A voice like sand and glue? A shock of unruly hair? Dylan is such an iconic figure that even attempting to describe him is a futile excersize. He's played through the years with face makeup, his appearance has been affected by whatever various substances of states of mind he's been in. Music wise, he's gone from Folk, to Rock and Roll, country - and everything inbetween. Well, not heavy metal, but he's tried almost everything else, to varying deegrees of success. The 'classic' Dylan sound remains the sound of his mid-sixties albums, or his earlier folk albums. He's done so much great work since, that this image of him is perhaps unfair to his overall legacy.
A Common Misconception
That he's not a good singer. His voice may not be that of an opera singers and may lack the purity of Paul McCartney or Carl Wilson..... It may lack everything you 'expect' in a singer, but his voice is highly characteristic, 100% distinctive - and just take a listen to 'Visions Of Johanna' and then, in all honesty, tell me the man isn't a great singer?
How To Buy
It's difficult to squeeze nearly forty years worth of recordings into just a three album recommendation, but we'll give it a try. In this respect, his 1965 release Bringing It All Back Home is a godsend. It covers his mid-sixties sound and his earlier folk sound, the sound that first brought him to a worlds attention. Dylan influenced absolutely everybody. He 'held court' in hotel rooms in England in the mid-sixites, and The Beatles and The Rolling Stones would attend, in awe of the guy. Rightly so. Dylan was one man, and so REAL sounding - and his songs had spawned a thousand cover versions, many chart toppers. The most famous of which, Mr Tambourine Man is sourced from Bringing It All Back Home, so given the fact that album covers both his main Sixities styles - seems a great place to begin with. Don't forget Highway 61 Revisited, The Freewheelin or Blonde On Blonde of course. Dylan albums can often be picked up at mid-price, a great thing when building a collection. Blood On The Tracks i've selected here above my own personal favourite of the marvellous Desire because Blood On The Tracks is so central to Dylans overall career. Indeed, if you only could buy one Dylan album, Blood On The Tracks would be the one to give you a good indication of what the man and his music is all about. Lastly, moving into the modern era, Time Out Of Mind wiped away memories of below par Eighties Dylan albums at a single stroke and is highly recommended.
Download Bob Dylan
A selection of Bob Dylan songs to download from the web, also forming a nifty 65 minute CD compilation.
1) Like A Rolling Stone
2) Positively 4th Street
3) Knockin On Heaven's Door
4) All Along The Watchtower
5) I Want You
6) Visions Of Johanna
7) Idiot Wind
8) Tell Me Momma ( Live 1966 )
9) Mr Tambourine Man ( Live 1964 )
10) Subterranean Homesick Blues
11) Love Minus Zero
12) Isis
13) Don't Think Twice
14) High Water ( For Charley Patton )
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