exploring Route 66 and the Great American Southwest: The Grand Canyon, Sedona and Santa Fe called to us. Dubya’s Invasion Of Iraq commenced the day before we left. Several burned CDs accompanied our thousands of miles, and one mix in particular sticks out in my memory. Depeche Mode’s cover of Route 66 (Beatmasters Mix, of course!) lifted our spirits, political in its own way. It also contained Bob Dylan’s Masters Of War. This directly channeled the raw emotion & dissent we were all feeling 18 months after 9/11. Released for a generation fighting a different war, it spoke volumes then, yet its message rang true 40 years on, and now 60: sadly, an eternal protest song. Listening to this song now still feels like an angry punch in the gut. Familiar with only a few Dylan songs at this point in my life, this must have been the first one to speak so deeply to me. It’s hypnotic and venomous simultaneously. Listening to you two discuss your own lightbulb moments with Dylan is quite beautiful to me. Your eloquence doesn’t go unnoticed, and there is a melodic lilt to both of your voices - makes for a pleasant listening experience!
Thank you 🥰🥰
@@TastesLikeMusicYou’re quite welcome 😊❤
That's me in Santa Fe ! 🏜
@@davidellis5141 Hi David! Well, how about that?!
My two strongest sight-seeing memories are of the Georgia O’Keefe Museum and
St. Francis Cathedral. It was an amazing trip! I envy your dry heat. Hope you have a lovely weekend.
His phrasing and delivery is insane and the imagery is so strong even at this early stage in his career, I love this album for me it's like he's telling us on this album get ready for what about to come and my God what came after this album was inspirational, music would never be the same again, years later when John Lennon listened to tangled up in blue for the first time he said Dylan is several years ahead of us all again, how true was that, Even when Dylan released blonde on blonde everybody was trying to top it.
Elston very well said!! For me Highway 61 Revisted might be the greatest album by anyone!!
@@PatricksPlaybook for me it has to be blonde on blondes as the greatest album ever not just the greatest Dylan album, but it is hard it deciding what Dylan album is the best,
@@elston3153 Mad respect what an incredible record Blomde on Blonde is!! I'm probably influenced by Highway 61 Revisted as my favorite album because I love the song Desolation Row so much!! I also grew up living near Highway 61 in Minnesota!
Another great episode. Man, I am loving this.
Very cool. Loving these episodes.
I listened to who's gonna buy you a ribbon when im gone and its really good! and girl from northern country is one of my fav songs and im ashamed i didnt see the connection to scarborough fair but now it makes sense, still its different enough, that one is also a favourite of mine
Good show. I think the 4 or 5 best songs on the album would be great for just about anyone’s whole career.
It's funny because you always talk about the electric phase of his career but my favourite one is this (the folk one) and I think I was lucky to discover Dylan in order, so when I heard the folkie one for the first time I didn't know almost nothing of the others Dylans.
Fair play to you Joe. Once we get into our head how we feel about an artist it can be hard to alter that perspective. As I get older I try to appreciate some relatively new artists as much as I have always liked more established acts. There's not that many lol, but there are a few - Sam Fender, Wolf Alice, 1975, The Smile (technically a new band, lol).
Stuart.
Oh, my God, Joe..."Bob Dylan's Dream?!?!" Didn't you ever have friends from your childhood that you haven't seen in years? Was your childhood so bad that you left it all behind?
Looking at the track list and comparing it to the outtakes...yeah, I see that it could have been A LOT better. If you swap out "Bob Dylan's Blues," "Oxford Town" and "Down The Highway" and replace them with "Let Me Die In My Footsteps," "Walls of Red Wing" and "Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues"...then I think you pretty much have a 5-star album.
Not too long Joe, all good. Another cool ep. Keep ‘em comin!!!
Once you've explored all the "classics", don't neglect to check out his latest album Rough and Rowdy Ways, it's very listenable with some of his greatest lyrics.
Hey Joe check out the documentary No Direction Home, directed by Scorsese, if you haven't seen it. Really captures Dylan's music during that time and the whole aura. Freewheelin' is of course a classic incredible album, but I do agree with some of the critiques you mention and I do like Times better. Masters of War seems to get overlooked at times, but is every bit the masterpiece Hard Rain and Don't Think Twice is.
