What's your favourite Dylan album?
A few months ago now I met a guy for the first time. A friend of a friend. Nice guy. And he asked me a question, almost immediately, and it really threw me off guard. He asked me what my favourite Bob Dylan album was. Not whether I liked Dylan at all. Not whether I had a favourite song. The question, literally, was: “So Simon, what is your favourite Bob Dylan album?”
It’s a great question. And one I had to think about for a bit. It wasn’t that I felt pressure to perform, to be on, to nail it. To correctly state the one perfect Dylan album. That was not the problem. The problem was far simpler: I could not think of one.
And I will point out right here that I am a huge Dylan fan. I have a lot of his material. Most of it. And I could not, off the top of my head, think of a favourite album. I even had a mind blank when I got around to naming more than one title, and settled for “the one with All Along the Watchtower on it” when of course I meant John Wesley Harding.
Dylan has got to a point where all of his material is now raved about. And a tad too much, might I add, and I say that as a huge fan, but I just don’t get the rave reviews of Love & Theft and Modern Times. They are nice records. Good records. Strong enough. But the real revelation was Time Out of Mind. That was the record that restored hope – and came at a time when it was needed. The two that have followed are fully decent but they are nothing earth-shattering.
Thing is, now, you can get away with naming any Dylan album as a favourite. But 15 years ago words would have needed to be carefully chosen. There are the people who love Infidels and the people who write off everything from the 1980s. There are people who are sure that Nashville Skyline is actually a slice of country-pie genius, when it was maligned at the time. And for a good time after. And there are people who see Slow Train Coming as the exception to the rule when discussion suggests that Dylan’s “born again phase” was ill-advised. The “forgotten record” for so many seems to be Street Legal, arriving after two absolute classics (Blood on the Tracks, Desire) and just before the commitment to sing about Jesus (Slow Train, Saved, Shot of Love). There are people who have made a case for Shot of Love; the gorgeous Every Grain of Sand might almost be reason enough to elevate that album in the scheme.
And part of my problem in instantly naming a favourite Dylan album is that I am, in some ways, all of these people referenced in the album-choices above. I often feel like my favourite Dylan album is the one I am listening to at the time. (Unless it’s Down in the Groove or Knocked Out Loaded!)
Hopefully Dylan fans reading will have noticed that I have not even discussed any of the albums before the-one-with-All-Along-the-Watchtower-on-it. Which means that the first seven albums, where Dylan made his name (oh, and redefined both folk music and rock’n’roll) have not even been mentioned yet.
So, this is why I found it hard to name a favourite Dylan album. Obviously I could spring straight for Blog Blood on the Tracks. And I do really love that album. And I could also name Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. Again, obvious classics. I have always loved the second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, chiefly for the track Girl from the North Country.
Dylan has had plenty of bad patches. But so many of the bad patches created amazing songs/performances; I totally dig that album New Morning. Seen by many as nothing special, but totally special to me for songs like Day of the Locusts, The Man in Me, Time Passes Slowly and Sign on the Window. None of them could hold a candle to Blowin’ in the Wind for those raised only on some version of Dylan’s greatest hits. But those who have heard the album will (hopefully) know what I am trying to say. Right? Right?
Now I could blog all day, all week and all month about Bob Dylan. But I am sure there are several thousand people already out there doing that. And I don’t want to do that. I do want to know what your favourite Dylan albums are though. And why you chose them?
Non-fans need not apply. Your comments are not relevant. This is one for the fans – you don’t have to be the biggest fan, you might have only heard one album, but if you can say why you dig it then you’re in. That’s cool for the gang.
Oh, and after naming half of the albums I named above, and of course mentioning Blonde on Blonde (and Oh Mercy, a personal fav that I would place over Infidels as a reason Bob didn’t suck for the entire 1980s) I settled on the one thing you are not supposed to do in a conversation regarding favourite albums: I chose a compilation.
The Bootleg Series Vols. 1-3 was my extended intro to Dylan – above and beyond Masterpieces – and it really did change my life. I still go back to it. I still love it. I still prefer many of the outtake versions to songs that made it on to the albums and to some of the versions that were chosen. So that’s what I told him. In a conversation that was nowhere near as gruelling as this post perhaps makes it sound.
But what about you? If you have any interest in Dylan whatsoever – then put down your favourite album/s by Bob. And, if you think you need to, give a reason.
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Highway 61. I tried listening to Blonde on Blonde, and it was rubbish.
My first introduction was via Freewheelin, which I still love to this day, primarily for the joyously callous kiss-off song Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright. But there’s also Masters of War and Oxford Town and Corrina, Corrina as well as the turgid-but-mercifully-brief Blowin in the Wind. For sheer longevity in my personal all-time favourite album stakes, though Desire would probably be the one I would pick. Apart form the in-joke of Mozambique (essentially a game to see how many rhymes he could find for the title) and the overplayed Hurricane (although I still love that fiddle), I can’t think of a weak spot. I love Joey and Black Diamond Bay, but I pure adore One More Cup of Coffee, Oh Sister and Sara, three of the most different and yet most intriguing love songs Dylan ever wrote. But if I could step sideways form the Dylan canon proper, the best album he was ever involved with was Before the Flood, the live album with the band. Not only do you get spitting, vitriolic versions of It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding and Rolling Stone, but you also get a downright heavy metal version of Lay Lady Lay. And as the ultimate bonus you get the Band playing a set of their own utterly brilliant music as well. So if I can have Before the Flood, that’s my pick.
