| Author | Message | ||
     M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 21 Registered: 05-2005 |
Has it really been forty years since my favorite Bob album (Highway 61) was released? This beast was so far above everything else at the time and I daresay would be today as well if it were new. Anyone else care to chime in with their favorite? | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 63 Registered: 04-2005 |
It would hard to argue with the choice of "Highway 61 Revisited," but if I had to pick one Dylan album, it would be "Blood on the Tracks," which is boosted from "really good Dylan" to "essential Dylan" because of "Tangled Up In Blue." One of the three or four best songs by anyone ever? I think so. | ||
| Peter Azzopardi Member Username: Pete Post Number: 117 Registered: 09-2004 |
To pick a solitary Dylan favourite would be too difficult. Here are the five favourites that I find myself listening to the most: John Wesley Harding Nashville Skyline New Morning Basement Tapes (the official album plus some of the essential unofficial tracks) Love and Theft I've always said that Blonde on Blonde is my favourite Dylan, and I'd probably stand by that claim if pushed. I also think there are half a dozen 'classic' Dylan albums (such as "61" and "on the Tracks") that are rightfully hailed as his masterpieces that I have neglected here. I just like listening to these ones the most for some reason, maybe because they're amiable attempts at 'classic' songwriting (musically at least) minus the austerity of the earlier folk records. BTW: Robert Forster has an interesting review of Smog's new album in the latest edition of The Monthly in which he perhaps overemphasises the influence of John Wesley Harding on alt-country. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 64 Registered: 03-2005 |
What IS the source of influence for alt country? My older brother was born in 1950. I grew up listening to his record collection. Originally he was all about the Byrds. He followed this group into its Gram Parsons period and right up to the end in the mid 1970s. Of course he also followed Gene Clark through his rocky solo career. The Byrds also led him to the country-inflected Ian & Sylvia, Joan Baez and Dylan records. Also the Dillards, whose "Wheatstraw Suite" is generally acknowledged as a masterpiece of bending the genres between rock, pop and bluegrass. And growing up in the Central Valley of California, we both always had soft spots for Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. I remained much more a pop and rock guy than my brother but remain forever grateful to him for these essential influences. I suspect that most alt-country people followed a journey something like that of my brother except that obviously they are younger and were probably digging backwards through the misfit classics of such folks as these. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 106 Registered: 10-2004 |
my favorite would definitely be blood on the tracks, followed by blonde on blonde. blood on the tracks was the record that really got me into dylan. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 65 Registered: 03-2005 |
ditto. The 60s albums have always been too erratic for me. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 35 Registered: 05-2005 |
Blonde On Blonde and Oh Mercy. The latter if I can only have one. Oh Mercy ties me to a time and place that I like to be reminded of (Boston, 1989). | ||
| Brook Crowley Member Username: 1_fan Post Number: 48 Registered: 02-2005 |
"Blonde on Blonde". That was not only Dylan's first double album, but it's beleived to be the first rock n' roll double set. I love its highlights "Rainy Day Women #s 12 & 35", "I Want You", "Just Like A Woman" and its closer, "Sad-eyed Lady of he Lowlands". The last track, clocking in at a marathon eleven minutes and twenty-three seconds, is believed to be Dylan's longest-running recorded track. Needless to say, it also took up the entirety of side four, making it the shortest Dylan LP side. I also love 1982's "Infidels" co-produced by Dire Straits's Mark Knopler, who also played lead guitar. The six-and-a-half minute long "Jokerman" is the undoubted stand-out track. Tell you what, the Go-Betweens would do rather well covering "Jokerman" in shows. "Desire" is also good- nine tracks over fifty-six-and-a-half minutes, with THE highlight being the eight-and-a-half minute tribute to Rueben Carter, "Hurricane". Amanda would do just wonderful for the violin part! | ||
| Rob Member Username: Rob Post Number: 40 Registered: 12-2004 |
Slow Train Coming. At the time it came out I hated anything which appeared to predate the Jam or the Clash. And Mark Knopfler played on it, another bogey figure for me at the time. Six or so years later I bought a cassette of it on the strength of hearing a few verses of Gotta Serve Somebody. One listen to the lot (and the rest) and I was hooked. I've since listened to a lot of Dylan, and seen the man play live, but I keep coming back to STC. I love the complete absence of ambiguity on this record, and the way Dylan accuses his fellow humans (including his old selves) of sin, with total assurance and indeed lip-smacking anticipation of the rewards for their errors. It's bit like some metal, which proceeds in its inevitable argument about blood, death and pain without a glance to left or right. The musicians themselves will also be crushed by the juggernaut, but at least they have the power to inform the helpless victims of their terrible fate. And they do so with drooling relish. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 36 Registered: 05-2005 |
