As much as I appreciate the many styles and personas Dylan has taken on over the years — from folk singer to rock ‘n’ roller to Holy Roller — his “Sinatra Years” period is not my favorite. Shadows in the Night pulls some well-known and other more obscure songs from the Great American canon of standards, all done by Frank at one point in his career. Dylan provides a straight-on performance of the material, with his touring band and additional horn orchestrations playing subtly behind him. And I think that may be why I don’t really like it. If I wanted to hear these tunes, wouldn’t the works by Sinatra be where I would turn? Dylan is in full crooner mode, and his voice, so raspy on previous recordings of this era, mostly holds up throughout. But I would have preferred if he interpreted the songs in his own style rather than relying on existing versions. Nonetheless, both critics and the general population loved this release, as it reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 7 in the US charts, and it does have its charms. “Why Try to Change Me Now” and “That Lucky Old Sun” both fit the Dylan mode. And with 10 songs coming in at 35 minutes, it’s short enough to be enjoyed without getting tedious. But for me it’s primarily something to listen to as I drift off to sleep.
The third and (thankfully) final album in Dylan’s trio of traditional Americana songs, many of which were popularized by Frank Sinatra and other similar crooners, has him in fine form vocally, but at this point the formula has worn off, and this is just overkill. The triple album derives its title by being broken into 3 sub-albums: ‘Til the Sun Goes Down, Devil Dolls and Comin’ Home Late. Despite the themes, I find no real delineation between disks, although musically Devil Dolls stands out above the other two with a more upbeat and positive spin. A few interesting songs are the somewhat autobiographical “September of My Years.” and his take on “Stormy Weather,” which is done in a more solemn manner befitting the lyrics, unlike other well-known versions. Horns are also more prevalent on this release than the other albums in the series, Fallen Angels and Shadows in the Night, giving it a more varied sound, but by this point I’m done with this phase of his career.
This is an enjoyable album to listen to, although it is primarily a collection of outtakes and covers from the time period. Nonetheless Dylan’s vocals are in top form, as he takes on Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You,” Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” and Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer,” among others. Other than recording the songs, Dylan had no involvement in its release.
As the follow-up to Dylan’s previous album of traditional folk recordings, there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with World Gone Wrong, but I find most of it melancholy and monotonous. Many of the songs chosen are more obscure than on the earlier Good as I’ve Been to You. Each track is rendered faithfully with sparse acoustic guitar and harmonica (on one song), are well-recorded, and delivered with strong and clear vocals. However, I find the liner notes Dylan wrote for each song more interesting than the album itself. “Blood in My Eyes” and “Stack A Lee” are the most appealing, but there’s no killer track, or horrible one either, that stand out.
Together through life, that’s how it is with me and Bob Dylan. My earliest recollection of his music was “Blowin’ in the Wind.” I’m not sure if it was his version or Peter Paul and Mary’s, but I knew the song, remember discussing it with my mother, and I knew Bob Dylan wrote it. I don’t know if I was 2, 3, 4? But probably not much older.
The author outside of Dylan’s childhood home.
Lyndon Johnson was in office, the Kennedy assassination was still fresh in everyone’s minds, the Vietnam War was escalating but still hidden from many Americans, and this song was everywhere.
The next thing I was cognizant of was “Like a Rolling Stone,” apparently some people were upset because it was loud. All I know was it came on my transistor radio a lot, and I liked it.
By the time I was 7, Dylan seemed to leave my conscience a bit. I heard he was in a motorcycle accident. But the Beatles were still my favorite band, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was all the rage. But a few years later, my Beatle buddy George Harrison released a solo song “If Not for You” that I loved. Turns out it was written by that Dylan guy again. It was a great song. “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix was everywhere as well. I learned that Dylan wrote that too, but his version sounded nothing like Hendrix. A lot of this is a blur in my pre-teen mind, but Dylan was always lurking somewhere in my brain.
I eventually got Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits album for my birthday or Christmas, not sure which, and man it was perfect. All these songs I knew from the radio I now owned! And then there was new material I became aware of too –“Tangled Up in Blue.” Didn’t know what it meant (still don’t) but loved it. “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts,” awesome on the new FM radio.
Then the song “Hurricane” hit the airwaves, and besides being engaging, I had to find out who this “Hurricane” guy was, and I read about it in newspaper clips and library microfilm. I bought “Desire” with my own money, the first new studio from Dylan that I owned. I loved all of the songs on it, and still do. It’s one of his greatest records.
