Bob Dylan’s first album can hardly be faulted. It is a brilliant debut, a performer’s tour de force on an album called Bob Dylan, he was a somewhat typical-sounding folksinger who revealed little of the originality and revolutionary spirit that would guide further albums like “Highway 61 Revisted, Blonde On Blonde and Blood On The Tracks, making him one of the most significant artists of the past 100 years.
Of the 13 songs found on Dylan’s self-titled debut, only two were written by him. Another handful were traditional tunes on which Dylan gave himself arrangement credit. But seeing that those two originals “Talkin’ New York,” done as a talking blues, a popular form among folksingers of the era, and “Song to Woody,” a tribute to musical hero Woody Guthrie written in Guthrie’s very own style , were far from original, the release of Bob Dylan on March 19th, 1962, which hardly seemed like a monumental event at the time. Seventeen songs were recorded, and five of the album’s chosen tracks were actually cut in single takes (“Baby Let Me Follow You Down,” “In My Time of Dyin’,” “Gospel Plow,” “Highway 51 Blues,” and “Freight Train Blues”) while the master take of “Song to Woody” was recorded after one false start. The album’s four outtakes were also cut in single takes. During the sessions, Dylan refused requests to do second takes. “I said no. I can’t see myself singing the same song twice in a row. That’s terrible.”
Even now, the record bears few hints that the wobbly-voiced singer backing himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica would, in just a few short years, alter the course of folk music, pop music and rock ‘n’ roll.
The album was recorded over two days in November 1961 in a New York City studio with legendary producer John Hammond, whose long career included pivotal roles in shaping the musical legacies of Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Springsteen . He had met Dylan just a couple months earlier, when the young musician was enlisted to play harmonica on a record by folksinger Carolyn Hester. The album was ultimately recorded in three short afternoon sessions on November 20th and 22nd (1961). Hammond later joked that Columbia spent “about $402” to record it, and the figure has entered the Dylan legend as its actual cost. Despite the low cost and short amount of time, Dylan was still difficult to record, according to Hammond. “Bobby popped every p, hissed every s, and habitually wandered off mike,” recalls Hammond. “Even more frustrating, he refused to learn from his mistakes.
Dylan was absorbing an enormous amount of folk material from sitting and listening to contemporaries performing in New York’s clubs and coffeehouses. Many of these individuals were also close friends who performed with Dylan, often inviting him to their apartments where they would introduce him to more folk songs. At the same time, Dylan was borrowing and listening to a large number of folk, blues, and country records,
Hammond immediately signed Dylan, who began to search for songs that would make up his first album. Most of them were pretty familiar numbers to the singers and budding songwriters who hung around the New York City folk clubs Dylan frequented. Traditional favorites like “In My Time of Dyin’,” “Man of Constant Sorrow” and “House of the Rising Sun” were among those laid down in mostly single takes in late 1961.
Bob Dylan didn’t make much of a dent with music fans upon its release. In fact, it didn’t even make the albums chart. But it was a learning experience for the singer-songwriter, who was quickly finding his voice among the bustling folk scene. He was loved by his contemporaries, and soon he had enough confidence to perform his own songs in his own style.
Almost 15 months later, Dylan returned with “The Freewheelin Bob Dylan”, which included mostly original songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” The link to his debut was there, but it was almost like a new artist had emerged over the course of a year. It was a new Dylan this time out, and his legend was just around the corner.
Side one
- “You’re No Good” – Jesse Fuller 1:40
- “Talkin’ New York” – Bob Dylan 3:20
- “In My Time of Dyin’” – trad. arr. Dylan 2:40
- “Man of Constant Sorrow” – trad. arr. Dylan 3:10
- “Fixin’ to Die” – Bukka White 2:22
- “Pretty Peggy-O” – trad. arr. Dylan 3:23
- “Highway 51” – Curtis Jones 2:52
Side two
- “Gospel Plow” – trad. arr. Dylan 1:47
- “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down” – trad. arr. Eric von Schmidt 2:37
- “House of the Risin’ Sun” – trad. arr. Dave Van Ronk 5:20
- “Freight Train Blues” – trad., Roy Acuff 2:18
- “Song to Woody” – Bob Dylan 2:42
- “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean” – Blind Lemon Jefferson 2:43
The Fat Angel Sings 