Brook, as far as I can recall, Highlands from Love And Theft is either 14 or 17 minutes long. I'm open to correction here from Pete or one of the other Dylanologists. | ||
| Peter Azzopardi Member Username: Pete Post Number: 118 Registered: 09-2004 |
I'm pretty sure Highlands is the longest too, Padraig, as I'm sure you meant to write it is from "Time Out of Mind" and not "Love and Theft". Speaking of Dylan, "No Direction Home: Bootleg Series vol. 7" comes out tomorrow (at least it does in the US, not sure about here in AUS). Didn't bother with Vol. 6, and this is another collection of alternate versions and live tracks put together to coincide with the Scorsese doco of the same name. When will they do the right thing and release the Basement Tape gems neglected on the official album. Songs like "Sign on the Cross" and "I'm Not There (1956)" simply need to be made available. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 17 Registered: 05-2005 |
"Bringing it all back home" followed closely by "Blonde on Blonde". A good thread!!! Now we need one on the Byrds who were, to my ears, mysteriously thanked on 16LL. And why is it that over the past 15 years, EVERY band from Britain supposedly sounds like the Byrds but invariably never does?! | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 73 Registered: 11-2004 |
Teenage Fanclub come pretty close, Geoff. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 64 Registered: 04-2005 |
To follow up on the last couple of posts (sort of), I have to ask if anyone here has noticed the unexpected Byrdsesque (Byrdsian?) harmonies on Wire's "The 15th" from "154"? I always thought it sounded like a wonderful cross between the Byrds, Velvet Underground, and Brian Eno. I wouldn't say Wire ever sounded like the Byrds otherwise, of course...just that one song! | ||
| M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 22 Registered: 05-2005 |
You could make an argument that Blonde On Blonde was the first "alt-country" album, especially since I think (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong) that it was the first "pop" album recorded in Nashville. I hear traces of country music all through that record and combined with Dylan's surreal lyrics and innovative technique surely changed the way artists viewed country music and its possibilities. | ||
| jerry_h Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 8 Registered: 07-2005 |
Interestingly I was having this very discussion over the weekend at a stag party.I must say my favourite is Blood on the Tracks and Nashville Skyline, you can listen to them repeatly more straight forwrd songs and I have to say less aurally challenging than some.Also had discussion re best Springteen album, my vote was for Darkness on the Edge of Town | ||
| abigail law Member Username: Abigail Post Number: 3 Registered: 06-2005 |
ive been listening to the new bootleg album (vol 7) and it is unbelivable the progress he made from the the early 60's to 66. the man is a genius - the only musical genius still alive if you ask me. i'd say love & theft is his best album the musicianship and lyrics are so deep, dark and twisting its impossible to get a hold on, or maybe nasville skyline. | ||
| Peter Collins Member Username: Tyroneshoelaces Post Number: 29 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have a strange liking for Planet Waves... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 18 Registered: 01-2005 |
I would rank Blonde as being my favorite Bob, but it's real close. Darkness is my favorite Bruce by a long shot. I got to see him on the Darkness tour in Feb. 1979. A lot of Brud fans consider the Darkness tour to be his best from what I gather. The first "alt-country" album? How about Gram's group The International Submarine Band's "Safe At Home"? My intro to a-c would be Grevious Angel, which I bought in 1974 after reading the review of it in Rollling Stone. I bet Gram would have hated the term "alt-country". He certainly hated the "country-rock" term. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 38 Registered: 05-2005 |
Tunnel Of Love is my favourite Bruce album. I used to love my vinyl copy of Darkness, but it has been a very long time since I last played it. Time to dust it off I think. His new album is great too by the way. | ||
| M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 23 Registered: 05-2005 |
Springsteen? Nebraska,definitely. I remember when that came out,everyone I knew hated it but I thought,here he is doing what Dylan should have been doing in the early 80's. Fantastic,ballsy album. | ||
| jerry_h Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 9 Registered: 07-2005 |
Yes Padraig-Tunnel of love is truly excellent and often overlooked,like all things your favourite changes with your mood. The Band, could be seen as the pioneers of alt-country, the eponymous album is one of the best albums of the 60's. | ||
| abigail law Member Username: Abigail Post Number: 4 Registered: 06-2005 |
i think the true pioneer of alt-country has to be gene clarke – cruelly overlooked whenever these kind of discussions are underway (probably because he never had the gram parsons looks – much as I love his music,). From early byrds through to ‘no other’ and his mor wilderness days the guy was incredible and unbelievably underrated. | ||
