Bob Dylan

Love this package. Worth every penny. I bought the 1CD version at an airport en route to Tokyo and loved it so much that I bought the 2CD version once I got there. That was already a whole new dimension (because some of the songs make their appearance in vastly different or alternate takes). On that basis I ordered the 3CD deluxe boxset for the music - and the third CD far exceeded my expectations. Insanely creative experience. The two books are equally enjoyable. I liked the compendium of singles picture sleeves but it would have been better with a sentence of facts to accompany the photos.

Gave to my BIL for Christmas -- he's a big Dylan fan and seemed thrilled with this deluxe set. Great price at AMAZON too -- more than $50 less than the next best Online store.

Twenty two years back I bought the Biograph series which simply blew my mind; living in Calcutta, getting an LP was difficult - although there were these little stores on Free School Street that sold used records of everything we liked - Stones, Beatles, Floyd, Who, Young, Zep and other Gods of Rock & Roll. Crowning glory of ones listening repertoire were Dylan & Cohen - an easy way to be regarded an elite listener of sorts. The prices however were astronomical (250 rupees per record - which was a lot of money). So we shared records among friends - I had the Biograph series on tape without the regular inserts - I believe they were pirated. We took particular note that more than half of the songs on Biograph were not available elsewhere; Biograph was a testimony to Dylan's recording talent - without repetition of any kind.

Twenty years & six bootleg series later we all know there is probably another eight CD worth of quality recording that can be unearthed (including expansive Basement Tapes, live circa Before the Flood, Toronto live recordings circa the born again time, the classic electric era of the white hot noise and God knows what else.

This collection is spectacular and in some ways gives the feel of a more consistent studio record as opposed to a group of songs spanning some seventeen years. With Oh Mercy in 1989, and the resurrection that followed, it is perhaps not a surprise that there are many outtakes that are worthy of a regular official release for any lesser artist. Who knew growing old for Mr. Dylan could be so much fun for us?

I wonder if Columbia would release a record of just one song (Mississippi comes to mind) just to show that how each reading can sound so engrossing & can be so different from the other - and to prove a point that I have been saying for years - genius never repeats - a repeater of the same stuff day after day is a performer - not an artist.

With me getting no younger anymore, and the world the strange abode of tastelessness that it is today, I am ecstatic to own this collection - to be savoured, like good wine, in moderation and over many years. And I hope that there is more to come.

Thanks Bobby, this one's from Free School Street!

only bob dylan could surpass his own established work from previous albums his versions of "everything's broken", not to mention a wonderful rendition of "dignity", just dylan and his piano, a five star pouring out of a old civil rights anthem "Ring them Bells" tops off "Tell Tale Signs"....

Excellent mix of old and new, rock his new "easy" style. Honoring his roots and doing his own thing. He keeps breaking ground regardless of the critics just as in Newport & Nashville. Still the man - alias.

purchased this CD based on the strength of his latest Bootleg Series #7&8 thinking it would be as good and was very disappointed. The fore mentioned was the best music I've purchased in years. This CD had much potential but just got aggravating after a while. Don't buy it, get 7&8 instead.

a 3cd pack with booklet. The cds are great and the bookelet has notes on each of the songs and some photos that I haven't seen before. Really worthwhile

Many people are nitpicking about sound / rehearsal quality. This is a BOOTLEG compilation, and it's absolutely marvelous. My father played these cassette tapes throughout my childhood, and it feels great to hear them all again. THE best songwriting, presented in the simplest (perfect) manner, by THE voice. Simply Golden, must buy.

This is an absolutely incredible collection that anyone who even remotely likes Bob Dylan should own. I purchased it brand new and it came in wrapping, but it consistently skips on one song at the same place. I noticed slight gouges in the CD.

This is the first of the Bob Dylan official Bootleg Series offered by CBS/Sony and it offers up a delicious set of recordings that any Dylan fan just has to love. Most of these songs have appeared on Bootlegs over the years, but not all of them. There are some gems here that must have been shockers to both Dylan fans and Dylan bootleggers alike, especially the hauntingly beautiful "Farewell Angelina" that Dylan gave to Joan Baez to record. Hearing Dylan do it himself is a pure pleasure. And the two closing songs, "When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky" and "Series of Dreams" are just outstanding. What a rock song, "When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky" is. Wow!