Well, if you're going to pick a compilation, then can I get away with Biograph? It's the best compilation of Dylan's work. Like the Bootleg Series 1-3, it has a bunch of fairly obscure stuff - out-takes (Jet Pilot), demos (Forever Young), live stuff (Romance in Durango)and some great album cuts, b-sides and singles. It's a messy old thing, but it's probably the best introduction to Dylan you could hope for. It has Million Dollar Bash and Baby Let Me Follow You Down and I Wanna Be Your Lover on it. It makes more sense than any other compilation, though Masterpieces deserves a nod.
The temptation for me now is to defend Down in the Groove, but I won't. Just listen to Rank Strangers to Me, it's choice. No one is going to pick Empire Burlesque or Under the Red Sky as their favourite Dylan albums. It would take a brave soul to plump for Self Portrait, though that album is AMAZING. Yup, caps-lock worthy amazing.
Now, I could list what I think are the BEST Dylan albums, but that's not the question you asked. The question was what my favourite was. I kind of want to say Highway 61 Revisited, because that, along with Bootleg 1-3, Masterpieces, the 'Bobfest' record and a bootleg of an early show with Baez was my introduction to the man. 61 is a headtrip of a record and it rocks. You can't ask for more. I picked Blonde On Blonde as my album of the 60s in a recent BOTT quiz, but that's not what I'm going for this time. I'd like to pick Desire as well, and Modern Times and Oh, Mercy. They're all great. They're in my DNA now, I've completed internalised them. However, I'm going to go for a record I know is flawed, perhaps deeply in places. I'm going to go with Street Legal.
Why? Senor is likely my favourite Dylan song, Changing of the Guards is Dylan's most engaging riff. The album itself is unfocussed, a bit long-winde. Dylan's Blood on the Tracks voice is leaving him, and his mid-60s voice is long gone. Some songs are like those weird establishing shots in movies where you think 'Why am I looking at this?' (I'm thinking especially of New Pony). And I just love the transparent lyrics to Is Your Love in Vain? Are they bad? Maybe. But listen to those perfectly modulated horns! Like Biograph, Bootleg 1-3, Sel Portrait, and to some extent Greatest Hits II & III and Masterpieces, Street Legal shows the many sides of Dylan. Albums like Another Side of Bob Dylan, Nashville Skyline, Bringing It All Back Home and Time Out Of Mind just seem too controlled, too calculated, when compared to a woolly beast like Street Legal.
Genius Status: It's Complicated.
Being a vocalist I find it really hard to listen to Dylan, don't get me wrong his lyrics are fantastic and there is the odd song that is tuneful but on the whole that ranty whining thing really grinds my gears. Regardless of this I perservere because the man is a legend and one of my Dad's all-time favourites, and my Dad has never steered me wrong when it comes to music. Luv ya pops.
Highway 61 and Blood on the Tracks for their lyrical genius, and Another Side of Bob Dylan - the latter mainly for two songs, It Ain't Me Babe, and Motorpyscho Nightmare, one of the funniest songs I know, especially when our rambling hero, cornered by the redneck farmer for allegedly fiddlin with his daughter, and wanting to get out of having to milk the cows like he'd promised, says: "I had to say somethin to strike him pretty weird / So I yelled 'I like Fidel Castro - and his beard.'" That bit about the beard bit gets me every time.
I love them all, this is one of those questions that you know you have to face at some stage in your life but you put it off for as long as can. I too have a similar history with Bob, starting out with the 3 tape Masterpieces, progressing on to the bootleg before collecting my favourite albums. Highway 61 is pure genius, blonde on blonde is one of greatest albums of all time, infidels was a brilliant return to form with some of his best work and that’s just scratching the surface. And this is where it gets tricky. I have to say that Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is probably my favourite album. It doesn’t have a single track that I would put in my top 10 (maybe even top 20 favourite) Dylan tracks but for me it is such a complete album that I find it faultless. Just as post script I reckon Dylan's unplugged album is just sublime, by far the best in the series. Song selection and arrangements are brilliant. Different enough from the originals but still definitively Dylanesque.
Admittedly, I haven't got around to listening to every album (quite a task!), but I completely agree with Graham - I love Desire. It is definitely approachable and has such a great feel. Sara is fabulous and of course The Hurricane and Oh Sister. Contrary to Simon I love Modern Times! Completely different to Desire of course but I love the tone of Dylan's voice on the album.
I'm going to be a little different and say that my favourite "Bob Dylan" album is actually the Traveling Wilbury's Volume One.
Probably because Bob was joined by the others in a throwaway side-project, Volume One has a sense of fun and lightheartedness that is pretty much lacking in Bob's solo work. And his lyricism doesn't drop below his normal standards either. Tweeter and the Monkey Man is the best p1sstake of Springsteen this side of, well, Springsteen.
@MsM - I think Dylan's singing is quite good. I think he has a mediocre voice, but he uses it well, if that makes sense.
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I think my favourite studio album is 1976's Desire. It's a bit more colourful and approachable than much of his other work, I like the violin, and 'Sara' is probably my favorite Dylan song.
My favourite Dylan disc though, is probably the electric disc of the 1966 Royal Albert Hall bootleg (Bootleg Series Vol 4). It rocks.
I don't actually own Highway 61 Revisited or the Freewheeling Bob Dylan or Oh Mercy - I should probably hear those before I'm entitled to one!