| gareth w Member Username: Gareth Post Number: 4 Registered: 05-2005 |
'Tunnel Of Love' could be my all-time favourite album so i have to go with that. It's a great record with his best lyrics too. 'Devils and Dust' is a grower. Wasn't blown away at first but it's really got under my skin. Saw him play live about a month ago and he was on great form. Not for the casual listener (think he did 3 b-sides and a lot of obscure tracks) but a great show. He did 'Reason To Believe' virtually accapella and the piano tracks ('Racing in the Street', 'Walk Like a Man', 'Two for the Road' etc) were the highlights. He ended with a track by Suicide! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 66 Registered: 03-2005 |
I, of course, concur with abigail's citation of Gene Clark for forerunner of alt-country status. The International Submarine Band's album dates from 1967 as does Clark's first solo album. Right now I can't say which one came out first, but Clark definitely bent the boundaries between country and rock or pop vastly more on that first album than did the International Submarine Band who essentially followed the Bakersfield country template. As for pop records cut in Nashville, that happened all the time; Dylan didn't invent anything by doing that. Helen Shapiro cut a great album there in 1963. Actually a decent case can be made for John Sebastian and his group the Lovin' Spoonful as progenitors of either alt-country or country rock. They have always been slagged off as bubblegum but take a listen to their albums from their very first. The country and country blues elements are right there from the get-go and the totally overt "Nashville Cats"--already deep into their chart career--dates from 1966. The case for the Band is very strong because of the totally unique funky feel that they brought to country, almost as if Sly and the Family Stone decided to make countrified records. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 95 Registered: 08-2004 |
Best complete albums by Dylan IMHO are Desire & John Wesley Harding. Blonde On Blonde & Highway 61 suffer only slightly because of a weak song or 2. As for alt-country, Hank Williams is at the forefront, if he's not considered too traditional, Johnny Cash could wear the crown for the first country rock artist. | ||
| Adam Sanderson Member Username: Adam_sanderson Post Number: 1 Registered: 09-2005 |
My favourite Dylan album is Blonde on Blonde. On a different note, I seem to recall Grant saying that he wanted to write a long number based on a simple riff like Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands when he wrote Wrong Road Round. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 75 Registered: 11-2004 |
Highway 61 Revisited would be my pick. | ||
| Erhard Grundl Member Username: Erhardgrundl Post Number: 1 Registered: 09-2005 |
sometimes i feel that Time Out Of Mind from 1997 is his masterpiece | ||
| M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 25 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks everyone for confirming what I already knew. What makes Dylan stand above everyone else is made clear just by this thread. Here is someone who has been recording for over 40 years yet we have favorites here from all areas of his career. Who else could you say that about? Maybe Johnny Cash but, sadly, no more. I have to throw in my two cents worth one more time and say that I think his most underrated album is Empire Burlesque and the magnificent tour of that album with the Heartbreakers. Maybe a future Bootleg Series volume from this tour? | ||
| Brook Crowley Member Username: 1_fan Post Number: 51 Registered: 02-2005 |
In 1974, Bob Dylan wrote one of my favourite compositions of his, "You Angel, You", which Manfred Mann's Earth band covered five years later, and it's a sterling recording. Now, that's another Dylan song the Go-Betweens should sing in concert. Does anyone know if Bob recorded the song himself? If so, what album can I find it on? | ||
| Peter Azzopardi Member Username: Pete Post Number: 120 Registered: 09-2004 |
Brook, you'll find "You Angel, You" on Bob's album "Planet Waves" of 1974, recorded with the Band. It's also on the compilation "Biograph". | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 21 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have just purchased the Mojo on Dylan and it has the Stranglers Hugh Cornwell singing a great version of "Stuck inside a mobile with the Memphis blues again". I can really hear Robert singing that version but even better. Robert did his covers album, but, maybe, the Go Betweens should do a few Dylan covers....maybe an album!!! | ||
| Brook Crowley Member Username: 1_fan Post Number: 53 Registered: 02-2005 |
You're absolutely correct, Geoff. The Go-Betweens MUST make an album of Dylan compositions. One great song of his they should put on it is "Mississippi", an outake from his "Time out of Mind" album which Sheryl Crow cvered, and it can be found on her "Globe Sessions" album. And, as the song features a violin, they should invite to play violin and sing lead as a guest none other than... Amanda Brown!!!!! | ||
| Ian Member Username: Fins Post Number: 6 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'm going for Live 1966 as the best Dylan album. Fair enough, it's not a "proper" album but that second disc is the greatest example of rocknroll ever. If I had to pick a studio album it would probably be Blonde On Blonde. |