Then a rather odd thing happened. A TV special on Bob Dylan, just a concert really, was broadcast on a Tuesday night at 8:30 on one of the three major networks. (Not even PBS). I’m sure it was a Tuesday, because my dad was off and he never worked on Tuesdays. It was crazy, but there was Dylan and a cast of characters with his Rolling Thunder Revue performing songs from “Desire” and other albums, but they sounded nothing like the studio albums. They were raw, urgent, and amazing. I loved the re-arrangements. There was a live album released from that show, Hard Rain. I bought it right away ($2.99 at Korvettes). Some of the songs were different from the TV show, but that was ok. “Idiot Wind,” a song I’m not sure I had heard before, came blasting out of my parents console stereo in the living room. By this time I was hooked for life. I also heard on the radio that there were additional songs not on the live album that were issued as a promotional copy. I had to find that!
The next album came out when I was a senior in high school. Street-Legal wasn’t what a lot of other people were listening to at the time (Led Zeppelin, Peter Frampton) and different from what I was listening to as well (Yes, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen.) Gospel singers, horns, and snarling vocals. Bring it on. “Changing of the Guard,” love that song.
I remember a few months after Street Legal came out, a concert was broadcast on the radio. Bob Dylan from somewhere in Japan. Here he “Street Legalized” all of his old classics, adding a reggae beat to some, a big band arrangement to others. This eventually came out as a live album, “Bob Dylan at Budokahn.” I thought it was great, although others didn’t seem to like the treatment of the classics. Dylan came through Philadelphia on this tour, but I was away at college and a friend of mine from back home was supposed to get tickets but he never did. This would have been the first time I would get to see him, but I missed my chance. Prior to this Dylan didn’t tour much and not in Philly at all.
While I was in college, I met up with other fans. I joined the radio station. I tracked down that promotional copy with the live tracks from the station and played it on my radio show. Then we heard that Dylan had become a Born-Again Christian! I was skeptical at first, but then again there had always been Biblical references in his work. On my first listen to the new album Slow Train Coming, I wasn’t impressed. Regardless of the so-called Christian orientation, I didn’t think much of it musically or lyrically. Then I listened again. And again. I became captivated. “When He Returns” is one of Dylan’s all-time best vocal performances. The title track is a critical summation of the Carter-era America.
When the next album, Saved, came out, again I was little taken aback, as it was full-scale Gospel, but I loved the sounds, and wished I would have been able to see his Gospel tour, but it didn’t play the East Coast.
Then finally, in the fall of 1981 at Penn State University, I finally got to see the joker and the thief live in concert, and even though I have seen him many times since, it was the best Dylan show ever! My Penn State friends were on the school’s concert committee, so I had second-row seats. Shot of Love was out at the time, and the album was a mix of secular and Biblical songs, and the the setlist reflected that. It was an amazing, mixture of both new and old songs, the band was strong, the arrangements were unique, and Dylan was mesmerizing.
As the years went by, I got to visit his hometown of Hibbing, MN. Got my picture taken at his childhood home. Visited the high school he went to, experienced the iron ore ranges.
More great albums and tours followed and I saw them all. Dylan with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Dylan with the Grateful Dead. Ron Wood and Keith Richards joining Dylan at Live Aid, Dylan performing “Highway 61” with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Dylan doing Sinatra! And the Never Ending Tour, which is still going strong 30+ years later, cut short only by the pandemic.
In fact it was the pandemic that allowed me the time to work on this project, and it was Dylan who helped ease the craziness by stealthily releasing another great album, Rough and Rowdy Ways.
Thanks for visiting my museum, I plan to be adding artifacts for many years to come.
A few weeks into the pandemic and lockdown, a mysterious thing happened. A new song, “Murder Most Foul,” appeared on the Bob Dylan Facebook page. As the weeks went on, a few more songs were released, and eventually the album Rough and Rowdy Ways was available.
The album was critically well-received, but where did it fit in in my personal Dylan discography? I decided to listen again to all of the studio albums in the order they were released, so I could re-live how things evolved through his storied career.
The results follow. Please remember these rankings are not based on sales, critical acclaim, or any other criteria other than how well I’ve like each one. I jotted down notes, and I hope this can be a guide for those who may not be well-versed in the many moods of Bob. I tried to give a capsule summary of the sound you could expect to hear if you wanted to pop some Dylan on, but didn’t know which album to pick.
I tried not to analyze the meanings of the songs. That’s been done to death, and quite frankly it’s a personal interpretation, what may mean something to you may mean something else to me. I’ve included links to Spotify versions of the songs. (If you are using Chrome browser, you may have to go to the upper right-hand corner and click the red triangle and click Disable Nothing for Spotify to play.)
I hope you enjoy this, and please let me know what your rankings are!