Great discussion. Really drawing me in to this series and piquing my interests for takes on other artists.I think I am starting to understand where Joe has been coming from which is more an aesthetic for music than strictly lyrics and for rabid Dylan fans it starts with the lyrics. Dylan Sevey made the point that Dylan's lyrical prowess was like the Beatles' musical prowess. On THIS album, if the lyrics are not your wheelhouse, it can seem limited and stiff at times.
I got into Dylan late for my era and I listened to this every night in 1966. I was a pretty repressed kid and very intellectually oriented and kind of hated the insipidness of 50's rock and roll because I could not get into my body. It was through Dylan and especially this album that I opened up to popular music because the lyrics really meant something. He legitimized popular music for me. I do remember seeing Help at a local theater in 1965 and just being transported by the Beatles ' sound but it took me years to really appreciate them. (In 1967 we would get stoned, put our head between two small speakers on a portable record player and go crazy listening to Sargent Pepper- what a f***ing trip that was.) "Like a Rolling Stone" was on the radio in 1965 but I was not ready to get it. And I remember in 1965 listening on radio (transistor) to the Sound of Silence and the guitars and sound just reverberated everywhere.
So like others I consider this for its time a masterpiece. There was N-O-T-H-I-N-G like it. You had to live in the times in order to appreciate the Earthquake that it was.
Joe, Dylan had to sing the lesser "Talkin" World War III Blues" because the song originally slotted was "Talkin" John Birch Society Blues" which is a much stronger, sharper satire but Columbia freaked out and censored it. If you hear it (It's on TH-cam) you will see it makes the album stronger.
Very insightful things dylan sevey said about songs dylan bob wrote
You need a Discovering Dylan section on your TLM wall that collects these Dylan videos.
Anything else we can do for you sir? 🤣
Bring your tissues for times are a changing. Such a sad album
Kramzer & Jason do Discovering Billy Joel next
Isn’t that what the Listography was?
"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" is stunning, maybe my favorite song of his first 4 albums. I agree that this is his only real protest album,less humor than Freewheelin,less personal stuff too,outside of "Boots of Spanish Leather" I think Times is just as much of a classic as Freewheelin, but a little bit more dour and harder to listen to. Great series!
Dylan Sevey is making such brilliant, subtle and convincing passionate pleas for bob dylan's art, but then the judge just casts his robe aside, saying "why must you even try". (i mean: 7 better albums in the year 1963? come on.)
yea i also thought of Sam Cooke hearing Blowing in the Wind and I think that made him write A Change is Gonna Come!
The guy on the left mixed it up.
great episode as always guys! this album is an interesting case for me. the heights are obviously among his best and I do enjoy the lower points but they feel even lower up against those incredible moments. I kind of wonder if a song like Bob Dylan’s Blues would have made a little more sense on that first album. interesting to think about.
I think Joe is right about the guitar playing on Freewheelin' being a step back in interest compared to the debut. You walk away from Freewheelin' thinking about the songs and the singing but not the guitar so much. That's what's wonderful about "It's Alright Ma" to come later: it's got great guitar playing (and energy) *and* it's got the profound lyrics as well.
Dylan you should have your own channel you are brilliant!! Have you ever thought that Bob Dylan may have had the best or most interesting song titles of all time? It takes a lot to laugh it takes a train to cry comes to mind!! The next several albums you guys discuss are his sweet spot in my opinion particularly Highway 61 Revisted which is a top 10 album from anyone in my opinion!! Freewheelin is great but i do think it pales slightly to the next 4. But like you said any artist would love to have 1 song remembered forever and this album has the greatest anti war songs of all time!! Keep up the wonderful work!! Dylan are you a Beatles fan?
May I ask how you are listening to these albums? In stereo or mono?
I only ask it because I think for Bob Dylan’s first 8 albums, the definitive way to listen to them is the mono versions. This is especially true for the acoustic albums, the stereo versions are not very well mixed. So I would recommend checking out the mono versions if you haven’t already. The guitar vocals and harmonica are much clearer and more present, and there is no strange reverb added.
Freewheeling is the blueprint album for the solo singer songwriter.
Steve Earle says Dylan invented the job with this one. Hes not wrong.
Quality discussion lads.