I particularly like the Infidels outtakes on disc three, from "Tell Me" through "Blind Willie McTell." But wait! There's more," the Alternate take of "Subterranean Homesick Blues," is just as good as the original and will have you singing the words right along with Dylan, if you still know 'em, that is. "Nobody 'Cept You," left off of Planet Waves is a heart rendering love song, "She's Your Lover Now," left off of "Blonde on Blonde, because they never got the last verse right, is a song I play all the time. Actually I play this whole set all the time. It's just great.

Bob has done it yet again, I can't wait for more, however this will hold you until then

There are three editions of Tell Tale Signs. This is the single disc edition, which contains the same tracks as the first disc of both the two and three disc versions. What you choose to purchase depends on how deep you want to go into the vault.

This single disc edition more than satisfies. Every song on this disc shares something with songs that have appeared on previous CDs - mostly from Oh Mercy and Time Out Of Mind. Yet, they sound like entirely different songs. What you have here are working versions of songs, but they sound so complete that could have been released "as is." They might share a title, a few verses, or a chorus, but this sounds like I'm hearing a brand new Bob Dylan CD. Most Of The Time is essentially the same song, but Bob's phrasing is different, and he accompanies himself on piano. It's gorgeous and sounds like a completely different song.

The CD ends with proof that Bob isn't finished with a song once it's committed to CD. A live version of High Water (for Charley Patton), a song that first appeared on "Love and Theft," has a new arrangement and different vocal phrasing. Bob's creative process is ongoing, and his art is never completely finished until he's performed a song for the last time. Bob still has a lot more to show us. May he continue until his last breath.

The tracks in this collection are definitely better than the original published versions. I guess this is just possible because of Bob Dylan.

If the listing for this item is correct, then I would highly recommend not buying it. The listing shows one disc from the Bootleg Series Vol. 8. It was already unclear how many discs belong to that volume because of the fact that the "regular" release had 2 discs and the "Special Edition" had 3 discs but cost $100 more!! This appears to be disc 1 from either of the other two sets. Why pay $12 for this when $17 gets you 2 discs. I rated this 4 stars because the music is absolutely that good. In fact, the only reason I did not put 5 stars was because of the odd configuration. By all means get some version of this, if only to hear Red River Shore.

After first listen I couldn't have been more pleased. Bands would kill just to have his bootleg career. I believe this stands on its own merit right up with the best regular studio release albums. Red River Shore, High Water, no, I'm not gonna try to list high points, the album is one big high point. I honestly was hesitant to purchase in rough economical times but if you can swing it, buy it. I'm so glad I did

Love it or hate it, Highway 61 is Dylan's masterpiece, a real watershed moment in the evolution of the folk revival and the mid '60s rebirth of rock 'n' roll at the hands of Bob, the Beatles, etc. Bob probably gained as many new fans as he lost old ones (think Newport '65), and this move produced likely as much controversy in the folk world as John Lennon's "Beatles are bigger than Jesus" comment did in the world in general--'66 would prove to be a difficult year for both of these rock icons--but once Highway 61 hit the racks in August of 1965, there was no going back.

The album opens with Dylan's great riches-to-rags anthem, "Like a Rolling Stone," a 6:07 single that went to #2 in the late summer of '65, prevented only from reaching the top spot by the Beatles' "Help!", which was #1 for three weeks. "Stone" was also Dylan's final production with Tom Wilson behind the mixing desk; the remainder of the album was produced by Bob Johnston, with whom Dylan would work through Nashville Skyline. Next up is "Tombstone Blues," featuring some of Dylan's most amazing psychedelic poetry and some amazing guitar soloing from the late, great Michael Bloomfield, and then the track from which this review's title is drawn, the slow blues "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry." Then, the oddly upbeat car-death rocker "From a Buick 6" and Dylan's slow, vituperative "Ballad of a Thin Man," a poison dart cast with deadly precision at Dylan's critics and detractors ("Something is happening here, but you don't know what it is...do you, Mr. Jones?").

