BOB DYLAN: BOB DYLAN
Surprisingly, given that he's known as a preeminent songwriter, Bob Dylan's first album is comprised almost entirely of covers. It's a personality-driven record, and Bob Dylan's charismatic and braying vocals are intriguing. Only four of these songs were drawn from Dylan's live set at the time so that the album serves as a summary of the early 1960s New York folk scene - Dylan used arrangements devised by contemporaries like Dave Van Ronk and Eric Von Schmidt. Even if you think of early Dylan as a folk artist, many of these songs are blues-based - Led Zeppelin later stretched out "In My Time Of Dying" into an epic, while the album ends with Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean". The two original songs here show Woody Guthrie's influence - "Talkin' New York" is in Guthrie's style, while "Song For Woody" is a lovely tribute piece that's one of Dylan's most unguarded moments. It's essentially a false start to Dylan's career, not preparing listeners what was to come with his phenomenal second album, but Bob Dylan is an enjoyable, albeit minor work.
Tracklist:
1.You're No Good 2.Talkin' New York 3.In My Time Of Dyin' 4.Man Of Constant Sorrow 5.Fixin' To Die 6.Pretty Peggy-O 7.Highway 51 8.Gospel Plow 9.Baby, Let Me Follow You Down 10.House Of The Risin' Sun 11.Freight Train Blues 12.Song To Woody 13.See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
Lineup:
Bob Dylan - vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, John H. Hammond - production