Bob Dylan has journeyed from his beginnings as the ragamuffin minstrel boy of the Greenwich Village folk scene, to the most gifted and influential songwriter of the last half-century.
Dylan has run the gamut: political folkie, rock messiah, Nashville twanger, gospel renegade and everything in-between. No contemporary performer or songwriter has escaped the influence of Dylan’s music. Not counting his endless bootlegs and unreleased recordings, Dylan has delivered nearly sixty albums.
Dylan’s best deep tracks, in chronological order:
Roll on John: There is No Eye, 1962
From a 1962 radio broadcast early in Dylan’s career, “Roll on John” is officially released for the first time on “There is No Eye.” The depth of emotion in Dylan’s voice and maturity of his simple arrangement is a foreshadowing of Dylan’s future and his grasp on the past.
On the Road Again: Bringing it All Back Home, 1965
The electric Dylan is unleashed. “On the Road Again” is pure talkin’ blues with the amp turned to eleven, or maybe 9 and a half. Why some punk band never covered this defies all that is unholy rebellion. “Well, I asked for something to eat. I'm hungry as a hog. So I get brown rice, seaweed. And a dirty hot dog,” is snarkier than Zappa, Johnny Rotten and Steven Colbert combined.
Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You: Nashville Skyline, 1969
While Jimi Hendrix was wailing for drug-crazed hippies at the Woodstock Music Festival, Dylan was a family man living in Woodstock, writing country songs. “Tonight” is in the finest tradition of a well-crafted country song with Dylan’s unique lyrical imagery. Check out Jeff Beck’s outstanding treatment of “Tonight” on his “Orange” Album.
Hazel: Planet Waves, 1974
“Planet Waves” is a pure Dylan and The Band collaboration. “Hazel” smacks of Dylan’s country influence, while the record as a whole hints of the coming roots rock revolution 10 years later.
Saving Grace: Saved, 1980
Unfortunately Dylan’s gospel period is often glossed over as if it never really happened. The album contains some of rawest Dylan ever recorded, filled with some of his most intimate songwriting. “Saving Grace” is introspective, apologetic and honest. It should be a gospel standard.
Most of the Time: Oh Mercy, 1989
“Oh Mercy” was yet another Dylan “comeback” album. Following a string of 5 mostly mediocre LP’s, Daniel Lanois turned Dylan’s best songs in years into a collective masterpiece. Who hasn’t felt Dylan’s confession, “I don't even care if I ever see her again. Most of the time.”
God Knows: Under the Red Sky, 1990
“God Knows” is Dylan playing in the field of rock, blues and gospel again. An outstanding song from a mostly disappointing CD.
Blind Willie McTell: The Bootleg Series Vol 1-3, 1991
Quite possibly Dylan’s best song, if there is such a thing. A loosely based folk-derivative of “St. James Infirmary,” it’s still puzzling for Dylan fans why “Blind Willie McTell” was left of “Infidels.”
High Water (For Charlie Patton): Love and Theft, 1997
With nods to Clarence Ashley’s “Coo-Coo Bird,” Charlie Patton’s “High Water Everywhere” and Elmore James, this is Dylan’s amphetamine laced “Visions of Johanna” dreamscape of American music history.
Cold Irons Bound: Masked and Anonymous, 2005
Originally from Dylan’s “Modern Times,” this roots rock treatment of “Bound,” with Charlie Sexton’s driving guitar, completely reworks the original. Dylan tosses the lyrics like he means it and doesn’t care at the same time, the band plays “Bound” like they were compelled to.
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