Side two opens, then, with "Queen Jane Approximately," honestly my least favourite track on this album, probably because it seems excessively trebly and piercing (notably Dylan's harmonica solos between the last two verses); we then have the title cut, where Dylan's harmonica has been temporarily replaced with a police whistle, and the eponymous highway becomes a staging point for human sacrifice, homeless shelter, flea market ("I got 40 red white and blue shoestrings/And a thousand telephones that don't ring/Can you tell me where I might get rid of these things?"), Oedipal commingling (the Second Mother and the Seventh Son) and even the next World War. "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is more of Dylan's acid-poetry, and the album closes with the epic "Desolation Row," featuring a cast of thousands as only Dylan can write them (including Einstein Disguised as Robin Hood, Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot fighting in the Captain's tower, Romeo, Cinderella, the Phantom of the Opera and Cassanova). Through it all, Dylan has the backing of Michael Bloomfield, Al Kooper (in his first-ever shot at playing the organ, for which Tom Wilson laughed at his hubris), the great Harvey Brooks (still known then as Harvey Goldstein), and Russ Savakus and Charlie McCoy (who would also play on Blonde on Blonde), among others.

The casual fan might wish to stick with the compilations that include "Like a Rolling Stone" among Dylan's other classics, but for the real devotee, or the collector, this is a necessary item.

I know there are others that would disagree but Dylan going electric was the greatest and probably one of the most controversial things in music history. This isn't my favorite Dylan album but with that said it's absolutely incredible and essential. So many people have great reviews about this album and their right! I couldn't pick out a favorite song on this because like any Bob album they always say something new and I always get a different feeling from it. To anybody thinking about buying, do it, no matter if its for pleasure or pure music education, it's essential.

Yawn! Why is this album in such high regard? It's crap. It's just a commercial computer manufactured pile of flaming poo. The guy can't even play guitar! He only knows how to play two chords. I think it's about time someone showed this hack to write music- Fred Durst, perhaps?

Well here we are. One of the most renowned and praised pieces of popular music in history. Last time we saw Bob Dylan he was proving that he was more than a simple folk singer. This time around, he's proving that he should be held in the same regard as Michaelangelo and Socrates.

The most famous drum crash and organ blast ever. "Like A Rolling Stone" is the song that needs no introduction. It's the song that is continually voted as the greatest and most important song of all time, even almost 45 years later. It changed what pop music could be, it changed what could be considered a "hit" song, and as everyone from the Beatles to Springsteen to Wilco will attest to- it proved that shooting for the moon could pay off. It's the song that starts this album here and sets the table for what will follow. "Tombstone Blues" is next- it's Bob's scathing oppinion on various topics of the time- war, crime, hypocricy, religion, etc- in a vain similar to "Maggie's Farm" from his "Bringing It All Back Home" album. "It Takes A Lot To Laugh..." and "From a Buick 6" are the next two tracks, and both seemingly deal with a woman in Dylan's life. While "Buick" seems to hold in high regards the woman who takes care of Dylan and keeps him grounded and in check, "It Takes..." appears to serve almost as a warning to her- Dylan wants to be a certain way, and much else should not be expected of him. "Ballad of A Thin Man", an attack on a magazine columnist whom Dylan felt had him misunderstood comes next, and is then followed by "Queen Jane Approximately", a song that appears to be laiden with disdain for a woman Dylan once knew and loved, who is now living a glamorized, fake existence. Lyrically, a great song in which Dylan asks her to come see him again once she's gotten her head out of the clouds and her feet back on the ground. The title track (as per Dylan, inspired by blues legend Robert Johnson) and the fantastic piano driven "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"- (featuring great lyrics about temptation and things not being as they appear) are the final 2 songs before the epic Dylan masterpiece "Desolation Row". Widely considered one of the most complex and difficult Dylan songs ever written, "Row" is a nightmarish narrative that essentially is Dylan's response to a letter he receives from someone. Full of metaphors and symbolism involving many of literature's most famous characters- the song goes to show once and for all, how talented a writer Dylan really is.

