Please consider registering
Guest
sp_LogInOut Log Insp_Registration Register
Register | Lost password?
Advanced Search
Forum Scope


Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
sp_Feed sp_TopicIcon
Bob Dylan questions
1 November 2016
4.42pm
Avatar
Expert Textpert
In bed.
Apple rooftop
Members
Forum Posts: 5011
Member Since:
18 April 2013
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

My questions in another thread went unanswered. Anyone care to point me in the right direction with Dylan?

I have a few really good Bob Dylan albums*, but once I bought this live album that was so horrible I ended up smashing it with a hammer. Is he just bad live?  If not, at what point did he stop caring? The vocals were horrible and it was like he wasn’t even trying.  

Also, when did his voice get completely shot? Is there a cut-off point beyond which I shouldn’t buy his albums if I don’t like his gravelly voice?

Also, not being super into Dylan, I never realized he actually sang, but then I heard Lay Lady Lay. Are there any other songs like Lay Lady Lay where he carries a tune?

Hopefully all of this doesn’t sound like I hate Dylan. I just want to avoid the stuff I don’t like.

 

*These are the Dylan albums I own, and they are all pretty good:

Biograph (box set)

Blood on the Tracks

Bob Dylan (self titled)

Desire

Nashville Skyline

"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney 

1 November 2016
7.27pm
Avatar
sir walter raleigh
In our yellow (IN OUR YELLOW) submarine (SUBMARINE AHA!)
Apple rooftop
Members
Forum Posts: 5777
Member Since:
26 January 2017
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Time Out Of Mind, Love And Theft, and Modern Times have a similar vibe to Lay, Lay, Lay. Its very ‘loungy’ where Dylan’s grumbly old man voice actually improves the song. It gives it a very gentle sound, full of wisdom.

My favorite track from this era is Spirit On the Water off of Modern Times. A lot of live versions out there sound pretty bad, but the album version has a clear melody and sounds really good and relaxing in my opinion. Moonlight off of Love And Theft I enjoy for similar reasons.

I see some of the most essential Dylan albums missing from your list:

first, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A Changin’, and Another Side Of Bob Dylan. This is some of the best acoustic songwriting out there. It is lyrically unmatched by any other, and musically on par with James Taylor and Paul Simon (if you like them.)

My three favorites are Bringing It All Back HomeHighway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde. These are the three most essential Dylan albums in my opinion. Without them I would not be a fan, and I would not have given the rest of his music and chance. In these last six albums, his voice is at full strength, and it is often very impressive and beautiful. It Takes A Lot TO Laugh, It Takes A Train TO Cry off of Highway 61 Revisited for example has a beautiful phrase where he holds a high note for a long time, and I can’t help but smile every-time I hear it. It really does sound great!

Anyway, I hope for your sake that you start to enjoy Dylan @Expert Textpert because he really is incredible. Also, I am sure someone like Ron Nasty will come in and give some better, less obvious recommendations, but for now I think this is a good start.

"The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handles!"

-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues

"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"

-Brian Wilson, Surfer Girl

1 November 2016
8.12pm
Avatar
Pablo Ramon
Some Time in NYC
Hollywood Bowl
Members
Forum Posts: 687
Member Since:
19 October 2016
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I completely agree that Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde are utterly essential.

I would also recommend The Basement Tapes (Dylan holed up in Woodstock with The Band making what were intended to be publishing demos…) and John Wesley Harding (Biblical in scope and substance…)

There are some truly awful Dylan albums, some of them live… but if you get obsessed you will want to own all of it, just like you want to own everything Beatles…

1 November 2016
9.11pm
Avatar
Expert Textpert
In bed.
Apple rooftop
Members
Forum Posts: 5011
Member Since:
18 April 2013
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Thanks, this helps. It’s hard to know where to dig in sometimes.

