The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan [Original recording remastered]

Bob Dylan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 1, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Columbia
• ASIN: B00026WU64
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (164 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #915 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Folk > Traditional Folk
  • #11 in Music > Folk > Contemporary Folk > Singer-Songwriters
  • #16 in Music > Folk > Contemporary Folk > General

Track Listings

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 All Right

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

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dylan's outstanding second album is a tremendous jump from its predecessor. Whereas the debut established him as a peerless interpreter of folk and country-blues classics, and a singer like none before, this followup features some of the most pungent original songs of the '60s. "Blowin' in the Wind," "Masters of War," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "I Shall Be Free": if this sounds like the lineup for a greatest-hits collection, you've got the idea. Nat Hentoff's liner notes are charmingly dated, but Dylan's idiosyncratic singing, unexpected lyrics, and inimitable guitar and harmonica playing are as immediate and relevant as whatever you heard on the radio today. (As great as this is, there's much more: a handful of top-rank outtakes from Freewheelin' appear on the Bootleg Series box set.) --Jimmy Guterman

Product Description

JEWEL CASE 2003 Remaster of the 1963 classic! Feat. "Blowin In The Wind", "Girl From The North Country" & "Don't think Twice". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 79 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What a lovely, lovely record September 25, 2005

By FairiesWearBoots8272

Format:Audio CD

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is one of those albums that I think I could listen to and enjoy anytime, regardless of mood. It's just a wonderful classic album. Dylan's second album, Freewheelin' is a great improvement over his debut (which is also a very good record). After composing only two songs for his debut, Freewheelin' finds Dylan significantly more confident in his songwriting abilities. As well he should be, because his original songs here are amazing.

1. Blowin' in the Wind - One of the greatest folk songs of all time, and has been covered by numerous artists. Still one of Dylan's most well-known songs today.

2. Girl from the North Country - A lovely folk ballad, and one of my favorite romantic Dylan songs. In 1969, Dylan would resurrect this song as a duet with his Johnny Cash on his Nashville Skyline album.

3. Masters of War - Dylan's most scathing anti-war song and one of his most vicious protest songs ever. You can feel the venom in his voice as he talks of politicians who use war for financial gain. This song is still powerful now in 2005, in fact it may be more relevant than ever now.

4. Down the Highway - Country-blues tune with Dylan doing sort of an imitation of Hank Williams. A good song, but not the most memorable.

5. Bob Dylan's Blues - A short, lightweight country-folk tune. One of the album's lesser tracks.

6. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - One of Dylan's all-time classics. It resembles a protest song, but it's not quite direct enough lyrically to qualify. But it is one of the finest songs of Dylan's early years.

7. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Another classic and one of my personal favorites. This is a lovely ballad directed to Dylan's girlfriend Suze Rotolo. Heartfelt lyrics, a wonderful vocal from Dylan and excellent fingerpicked guitar too. One of his best songs.

8. Bob Dylan's Dream - A lovely folk song in which Dylan reminisces about the past. A great lesser-known Dylan song.

9. Oxford Town - Potent protest song about a racial incident, but I'm not sure exactly what incident is referred to.

10. Talking World War III Blues - A humorous narrative-song with lots of great lines including "'I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours,' I said that." However, I prefer the version of the song on Bootleg Series, volume 6 - Live 1964.

11. Corrina, Corrina - A lovely interpretation of an old folk song, and the only song on the album to feature accompaniment. It features a drummer and possibly a second guitar player. It was to be the B-side of an early single, "Mixed-Up Confusion", which would have been Dylan's first electric song.

12. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance - Another folk tune arranged by Dylan. Dylan's energetic vocal style on this song is quite similar to that of his debut.

13. I Shall Be Free - The album closes with this humorous story song which starts a style that Dylan would revisit several times in the future. This song reveals Dylan's sense of humor better than nearly anything else he would record. "I make love to Elizabeth Taylor... catch hell from Richard Burton".

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is an excellent album that any serious fan of music should own and relish. If you're new to Dylan, this should be one of your first purchases, after Blonde On Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited and Blood On The Tracks. But don't stop here! If you like Freewheelin' be sure to check out Dylan's third album, The Times They Are A-Changin' which is almost as good.

73 of 84 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great album, even for non-Dylan fans July 11, 2004

By Gavin Wilson

Format:Audio CD

I am not a Dylan fan. But I've got an SACD player, and whenever I notice a retailer selling off their SACD stock cheaply, I tend to hoover it up.

I've always felt a bit guilty about not liking Dylan, given that he has had millions of fans, and was, at least until his motorbike accident in 1966, as big as Elvis and the Beatles. I think the problem is that I was born a decade too late, and music has always been much more important to me than lyrics. It may be heretical to say this but, as a teenager in the 1970s, I found the music of bands like Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers more catchy than Dylan (great though the 'Desire' LP was).

But Dylan doesn't go away, and he's now one of the few popular artists to have much of his output available on SACD. THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN was one of the key visual references in the recent Cameron Crowe movie VANILLA SKY.

I think you have to have lived through the era to really appreciate the impact of what Dylan was doing. Coming late to the era, it matters little to a new fan that 'Highway 61 Revisited' was the first electric folk rock album. There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of electric folk rock albums to choose from, and if anything, the later ones are likely to smoothe off the rough edges of the first.

But now I have a wad of Dylan SACDs and the opportunity to wade through them in chronological sequence. And I keep coming back to THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN because it possesses a great purity and enthusiasm. As other reviewers have said, it's just the man, his mouth organ and his guitar (apart from on 'Corrina, Corrina'). SACD captures the simplicity of his performance superbly. NB This is SACD Stereo -- not Surround Sound, nor Dolby 5.1.

The music is part folk, part blues. Yes, it's slightly repetitive in that it lacks the diversity and creative input you could get from a wider group setting. But for me, this is solo Dylan at the top of his game, bristling with confidence that an enormous audience would take to the album. To enjoy this CD, you don't need to organise a sit-in, protest march or late-night coffee with a few student friends. It really is OK to listen to this in the car or while exercising or even (heaven forbid!) as background music while working or giving a dinner party. Dylan probably foresaw none of these uses for his music, and I suspect the only protest at such abuse would come from his diehard folk fans -- the same ones who protested about his later transition to electric instruments. Me, I just love it because it's so uncluttered. (And normally I don't like folk music!)

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Episode Two - The Talent Explodes January 31, 2002

By A. Wolverton VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

After his self-titled debut album, Dylan stunned 1963 listeners with his second disc, which opens with three Dylan classics in a row: "Blowin' in the Wind" is a timeless classic which has been covered countless times by countless artists. 40 years later, its power to convey what's wrong with the world has not diminished one bit. "Girl From the North Country" remains one of Dylan's classic love songs. "Masters of War" is a song that will be topical as long as war is waged in any portion of the planet. Two other tunes, "Hard Rain" and "Don't Think Twice" are among the best songs Dylan ever wrote. Dylan still performs these tunes in concert nearly four decades later. It's really quite amazing how well these songs hold up after all the years since their initial release. Great songs will always be great.

The Dylan of 1963 sought to tell us about the world and what was happening in it as he saw it, but he also wanted us to have a couple of laughs. "Talking World War III Blues" and "I Shall Be Free," though dated only by the characters named, are still great examples of Dylan's sharp wit (which, by the way, has not decreased at all in 2002).

'Freewheelin'' marks the first time Dylan wrote or co-wrote nearly all of the songs on the album. ("Corinna, Corinna" is the lone exception.) The disc is finally being recognized as one of Dylan's best, alongside 'Blonde on Blonde' and 'Blood on the Tracks.' It's about time.

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