John Wesley Harding (Hybr) [Hybrid SACD - DSD, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Bob Dylan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 16, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1967
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000C8AV9
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,290 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #51 in Music > Folk > Contemporary Folk > Singer-Songwriters
  • #58 in Music > Rock > Country Rock
  • #60 in Music > Folk > Contemporary Folk > General

Track Listings

1. John Wesley Harding

2. As I Went Out One Morning

3. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine

4. All Along the Watchtower

5. The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest

6. Drifter's Escape

7. Dear Landlord

8. I Am a Lonesome Hobo

9. I Pity the Poor Immigrant

10. The Wicked Messenger

11. Down Along the Cove

12. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Bob Dylan's remarkable first album after his debilitating 1966 motorcycle accident isn't as urgent as the ambitious folk and rock songs he wrote earlier in the decade. Even considering the rocking "All Along the Watchtower" (covered famously by Jimi Hendrix), the album's overall feeling is soft and laid-back, all gently strummed guitars, perfectly timed harmonicas, and some of Dylan's best pure singing to date. The 1968 release sounds as if the songwriter and his three sidemen set up a few tape recorders in a bedroom and began playing as soon as they woke up in the morning. They open with the title track (a folk fable), move into the piano-driven "Dear Landlord," and close with the sweet love song "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight." --Steve Knopper

Product Description

Bob Dylan John Wesley Harding

Ranking near the top of anyone's list of Dylan's masterpieces, this post-motorcycle-accident career-turning-point finds Dylan veering from the razor-edged desperation of "All Along the Watchtower" to the gentle, back-porch sway of "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" -- and all points in between. Back at last, in its ultra-rare original mono mix, this landmark LP -- cut with the cream of Nashville's studio cats and generally credited as a blueprint for the era's country-rock movement -- sizzles on Sundazed high-definition vinyl. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sounds fine to me, May 14, 2004

By 

C. S. Junker "soul_survivor" (Burien, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: John Wesley Harding (Hybr) (Audio CD)

Maybe I've got a tin ear. Or maybe I've got low end equipment. Or maybe I just don't know my posterior from a hole in the ground. But this new remaster sounds fine to me.

I had no idea there were so many people who were unhappy with the sound, but after reading all the negative reviews I thought, maybe I wasn't paying attention. So I listened to both the CD layer and the SACD layer. Loud.

It sounds great! The bass is rich and fat, the harmonica crisp and brilliant. I've been listening to this album for 37 years; to be fair, this recording has some odd characteristics to the sound (particularly the drums). This new remaster certainly doesn't sound worse than the vinyl, and while it may not provide the blow-your-socks off sonic experience of the Highway 61 remaster, I can't detect any problems. Both layers are an improvement over the original CD release.

If you're a true audiophile, maybe it would be a good idea to find a store where you can listen to the disc before buying it. If you own the original CD, there's no urgent need to rush out and buy the hybrid. But if for some reason you find yourself without a copy of one of the great masterpieces of popular music, this edition should do nicely.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Dylan Album Reissued - As A Horrible Remix, September 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: John Wesley Harding (Hybr) (Audio CD)

This is my favorite Bob Dylan album, and I admit that I may be a bit more sensitive to the mix than some, but my my my - this remix is just awful. It's not 'just' a bad mix - it is so unbalanced that it nearly borders on unprofessional.

For example, "John Wesley Harding," the song, is totally overpowered by the bass and drums. The acoustic guitar is mixed way too low and nearly disappears completely at times, especially during the harmonica solo. And on the LP and first edition CD, the drums on "All Along the Watchtower" really crack, but in the remix, they are mixed far too low and sound like cardboard. If the whole remix was too bass-heavy, or too drum-light, you could figure they had some particular issue in the studio. But the bad mix is not just inconsistent with the original LP, it's inconsistent with ITSELF! It just doesn't make any sense.

As if that wasn't enough, the sound is very peaky and sometimes even distorted. It's as if they tried to preserve the levels of the original mix without compensating for the increased fidelity of the format and without sending it through the same limiters that they used first time around. It sounds like they processed the mix through a very 'digital' sounding reverb. And some of the bass distortion may be on the master tape, it's true, but when you pump up it up in the mix, and then give it a nice crisp remastering - you gotta shake your head and wonder.

There are usually only three instruments playing at a time (acoustic guitar, bass, drums, plus the occasional piano and steel guitar) with vocals and harmonica. How hard is it to properly mix three instruments together? Seriously, did anyone at Columbia listen to this remix before they released it? This CD doesn't sound balanced in the car, on the boom box, on a Bose WaveRadio or on my home system.

I also have the new Hybrid SACDs of 'Freewheelin' (which has fewer instruments to mix) and 'Blonde on Blonde' (which has many more instruments to mix) and I think they sound fantastic. What happened here?

The best thing I can say about the sound is that the mastering of this tragic mix is nicely crisp, with good sonic definition and separation. This "John Wesley Harding" is listenable if you don't pay close attention to the sound, but then so was the original CD version. And isn't 'paying attention to the sound' what a fancy reissue is all about? Nice packaging, though. Five stars for the music, one for the mix.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not as bad as others say, November 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: John Wesley Harding (Hybr) (Audio CD)

I won't bother reviewing the album -- it is amazing. Instead the remaster is worth talking about. It's true -- it is not as good sounding as some others, such as Blonde or Bringing It All Back Home. Sometimes instruments aren't high up enough or are too high. Harmonica does sound shrill at times -- but we also must remember that his harp playing on this record is VERY high. He doesn't play shrill, but sometimes, especially if its a bit too high in the mix like this is, it will sound shrill at times. It's not horrendous, it just comes with the territory when you have an instrument playing notes this high.

In summary, this is still a good buy. We must remember that the people who have the STRONGEST opinions against this album are more likely to pen a review than those who are on the fence about it. That's why these reviews may not be a fair representation of everyone's opinions. Still very enjoyable, I say go for it.