The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: May 27, 1963
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000024RQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #105,459 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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

An exact repro of Bob Dylan's 1963 breakthrough LP in accurate, vintage mono sound, with all-analog mastering from the original master tapes. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, his second album, is filled top to bottom with classics, including "Blowin' in the Wind," "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," "Masters of War" and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall." --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	A. Wolverton (Crofton, MD United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

Disc Time - 50:06

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Stars Not Enough, March 29, 2000

By	Randall K. Ventresca (Sarasota, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

"Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" offers Bob Dylan's most superb folk/protest album of them all! This is the album that changed many lives for the better with it's powerful, provoking lyrics, catchy melodies, with just the right touch of blues tossed together with a witty sense of humor.

The album contains classics like "Blowin' in the Wind", "Master of War", "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", "Oxford Town" and "Talkin' World War 3 Blues". Every song is great and Bob's singing and harmonica playing is cleared than at any other time during this artistic period. Bob's liberalism comes shining through, but he was being quite "politically incorrect" at a time when these views were definately not as accepted as they are today. His other folk/protest albums are great, but this is the best.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true milestone, March 22, 2002

By	P. Nicholas Keppler "rorscach12" (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Even if Bob Dylan had never released another album after his 1963 sophomore effort, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, his place in the history of twentieth century music history would be perfectly secure. The album is an absolutely landmark for folk music.

It is not Mr. Dylan's approach that makes the LP so exciting. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the sound of a folk singer doing what folk singers have always done: sing to the common people of what is going on across the country. It was the alarming developments going on across the country that was so exciting. The Cuban Missile Crisis had just past, Vietnam was right around the corner, and, as the nuclear arms race escalated, everything seemed as if it could be gone tomorrow. Meanwhile, a new generation was arising, one that would test the uncharted waters of post-WWII society, inherit a world on the brink and decide how the norms must change to meet a tomorrow than never seemed more different than yesterday. It was a brave new world and someone had to sing about it.

Mr. Dylan was the first folk artist to show an understanding of the more terrifying and far-reaching changes that were engulfing the world around him. Resounding with a poet's clear-headed sharpness and folkie's wide-eyed innocence, dazzling Freewheelin' songs such as "Masters of War," "Talkin' World War III Blues," "Oxford Town" "I Shall Be Free," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and "Blowin' in the Wind" brilliantly recapitulated this fascinating atmosphere. Sometimes Mr. Dylan's approach was wry and zany. "Talkin' World War III Blues" is a tongue-in-cheek recount of jaunting across a postapocalyptic city while "I Shall Be Free" places a merry drunk in the world of JFK and air raid drills. Sometimes it was gravely serious. "Blowin' in the Wind" is an open-hearted pat-on-the-back to troubled denizens of the day while "Masters of War" is perhaps the most scathing insult to callous, warlord politicians ever put into verse. No matter what his tone, no songwriter had a greater grasp on the almost incomprehensible times than the brilliant, young Mr. Dylan. He may not have been the first somewhat politically minded folk-singer but he was the first with the intelligence, skill and bravery to face, head-on, many of the more overwhelming troubles that had recently entered the world. To put it bluntly, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the sound of folk music entering the second half of the twentieth century.

Not every song on album is steeped in revolution, though. An album so densely coated in insight and immensity would boggle the mind so Mr. Dylan treats us to some quaint, more traditionally minded, gems about love and wanderin' between the heavier songs. "Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance" and "Bob Dylan's Blues" are easy-going country ramblers while "Girl from the North Country" and "Bob Dylan's Dream" are sincere, mournful dirges. The greatest of Freewheelin's personal songs, however, is "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," a shove-off to an former lover that features Mr. Dylan's seething wit at its best.

The songs of the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan sparked a sensation. In the coming years they would be covered countless times, chanted at protest rallies and on street corners and their messages would be incorporated into the values of a new generation. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the seminal force of folk music entering a new era, stronger than ever.