"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney 

1 November 2016
9.41pm
Avatar
Pineapple Records
Shea Stadium
Members
Forum Posts: 842
Member Since:
15 May 2015
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I’ve noticed that there are Dylan fans who only like his early albums and they think his recent stuff (late 90s to the present) isn’t good, though I don’t think they’ve really listened to them.  I was one of them, until a friend pestered me about it, and I finally broke down and listened to Love and Theft, Under the Red Sky, Time Out of Mind, Modern Times, and Tempest — and I was blown away by many of the songs on them.  A lot of people don’t realize he’s been putting out great stuff these past 20 years.

A ginger sling with a pineapple heart,

a coffee dessert, yes you know it's good news...

1 November 2016
10.10pm
Avatar
Expert Textpert
In bed.
Apple rooftop
Members
Forum Posts: 5011
Member Since:
18 April 2013
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

His voice is completely shot now. When did that happen? I can’t stand to hear it.

…oh and I think I might have one or two more of his 60s albums on vinyl that I forgot about. I took some of my parents’ vinyl when my dad died.

"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney 

1 November 2016
11.18pm
Avatar
Pablo Ramon
Some Time in NYC
Hollywood Bowl
Members
Forum Posts: 687
Member Since:
19 October 2016
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Expert Textpert said
His voice is completely shot now. When did that happen? 

1966.

It has been slowly dying since his career began.

 

He is capable of some amazing singing at times, though it doesn’t happen as much now….

3 November 2016
4.51pm
Avatar
limitlessundyinglove
At the local Bird and Bee
Paris Olympia
Members
Forum Posts: 347
Member Since:
12 November 2015
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

Pablo Ramon said

Expert Textpert said
His voice is completely shot now. When did that happen? 

1966.

It has been slowly dying since his career began.

 

He is capable of some amazing singing at times, though it doesn’t happen as much now….  

Agreed.  Am I the only person who thinks his singing is great on Highway 61, but kinda crappy on Blonde On Blonde?  He just sings the whole album with this odd, wheezy tone, and he ends each line like it’s a question.a-hard-days-night-paul-7(at least that’s the best way I can describe it.) Oh well, at least he dropped this voice on later albums.

If you ask me, 1965 was the absolute pinnacle of Dylan’s career.  Some would say Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks are among his best too, but I think they’re both sorta overrated.  Another Side Of Bob Dylan and John Wesley Harding, on the other hand are awesome and hugely underrated.

Grooving some cookie spaghetti since 1968.

3 November 2016
8.24pm
Avatar
sir walter raleigh
In our yellow (IN OUR YELLOW) submarine (SUBMARINE AHA!)
Apple rooftop
Members
Forum Posts: 5777
Member Since:
26 January 2017
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I think his Blonde On Blonde vocals are expressive of the lyrics. Especially in songs like I Want You and Rainy Day Women. It makes for very fun sing alongs. 

The following people thank sir walter raleigh for this post:

limitlessundyinglove

"The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handles!"

-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues

"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"

-Brian Wilson, Surfer Girl

4 November 2016
8.20am
Avatar
Pablo Ramon
Some Time in NYC
Hollywood Bowl
Members
Forum Posts: 687
Member Since:
19 October 2016
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

I think it comes and goes…I find his singing on Blonde on Blonde less tuneful than Highway 61 or John Wesley Harding… and actually some of his best singing is on Planet Waves, though not his best songwriting…

Forum Timezone: Europe/London
Most Users Ever Online: 700
Currently Online: Richard
Guest(s) 1
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Top Posters:
Starr Shine?: 16105
Ron Nasty: 12534
Zig: 9832
50yearslate: 8759
Necko: 8043
AppleScruffJunior: 7583
parlance: 7111
mr. Sun king coming together: 6402
Mr. Kite: 6147
trcanberra: 6064
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 88
Members: 2859
Moderators: 5
Admins: 1
Forum Stats:
Groups: 3
Forums: 44
Topics: 5509
Posts: 380341
Newest Members:
frankc, viv@nelsontraining.co.uk, bornhairyman, frankkilmore123@gmail.com, onlyanorthernsong
Moderators: Joe: 5691, meanmistermustard: 24950, Ahhh Girl: 22213, Beatlebug: 18181, The Hole Got Fixed: 8410
Administrators: Joe: 5691