Angry and mean, yet passionate and emotional. Dark, complex, disturbing and brilliant. "Highway 61 Revisited" is one of the best examples of why Dylan is held in such high regard. The only thing perhaps more amazing than the quality of these compositions, is the fact that the writer was only 25 when they were created.

This CD is a real classic. I would have given it 4 1/2 stars but the computer didn't seem to be able to give it that rating. Anyway, I love the CD and I can't believe it took me so many years to finally buy it. But it is a great CD and one everyone should have in their collection.

Blood on the Tracks being Dylan's 1975 release and his 15th studio album was his return to Columbia Records after having released two albums with Asylum Records. The album reached nr 1 on the Billboard 200 and it is easy to see why. This ranks up there with other great releases such as
Highway 61 Revisited and The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Some of my favorite tracks are "Simple Twist of Fate", "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" and "Shelter from the Storm". The book-let has a list of the muisicians and a very good essay about Dylan written by Pete Hamill. There are no lyrics but being that the album is loaded with the pain from his seperation from his then wife Sara Dylan this is easy to understand. 5/5.

Blood on the Tracks (1975) may not be Bob Dylan's greatest album, but it is certainly his most perfect. There isn't a single wasted moment on this flawless classic, and as it intently flows from start to finish with scarred passion and fresh acoustic beauty, it presents the listener with a clear image of the isolation, resentment and (sometimes) vindication that Dylan seemed to be experiencing at the time.

I wouldn't exactly call Blood on the Tracks a concept album, but the theme of a relationship that has fallen apart is apparent in nearly every song here. The collapse of Bob's marriage to Sara Lowndes is said to be the inspiration for the album.

One of the things that sets Blood on the Tracks apart from many of Dylan's other albums is the sheer beauty of it's sound. The wonderful melodies and handsome acoustic musical arrangements are just as remarkable as Dylan's poignant and thoughtful lyrics here. Where Dylan's singing and lyrics often carry the lion's share of the weight on his albums, here the crisp production gives the acoustic guitars and other instruments a chance to step up and add a whole new dimension of excellence to every song.

Pain, sadness, loneliness, anger and regret run through the songs here like a sharp silver thread of naked emotion. Tangled Up In Blue opens the album with a 5:42 minute folk/pop confessional of a relationship dying, drifting across the country solo, and broken-hearted loneliness.

But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind
And I just grew
Tangled up in blue

Dylan angrily lashes out in the seething 7:48 minutes of Idiot Wind, a venomous hate epic that matches even legends like Positively 4th Street and Like A Rolling Stone.

Idiot wind blowing through the flowers on your tomb
Blowing through the curtains in your room
Idiot wind blowing every time you move your teeth
You're an idiot babe
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe

At 8:51 minutes, Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts is the longest song on the album, and also one of the more interesting. Over a country bass, brushed drums and church organ, Dylan strums his acoustic guitar, plays harmonica, and sings a cinematic narrative using wild west poker game images and intrigue.

Simple Twist Of Fate quietly tells the lonely tale of a sleazy rendezvous in the city and If You See Her, Say Hello is heartbreakingly lonely and the saddest song on the album. Meet Me In The Morning and Buckets Of Rain explore folk/blues flat-top guitar picking, and Shelter From The Storm is an acoustic guitar traditional folk saga of a forsaken Dylan and the unidentified woman who offers him comfort and salvation.

I heard newborn babies wailin' like a morning dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love
Do I understand your question man, "Is it hopeless and forlorn?"
"Come in," she said, "I'll give ya shelter from the storm."

Blood on the Tracks is one of Bob Dylan's best albums. It's also one of his best selling albums. This is a good place to start with Dylan for the uninitiated, and an essential for any serious music collection. These are personal songs that are based on personal events so there isn't any of Dylan's famous political poetry or social protests here. This is a lonely journey through a difficult, dark and emotionally challenging ordeal. The title Dylan chose for this classic says it all. Blood On The Tracks.

This is such a great album. Tangled up in Blue and Shelter from the Storm are Dylan classics for sure, but every song is great!