Good call
Remember two things. Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962. Global annihilation feared. Also, folk music was protest music and worshipped by its fans (the reason for the betrayal felt with Dylan going electric, selling out). That gives these albums extra weight….heavy weight
My song ratings:
Blowin' in the Wind - 5
Girl from the North Country - 5
Masters of War - 5
Down the Highway - 4
Bob Dylan's Blues - 3.5
A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall - 4.5
Don't Think Twice It's Alright - 5
Bob Dylan's Dream - 3.5
Oxford Town - 4
Talkin' World War III Blues - 4
Corrina, Corrina - 3.5
Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance - 3.75
I Shall Be Free - 5
Corrina Corrina a 3.5 🧐 -Jason
Dylan play folk like it was rock and plays rock like it was folk
Joe king for referencing the greatness that is Jacques Brel
Echoing that as a huge Brel fan
Are tou guys covering ALL 40 albums? If so, this is gonna be epic
That’s the plan!
@@TastesLikeMusicJoe I'm so impressed you are doing this!! The next 4 records from Dylan are the sweet spot!! In my opinion obviously!!
I love Bob Dylan but I typically relisten to his lighter/fun storytelling songs...Down the Highway, Bob Dylan's Dream, Honey Just Allow Me.., etc, and less so with the more serious/profound stuff.
I don't think Dylan has ever wanted to be taken too seriously, or at all, and I think that comes through in most of his music.
Hi Joe, you're entitled not to like Bob Dylan, music is subjective, in a career spanning 60 years there are albums i don't like too but there are at least 8 i worship, i'm particularly fond of his bootleg series. He is indeed one of my favourite artists, he is probably the one i've listened too the most over the years, Neil Young is within easy reach of him
I say freewheelin' albumi the best
correct me if im wrong... but is there even one bridge on this album (or the first album).... this is one reason that I think Joe would find the songcraft a bit tedious... contrast this to the Beatles, who have kick ass bridges from the jump....
Ohhhh I never thought about that. I’m gonna listen for some bridges.
TBH I was really hoping you'd see this post Joe, .... bc once I realized the lack of bridges... it was shocking-- I dont think many of those early folk songs he was covering and cribbing from had them either and of course thats what he was learning from .. the droning on quality in his stuff is for sure in part bc of lack of bridges.... .it would be a cool Trivia question": whats the first Dylan penned song with a bridge?... --- spoiler: I dont think theres any on the next album either.. ... I heard Lay Lady Lay yesterday ... it has a bridge and you can just feel the interest in the song pump up ... (tho I dont really like that song lol )@@TastesLikeMusic
I’m gonna find out!
Joe I know you’re a fan of Ash… did you check out the new one yet? Thoughts?
I heard half of it since they were released on Spotify previously. Will listen to the whole thing right after I finish Mitski. -- Joe
How many roads must a Kram walk down
Before you call him a man?
Good to see Joe in the Bob Dylan gulag/reeducation-camp
They finally caught me.
good way to put it. he was absolutely playing a bit of a character on several tracks, and those are the ones I find more forgettable. and maybe not disingenuous, but definitely inauthentic
i think you mean sam cooke talking about "blowing in the wind"? Sam Cooke himself did indeed write a change is gonna come im sure thats what you meant
As enjoyable as these are, have the TLM trio split up? It seems a long time ago now since the three of you were together. I also seem to remember a top 20/25? rundown of your favourite singers. Have I missed them or are they still going?
We’ll get back to those things some day. Schedules are keeping us apart. - Joe
I bet Bob Dylan is a fan of Olivia Rodrigo ! 😆 🤣
I doubt it but he should be!!
I've always been baffled as to how anyone could like Scarborough Fair. It's a horrible song -- the narrator is telling some guy to tell his ex to do a whole bunch of stuff for him, like make him a shirt, and then he keeps repeating his shopping list to make sure he doesn't forget it. WTF???
Dylan went to England and learned it from the folk singer Martin Carthy, and then made it into a MUCH better song. Later Paul Simon visited Cathy too and learned the finger picking for it and turned it into a mega-hit, and didn't give Carthy a cent.
I think Freewheelin is a little overrated.
Good album, some unbelievable tracks written for his age too.
But I always preferred the album experience of Times They Are A Changin.
Dylan’s Melodie’s are underrated
Most of them aren’t his at this point - Joe
The Freewhilin' is a way better and hugely more important album than the debut.
The 1st album is 3 star, this is 5 star.....the gap is obvious ...its not about the melody here..
The Free-Stealing Bob Dylan. I don't condemn Bob for plagiarizing just acknowledging that good writers borrow; great writers steal.
