The 1960s |

Version Compare

Back to page history

Version User Scope of changes
Aug 16 2006, 6:39 PM EDT wetpaint
Aug 16 2006, 6:38 PM EDT wetpaint 10 photos added, 12 photos deleted

Changes

Key:  Additions   Deletions



1961: Dylan arrives in New York and meets his idol, Woody Guthrie, who at the time was a patient in a New York hospital. He performs to increasing acclaim, and plays harmonica on a Harry Belafonte album. By the end of the year, he is signed to Columbia Records.

1962's Bob Dylan
1962: He releases his eponymous debut album, which features two original songs and a set of a classic blues and folk songs. Amazingly, though Dylan is only 20, he conveys the authority of a veteran bluesman. His October concert at the Gaslight in New York becomes one of his most bootlegged shows ever, and is finally released officially in 2005 — exclusively at Starbucks stores.
1963's The Free Wheelin' Bob Dylan
1963: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan features signs of Dylan’s remarkable growth as a songwriter; it includes the classic protest songs “Blowin’ in the Wind” (which becomes a hit single for Peter, Paul, and Mary), “Masters of War,” and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” as well as the heartbreaking “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” and “Girl from the North Country.” A proposed live album, In Concert, is shelved, but later becomes an essential bootleg.
The Times They Are A-Changin'
1964: Dylan releases his most pointed “protest” album, The Times They Are A-Changin’.
Another Side of Bob Dylan
He then renounces protest with Another Side of Bob Dylan and “It Ain’t Me Babe.” A Halloween concert in New York, featuring Joan Baez, offers a powerful document of Dylan’s acoustic peak; it is widely bootlegged, but not officially released until 2004.
Bringing It All Back Home






Highway 61 Revisited

1965: Dylan goes electric, first with Bringing It All Back Home, then with a live performance at the Newport Folk Festival — where he is roundly booed — and finally with Highway 61 Revisited, featuring the seminal “Like a Rolling Stone.” The Newport performance remains unreleased, but can be found on the bootleg Folk Rogue.
Blonde on Blonde
1966: The two-record set Blonde on Blonde raises the stakes with three otherworldly love songs: “Just Like a Woman” (for Edie Sedgewick?), “Visions of Johanna” (for Joan Baez), and “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” (for his new wife, Sara). The 8-CD set Live 1966, featuring backing band the Hawks (later known as the Band) is one of the great bootlegs. A motorcycle accident sidelines Dylan in July, precipitating a retreat to a country home in Woodstock, New York.
John Wesley Harding
1967: Holed up in Woodstock, Dylan and the Hawks/Band record The Basement Tapes, which become the first widely circulated bootleg. At the end of the year, he releases the spare, allegorical John Wesley Harding, featuring the enduring classic “All Along the Watchtower.”

1968: Dylan’s first public performance since his motorcycle accident comes at a Woody Guthrie memorial concert at Carnegie Hall. Otherwise, nothing.
Nashville Skyline
1969: Both Blonde on Blonde and John Wesley Harding were recorded in Nashville, but this year sees the release of a genuine country album, Nashville Skyline, which features the hit “Lay Lady Lay,” with Dylan’s hoarse growl replaced by a nasal croon. His only concert appearance is at England’s Isle of Wight, before 100,000 people; he also appears on Johnny Cash’s TV show. A studio session with Cash results in a loose bootleg of country covers. In December, his son Jakob, who later forms the Wallflowers, is born.


See also:



Top Contributors