Album #1: “Bob Dylan”

 Released March 19, 1962.

Most people who follow Dylan’s career at all know that his first album contains only two original pieces, “Talkin’ New York” and “Song to Woody”. The rest are traditional folk/blues songs by others, although Dylan did arrange several of them. In many of them, his debt to Guthrie and other artists is obvious in his phrasing and delivery. 

The album didn’t do well at first, and thus a lot of people skip it, but I think that’s a mistake. It’s interesting to hear such a young Dylan, the one that was playing in the coffeehouses and in relatively small venues. Are there flashes, hints, of the Dylan-to-come? I guess that’s been debated for years. Perhaps there are clues in his intensity and commitment to every song. 

My favorite song on this album - probably no surprise- is “Song to Woody”. It’s so nicely put together and he sings it so quietly and sincerely. And maybe there’s a flash of Future Dylan in “Your paupers and peasants and princes and kings”. 

https://youtu.be/lOWfCVQBixs?si=MuNWUgB9TTMXy0Cm



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