Don't Think Twice It's Alright Dylan took the tune for "Don’t Think Twice" from his friend Paul Clayton, a folk singer in Greenwich Village, the song "Scarlet Ribbons for Her Hair". Seems pretty plagiaristic but Paul didn't think twice about it, it's alright when you get a handsome reward to live out years in obscurity. 10
Girl From the North Country". Great song but not so good execution here. Dylan's version on Nashville Skyline is utterly charming. Nashville's smoother more melodic duet has a fuller sound than Bob's sparse vocals and minimal guitar on the original.. 9
Master of War - a solid protest song. The tune was based on Jean Ritchie's "Nottamun Town" melody. Dylan actually vehemently calls for the death of the "men behind desks" aka "the military-industrial complex" who feed the global war machine for profit and fun. 8
Blowing in the Wind. A great song. 10 Its melody was adapted from a 19th-century African-American spiritual called 'No More Auction Block for Me'.
Down the Highway. Inspired by Robert Johnson's song. Robert wrote Crossroads. "I went down the Crossroads and fell down on my knees" The best version is probably from the supergroup "Cream". 4
I shall be free. Inspired by black blues singer Leadbelly. Nirvana did a version of 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night' also known as 'In The Pines' but I don't like that one either. 2
It's a hard Rain that's Gonna fall. I think it's considered one of his great ones but I'm not feeling it. Pretty monotonous just important for the Cause. 7
The Paul Clayton song is called Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I'm Gone). Holy crap! That's a revelation. Dylan might've been the Led Zeppelin of his day. I'll check your other attributions...
@@stevehoran5595 I think it's not uncommon for folk singers to borrow from traditional songs but this is blatant. Bob doesn't seem to give Paul any kind of credit but Bob does transform the song into a much better song, in my opinion. Yeah, let me know; I didn't even look up or hear songs that I don't review here. I am pretty sure Led and Dylan are at the top of their class in this way.
Reminds me of the old National Lampoon magazine bit called the "Ventures of Zimmerman". There's a panel where guitar-toting Dylan has the works of Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly open in front of him and sings, "And the songs, I am a-changin'!"
In the past, blues and folk artists borrowed and adapted previous material all the time. It only became an issue when copyrights and money started entering the picture.
@@oppothumbs1 You're right about Masters Of War sounding like Nottamun Town. You're also correct about folk music often repurposing old melodies. The Star Spangled Banner was famously adapted from a melody associated with a gentlemen's society. Dylan's With God On Our Side is taken from The Patriot Game by Dominic Behan which in turn was taken from an old Irish folk song.
Now this begs a couple questions. If Dylan's going to "borrow" melody for Masters of War, why take one as hum-drum as Nottamun Town? He probably would've done better coming up with something original. Masters of War ends up as a tiresome rant. It's no War Pigs!🙂
The second question is much more basic: what is a songwriter? Is it someone like Paul McCartney who writes great melodies but his lyrics are often a bit lightweight? Or is it someone like Dylan whose lyrics are admired but his melodies tend to be pretty dreary, whether borrowed or not? Dylan is often praised as a great songwriter but I don't think that reputation is based on the strength of his music - though covers of his songs often sound great.
My own opinion is that a song needs to work both lyrically and musically to be great. Anyway, I better cut this short or I'll end up writing a book...
@@deanjonasson6776 Lol. Many great songwriters can't be pinned down for plagiarizing or it's subtle or it just goes unnoticed. I checked on other famous singer-songwriters I like and it's rare to find any as nearly as blatant as Bob. These are writers who followed Dylan and some are charged with being influenced by Dylan or other earlier artists but they didn't steal so obviously. I think Bob's greater originality will show its face in the next few albums. In 2001, Bob released an album titled “Love and Theft".
His songwriting is "vague" and his "energy" declines are two of the least intelligent comments about Dylan that I have ever heard.
Perhaps you should take it up with the Independent’s former chief music critic Andy Gill, who wrote it and the New Yorker who then quoted it in their piece on Bob Dylan? Somehow I think they’re more knowledgeable on the subject than you. - Joe
It’s more intelligent than using too when you mean two -Jason
@@TastesLikeMusic : Good one. Your spelling is at least better that the insight expressed that Dylan was vague in his lyrics and lacked energy, which are vapid. I still appreciate your efforts to analyze Dylan album by album. It's a grand undertaking.
So if Bob Dylan borrows ideas or melodies or is influenced its not that big of a deal but if john lennon does norwegian wood bob dylan writes a song about it n how they are biting dylan.... lol....kinda bein a hypocrite dont ya think?
Of course he’s a hypocrite. - Joe
Men’s briefs 🩲 protest band: “Freeballin’ Don Bylan”