I've heard many Bob Dylan albums and been to dozens of concerts. Blood on the Tracks is one of his best. The variety of his voice and moods is unlike most I've listened to. I have an old 78rpm Blood on the Tracks album that I never listened to, but now I will, to get the feel of those old recordings he made. He is THE BEST.

This would be one of the five albums I would take with me if I was to be deserted on a small island for an extended period of time. I hope there would be electricity!

I bought this album a few years ago and I can can still find pleasure in it like no other album. The musicianship, lyrics, and Dylan's singing are like none that no musical artist has yet to duplicate. This would definately be at the top of Dylan's great albums along with Highway 61 Revisited and Blood on the Tracks. Need I say more.

Although the CD arrived promptly, upon playing the disk the first cut (song) did not play.Disks should be ckecked for perfection before shipping.

Blonde on Blonde being Dylan's 1966 release and his seventh studio album is a very good record. Tracks such as I want you, Absolutely Sweet Marie and many others make this a very pleasent record. Dylan is such a great lyricist that listening to his lyrics is pure ear candy. I must say that I love the book-let. The photos are great except the cover photo which looks a bit blurred. However, maybe they did this on purpose. Still and all this is a great record that should not be missed. I definitely recommend it.

I'm not sure why I write reviews about albums this old, but my cousins' kids actually still listen to this stuff (and I thought I was late on the scene 25 years ago) so maybe it IS still relevent. And this disc warrants all that can be said about it. It took me a long time to "get" Dylan in college, but somehow... Anyway, this is my personal favorite, and has been for decades. Visions of Johanna alone is worth the price of the disc, but don't go the iTunes route, buying by the song. This collection has to be listened to as a set to be fully appreciated. If I had to rate all of Dylan's music, I'd put this 1st, Hwy 61 2nd, Bringing It All Back Home 3rd, and Blood On The Tracks 4th. Obviously I liked it whe he "went electric". Like the Stones, Dylan went though a period when it all "clicked" and this album was right there in the middle of it.

Also, if you like great poets/story tellers, try Richard Shindell (folk), the late Dave Carter w/Tracy Grammer (country/bluegrass), and, of course, Tom Waits - he'll take as long to "grow" on you as Dylan did and will be just as worth while.

I recently purchased this cd from amazon. The delivery was fast. I only wish I could say the same about Blonde on Blonde. What an overrated plodding piece of schlock this is. Most critics place this album in their top ten best. They say it's one of Dylan's best. I wouldn't place this in my top 30. If you want a Dylan starter kit here it is: Highway 61 Revisited, Blood On The Tracks, Bringing It All Back Home. Heck, Shot Of Love is better than Blonde on Blonde.

It's amazing how money hungry artists like this put out greatest hits when they were never even on MTV or BET. Bob Dylan is a great example of this. Stupid anti-war hippy music!

For good classic rock check out Nickelback, Green Day, or the Hives.

Why oh why is this clown considered a poet? REAL poets are Lil' Wayne, Britney Spears, Nickelback, Staind or 50 Cent. I bet ol' Bob couldn't write poetry like "I sit alone and watch the clock/Trying to collect my thoughts/All I think about is you". See that poetry? It's "Believe" by Staind. And why doesn't this Dylan folk have any lyrics about clubs and booty-shakin'? What an old-timer. Tell him to get with the times or he's never going to get any BET airplay.

awesome CD, no time to write more right now, but a great CD from a great artist!

I had forgotten how badly Dylan sings while being so good at it. A nice collection of his work.

this is a great album for what it is and it is a career spanning compilation and as such is meant to include the finest tracks and is meant to give a sampler of an artist work which it does exceptionally well. no it doesn't have all his best tracks and yes everybody has their little probelems,but for those uniniated or just starting out with a minimal dylan collection its a great starter i guarantee you'll come back too time and again.

What can I say except that the man is a genius. After listening to and enjoying the covers on the soundtrack of I'm Not There I was inspired to listen again to the original and was taken on a journey back to my youth.

Just wanted to hear and dub a few songs from disc. Brings me back to the younger day's. Great driving music.

