36. Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)

1. Blowin' in the Wind

2. Girl from the North Country*

3. Masters of War

4. Down the Highway

5. Bob Dylan's Blues

6. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall*

7. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright

8. Bob Dylan's Dream

9. Oxford Town

10. Talkin' World War III Blues*

11. Corrina, Corrina

12. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance

13. I Shall Be Free

A

Well it took a while but we finally got there - an album of guitar music with decent lyrics. Of course Bob Dylan is known for his lyrics, often to the point where people overlook his skill as a musician and bandleader. This, an early work, shows him by himself with harmonica and guitar (with the exception of "Corrina, Corrina", which features drum and bass). And it really shows him at his best.

I'd say Dylan wrote better songs than this, but did he ever really write a song better than "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"? Well. yes. He wrote "Like  A Rolling Stone" and "Visions of Johanna". But even so, "Hard Rain" is a truly amazing song, and a defining moment in twentieth century music. No-one's quite sure what it's about, but it's brilliant and terrifying and it pointed the way for a thousand folk-singers who wanted to march into the heart of darkness and strike a chord and sing of hope. Then you have a beautiful ballad like "The Girl from North Country", which is almost too pretty for words; and "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", which is one of the most elegant put-downs and kiss-offs in popular music. 

A thing not enough people talk about, however (except, allegedly, for Don McLean) is how funny Dylan could be. And really one of my favourite songs on the album is "Talkin' World War III Blues", which is a pitch perfect satire of the whole notion of apocalypse, from the idea that it's improbable to the notion every person has that they'll be the one who survives.

That said, this is not a perfect album. "Down the Highway" is inconsequential, repetitive, and boring. And frankly, "Bob Dylan's Dream" is the sort of thing a lot of people might like, but as a guy who never experienced the wonder and excitement of being young and having a bunch of stupid, idealistic friends, I find it droning and tedious.

The result is a mixed-bag of an album. For every "Masters of War", all doom and gloom, you have something hilarious like "I Shall Be Free". It's a fine album that shows Dylan's range. True, you have to sit through "Blowin' in the Wind", but I guess every silver lining has its cloud.

Really, though, what this shows is perhaps the most revered songwriter of all time just stretching out and trying the waters, before he became the voice of his generation and was forced to consider every move he made. The title says it all, really - this is Bob Dylan as a young man cutting loose.