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61 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great album, even for non-Dylan fans, July 11, 2004
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!)
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Freewheelin' Sophmore Album, November 6, 2005
It's almost impossible to put Bob Dylan's music in the context of when it was first released, as he is going on forty-plus years of fame and icon status in most learned musical circles. It's hard to hear the songs he penned, seen through the lens of what they came to mean and what they continue to mean, as if they were new, sparkling examples of a talent just beginning to be realized.
All of which makes hearing "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", his 1963 sophmore album (after a self-titled debut the year before) all the more impressive. With just his guitar and harmonica, Dylan manages to weave his way through social protest, love and loss, and story-songs like the gifted folk poet that he was first sold to the world as. Before he went electric, Dylan became the darling of the folk movement through songs like "Blowin' In the Wind", "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", "Masters of War", and all these are presented in the exceptional technical format that maximizes their beauty and stark evocations of subject matters both political and personal.
It's the spit and anger of "Masters of War" that many people will probably take away from this record, but don't forget the humorous side; as showcased in some of his best tracks from the mid-Sixties, Dylan was not born missing a sense of humor. "I Shall Be Free", in particular, is one of the funniest tunes committed to record. "Talking World War III Blues", "Bob Dylan's Blues", and "Bob Dylan's Dream" make for a humorous aside to the more strident sloganeering that Dylan engages on. "Corrina, Corrina" sees Dylan backed by a sparse band, and it is entirely possible that the original album would have been more along those lines had not Dylan's manager at the time sought to court the folk audience and shun the rockers who might have grasped Dylan back then.
I have to confess that I was hesitant to purchase this; as a fan of the "electric years" (starting with the masterpieces contained on "Bringing It All Back Home"), I was reluctant to hear some of the folk material. But this album could very well be the perfect introduction to Dylan; it contains classic songs that any artist would give their right arm to pen (and many would cover), and flows perfectly from one tune to the next. There's not a bad note on the album.
If you want to hear Dylan, you must hear "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan". You owe it to yourself to get this album, and prepare to put it on repeat at least seven or eight times the first time you play it. It's that damn good, and I don't know how else I can emphasize that.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bob begins here..., May 3, 2005
Dylan released one album before this one, but "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" is really where it all begins. After all, who hasn't heard "Blowin' in the Wind"? Arguably, it's one of the most influential folks songs ever written. Throughout the sixties covers of the song flowed like Niagra from the guitars and mouths of folk bands, rock bands, and singer/songwriters inspired by Dylan's example. The song has almost become synonymous with the concept of "protest song". It helped define the music of its era, and remains one of Dylan's anthems.
The album consists of Dylan, Guitar, and harmonica with one exception: "Corrina, Corrina" includes a small band. Otherwise it's a one man show. That makes this album all the more incredible. Neil Young once said about playing solo acoustically "You gotta be good to do that". And so it appears. Very few solo acts can pull off what Dylan accomplishes here. The solid but not too perfect guitar playing, his wavering and slightly abrasive voice, and the boisterous harmonica somehow create a coherent whole that is neither boring or sloppy. He probably couldnt've consciously created a better tribute to his greatest influence Woody Guthrie.
"Masters of War" contains some of Dylan's most fist-clenching lyrics, such as "You ain't worth the blood that runs in your veins", and "Even Jesus would never forgive what you do"; it pulls out all the stops with "And I hope that you die, and your death will come soon." The whole song spills venom in large pools.
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" evokes nightmarish images. The lyrics seem to prophesize a coming calamity. Some have claimed that Dylan predicted the strife of the 1960s in this song. Regardless, it remains one of Dylan's outstanding and unforgettable songs.
"Oxford Town" deals with racial injustice and is supposedly based on the story of James Meredith. Imagery of guns, clubs, and tear gas bombs pervade the song.
"I Shall Be Free" ends the album on a humorous note. It's based on the "We Shall Be Free" tune that Lead Belly and Guthrie once sang together. Dylan "updated" the song for the 1960s. Pay special attention to the Bridget Bardot, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren line. Did the somewhat prudish scene of 1963 miss the baudy double entendre?
This album and 1964's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" put Dylan right at the center of the folk and protest music scene of the 1960s. He started hanging out with Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, and others who would spitefully condemn Dylan just a few years later for abandoning the scene he helped to boost in popularity. The years repute Dylan in this debate. After all, who could expect him to make two better folk protest albums than his first two? Dylan would have burned out quickly without exploring other avenues. In retrospect, he couldn't have stayed where this album put him. So he fled the scene. It wasn't the first or last scene he fled. It was just the beginning of one of the most intriguing and influential music careers of the twentieth century. "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" remains a classic. If anything it has gained in prestige since its release over 40 years ago. That alone speaks volumes.
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