It isn't definitive. Not by a long shot. I mean, it only covers the early phase of Dylan's career, starting with a cut from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) and ending with a selection from Blonde On Blonde (1966). And even then, it hardly tells the full story: Bob Dylan's early days were as tumultuous and groundbreaking as anything else in the history of popular music, a heady period which saw him evolve from an idealistic young folk troubadour to rock `n' roll's cynical poet laureate. Dylan was discovering his voice and developing his genius all the while, in the process creating some of the greatest music ever. A measly ten-song tracklisting doesn't even scratch the surface. Twenty wouldn't come close. No collection of mid 60s Dylan is complete without "Tombstone Blues," "Masters Of War," "Visions Of Johanna," "Motorpsycho Nightmare," "Desolation Row," etc. The list goes on.

So why the high rating? Simple. The ten songs on this disc are among the greatest ever written or recorded. Buy this, and you'll like what you hear. And then you'll want more. And you'll discover one of history's greatest musicians in the process. Enjoy.

I never defend greatest hits albums, because when it comes to "album bands" or legendary artists, the idea is to collect all their regular studio and live albums, and leave the hit packages in the back of the store shelves where they belong.

However, this is a major exception. A shocking exception in fact, because while there's not a whole lot of music on this album, that doesn't even matter- this selection of classics from 60's Bob Dylan gathers all the main important hits, and puts them on one small, very affordable and EXTREMELY satisfying disc.

I say, AWESOME! I love every single one of these songs. It's a perfect way to start experiencing Bob Dylan's music.

He's an American icon, phenomenal songwriter, and from Minnesota! Great combination! I'm a voice teacher, and he certainly is not a good singer, but his style and interpretation make up for what he lacks in bel canto style!

It was with "Freewheelin'", his second album, that Bob Dylan established himself as a great songwriter. Featured are all-time classics like "Blowin' In The Wind", "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright". But some lesser known gems, such as "Bob Dylan's Dream", are also included. "Masters Of War" is at an anti-war song with Dylan at his most venomous and "Girl From The North Country" is one of his most beautiful romantic ballads.

This is a young, idealistic Dylan playing raw, stripped down folk music. But with witty, perceptive and extremely sardonic lyrics that take it to a whole new level. To see the glorious roots of the best songwriter of the last 50 years there is no better place to start than here.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan starts out with the classic tune Blowin' in the wind and the rest of the songs are of the same quality. Dylan writes some amazing lyrics on this recording. He writes with a heartfelt sincerity that is not in the least phoney or forced. Nat Hentoff writes a short and informative essay on the record and then gives a synopsis to what all the songs mean to the singer. The only hang up is the lack of lyrics. That is a shame that they forgot to include this. This is certainly a timeless classic!

Released the year I was born, 1963, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" became the album which best represents a turbulent time in America. Put this cd on, for those of us who spent at least a part of our lives in those stormy years, the album evokes a lot of memories, and a lot of feelings, particularly about the America we could've become before Kennedy fell, before Viet Nam, before King fell, before we lost our innocense.

The first track "Blowin' in the Wind" became the anthem of the day, redone and popularized by Peter, Paul, and Mary. Yet the original carries such weight that did not carry over. "Girl from the North Country" is a peaceful sort of ballad, whose lyrics will remind you just briefly of "Scarborough Fair". Here we have Dylan in his acoustical element, just him, his guitar, and harmonica. "Masters of War" could've been directed at the White House, speaking directly to those who would go ahead and approve our nation's involvement in a hopeless war. Bluesy "Down the Highway" is next, perfect in it's simplicity. "Bob Dylan's Blues" starts off with Dylan talking, a bit about the song's origin, "written somewhere down the United States". "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" sees Dylan as the prophet, predicting the dark days to come. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is another simple song, but gentler. "Bob Dylan's Dream" is an awesome track, Dylan dreams a dream "concerning myself and the first few friends that I had". Beautiful, and poignant. "Oxford Town" is a country song, about the persecution of a black man. "Talkin' World War III Blues" starts off with Dylan dreaming yet again, "a bad dream", but "only in your head" says the doctor. Just an ambling sort of song, evocative of Arlo Guthrie. "Corrina, Corrina" is a slower sort of love ballad (a soft drum is added to the recording). "Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance" is a kind of funny song, but good (once again just Dylan, his guitar, and harmonica). The closer "I Shall Be Free" is a story song, classical Dylan all the way, perhaps a bit more optimistic, which is a nice way to end the album.

