The Gentleman’s Guide to Bob Dylan
Let’s agree on one thing: Dylan is an acquired taste, and many of us came to him late in life. I was singing his music unawares at summer camp, and buying covers by the Byrds and Manfred Mann before I knew Bob Dylan was the songwriter. It wasn’t until I arrived at boarding school in 1968 that I put song and artist together. It was Like a Rolling Stone – on the radio – on a Saturday morning – in my dorm room – wearing a pair of Levis. How’s that for a first impression?
Still, there are many folks who cannot get past his nasal voice or think of him as a blast from the counter-culture past. Oh my God, I just don’t want to protest anything anymore. Let me just write this about that: above all, Bob Dylan is a poet, who writes beautiful love songs, as well as songs about the human condition. And what’s wrong with supporting civil rights or opposing the Vietnam War? Bottom line: one doesn’t have to be cool to like Dylan - - - but it helps! Here are seven songs that every gentleman should have on his iPod. You can thank me later.
A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall (1963 – The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan) In 1963, the threat of nuclear war had artists in Greenwich Village spinning out protest songs by the hundreds; however, Hard Rain is the greatest protest song by the most celebrated protest songwriter of the era. It is a 7-minute epic, because Dylan “thought I wouldn’t have enough time alive to write all those songs, so I put all I could into this one.” Typical of early Dylan, he still modeled his lyrics after Woody Guthrie; thus, the “a-gonna” helped the poetry flow with the music. In the words of Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir: “It’s beyond genius. I think the heavens opened and something channeled through him.”
The Times They Are A-Changing (1964 – The Times They Are A-Changing) Written at the time of the Civil Rights Movement, this protest song is still timeless. Subsequent generations of listeners have been able to link their causes to Dylan’s words. This is young Bob Dylan, capturing the optimism of the 60’s generation, singing and strumming in a Greenwich Village coffee shop – and making millions doing it. It is now the poetry of every youth movement, ensuring the genius of Dylan remains forever young.
Like A Rolling Stone (1965 – Highway 61 Revisited) This song established Dylan as the iconoclast of his era: he attacks them (the in-crowd, the debutante, and those that got it made) on behalf of we the listener. Back in 1965, folks in Greenwich Village began wondering when Dylan would attack them. This studio track included keyboardist Al Kooper and guitarist Mike Bloomfield, who were learning the song as it was recorded – the entire experience is discovery. Wow!
Just Like A Woman (1966 – Blonde On Blonde) This country-rock ballad is not to be confused with the typical love song. It is a nuanced study of adoration and regret – Dylan was assumed to have a disappointing ex-lover in mind. Perhaps it is just Dylan sharing his experience with women. It is, above all, Dylan expressively singing: the cadence, dynamics and segues are the tale of every man (I love her-I hate her-I love her...).
Visions of Johanna (1966 – Blonde On Blonde) Shortly after his marriage, Dylan wrote his magnum opus of sexual obsession: rich impressions of New York City at night coupled with exquisite details of longing. Bono described the song as “extraordinary…this whole song seemingly about this one girl (Louise), with these remarkable descriptions of her, but this isn’t the girl who’s on his mind (Johanna).” True fact: Robbie Robertson provided the weeping-treble guitar licks.
All Along The Watchtower (1967 – John Wesley Harding) Many prefer the Jimi Hendrix cover – including Dylan himself. It is a 12-line tour de force that begins as a typical Dylan ballad – about a joker and a thief – but ends with ill-omened imagery: two riders approaching. The lyrics float over austere orchestration, and Dylan sings in a haunting coloratura style that is worthy of an Italian aria.
Tangled Up In Blue (1975 – Blood On the Tracks) Of this song, Dylan wrote: “It took me 10 years to live, and two years to write.” Rolling Stone magazine claimed it was “his most personal examination of hurt and nostalgia.” It is a captivating ballad with powerful acoustic rhythm propelling a story from the sixties (drifting, free love, utopian dreams, and broken promises). I have performed this song since its release, and it always feels as new as the day I first heard it.