There's a reason Dylan still registers on the mindset of us Americans who grew up in the 60's. That's because he spoke truth, life and of all those ordinary things. I strongly recommend this album.

In reviewing Bob Dylan's 1965 classic album Bringing All Back Home (you know, the one where he went electric) I noted that it seemed hard to believe now that both as to the performer as well as to what was being attempted that anyone would take umbrage at a performer using an electric guitar to tell a folk story (or any story for that matter). I further pointed out that it is not necessary to go into all the details of what or what did not happen with Pete Seeger at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 to know that one should be glad, glad as hell, that Bob Dylan continued to listen to his own drummer and carry on a career based on electronic music.

Others have, endlessly, gone on about Bob Dylan's role as the voice of his generation (and mine), his lyrics and what they do or do not mean and his place in the rock or folk pantheons, or both. Here we are going back to the early days when there was no dispute that he had earned a place in the folk pantheon. The only real difference between the early stuff and the later electric stuff though is- the electricity. Dylan's extraordinary sense of words, language and word play has been a constant throughout his career. If much later ( in the 1990's) he gets a bit repetitious and a little gimmicky in order to stay "relevant" that is only much later after he had done more than his share to add to the language of music.

In this selection we have some outright folk classics that will endure for the ages like those of his early hero Woody Guthrie's have endured. Blowing in the Wind still sounds good and makes sense as an anthem of change - especially today when some serious social tasks remain to be accomplished. Yes, the answer my friend is blowing in the wind (and in other locales, as well). Also here showing Dylan's, sometimes disavowed, country roots is a very nice although Johnny Cash-less Girl From the North County. No anti-war song is more powerful than Masters of War- none. Anyone can write the easy peace songs about Where Have All The Flowers Gone and Give Peace a Chance but to really understand and really get mad about what we are up against you need to listen to this song. Pearl Jam covered it later for a reason- we still need to drive the warmongers from their marketplaces.

Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall hits right where you live, the lyrics could have come out of out of today's newspaper front pages (or Internet updates). The cover of the old blues classic Corrina, Corrina is fine. Another Dylan classic Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, about the never-ending subject of lost love and longing is as well. There are a few topical songs from that time that might not make sense today- but topicals by footloose troubadours have always been a part of the folk tradition-as it is safe to say is Mr. Dylan.

This brought me back to the time I was a Dj at WKDK in Newberry, South Carolina. The 33 record came in, I played it and was told to put it on the back shelf. To controversial for the time and place. I ended up with the record and played it until 33's faded out. Over the years I remembered that record and often wished I could play it again and then I found the CD on Amazon. The CD is exactly as I remember the record but a better quality. Anyone interested in the early Dylan and that time period should really get this CD, only to hear how Blowing in the Wind originally sounded before Joan Baez and Peter, Paul and Mary made it popular.

I was looking for a Dylan album that was similar in mood and music to Nashville Skyline. This meets expectations. My favorite tunes are New Morning and Man in Me. Great music for the fall.

New Morning being the 11 studio album and it was relased by Columbia Records in 1970. This is a good example of Bob Dylan being more laid back. Gone is the politics and anger of his earlier releases. On this album we hear Dylan having fun and I love the track If not for you. I really like the cover photo of Dylan. For once Dylan has picked a competent photographer, i.e., Len Siegler. 4/5.

While not as finely tuned as some of his stronger compositions, this period shows Dylan having some fun again. It is certainly not amongst his most convincing offerings, but there is a genuine spirit in most tracks, even if he was recycling some past ideas.

i love this album. in fact, it's the only dylan album i listen to. i'd have to say it's one of my top 10 favorite albums. reccommended without reservation. by the way, there's an import version that came out recently that sounds wonderful. costs under $20.

Ranked against Dylan's own music I give this 4 stars, but ranked against a lot other popular music I give it a 5.