Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 : Every Album, Every Song
by Lisa Torem
published: 19 / 1 / 2024

intro
For her 'Raging Pages' column, Lisa Torem gives ‘Bob Dylan 1962 to 1970 : Every Album, Every Song’, Opher Goodwin’s new book on Dylan’s studio work high marks.
Opher Goodwin “taught the first ‘History of Rock Music’ class in the UK” and had the good fortune of catching Sixties acts, including Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and Captain Beefheart, during his time in London, “the epicentre for the underground explosion of rock music and culture” according to his recent press release. His subject, Bob Dylan, the Hibbing, Minnesota-born troubadour, who has often been championed as North America’s incomparable poet laureate, greatly influenced John Lennon, particularly on the dreamy ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ and literary-minded Suzanne Vega. Goodwin was originally dismissive of Dylan’s work – “We weren’t big on ‘folk’ music,’ he shares about his relationship with a then-friend, in the introduction. That statement, alone, piqued my interest, causing me to ask myself, ‘What, then, turned Goodwin into a super fan?’ But as I pored through the book, I easily discovered how the author’s evolution took place. Dylan’s early inspirations include no-holds-barred storyteller Woody Guthrie, soulful singer/guitarist Odetta, and oddly, “Be Bop a Lula” singer Little Richard. As such, one of Dylan’s chief goals was to befriend Guthrie, and on early albums, he would sharply mirror Guthrie’s talking-blues style. Goodwin also notes that Dylan’s rise to popularity in New York’s Greenwich Village came with a price. Being considered the voice of a generation “irritated him no end” and “heaped tension on his shoulders.” This conundrum would bedevil Dylan throughout his career. Radical French poets Rimbaud, Baudelaire and Verlaine would partially quench Dylan’s desire for dark, sensuous detail, before he embraced Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Goodwin cites examples of how Dylan would, many times over the course of his career, reimagine himself, to the chagrin of his early fans. At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival he was considered a turncoat when he blasted his electric guitar. Similarly, when on his album ‘John Wesley Harding’ he dared to enter the Americana realm, he tried the patience of the tried-and-true. And again, as the counter-culture gathered steam, Dylan was called upon to lead the flock. He decried such thoughts of attachment. ‘Nashville Skyline’ honoured his new image, or lack thereof, for he had given the boot to corduroy caps and faded jeans. His times were ‘a-changin’, and so was he. Dylan’s discography reveals debut album covers by Jesse Fuller, Blind Willie Johnson, Bukka White and Blind Lemon Johnson, et al, arranged instrumentally with hard-picking plectrum and mournful blues-harp. His sophomore album was a sea-change. His labelmates had turned him on to a roster of trailblazers, and he began to scribe protest-songs oozing with unbridled conviction. ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘Masters of War,’ “the ultimate anti-war song,” would become period-pieces. ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’ “never fails to engage.” The author vehemently states: “No matter how many times you hear it there is always something new to discover or wonder at.” With the same razor-sharp focus, Goodwin ushers us through Dylan’s 1962-1970 discography, I highly recommend this well-researched book. That Dylan has achieved folk-rock royalty status is undisputed, but reading about his climb to studio self-actualisation answers a series of burning questions.
Band Links:-
http://bobdylan.com/https://www.facebook.com/bobdylan
https://twitter.com/bobdylan
https://www.youtube.com/user/BobDylanVEVO
http://www.songkick.com/artists/408511-bob-dylan
Play in YouTube:-
Visitor Comments:- |
5651 Posted By: Opher Goodwin, Driffield, UK on 27 Feb 2024 |
Thanks for the great review. Much appreciated!
|
profiles |
A Complete Unknown (2025) |
![]() |
Lisa Torem enjoys new Bob Dylan biopic, ‘A Complete Unknown,’ but still has burning questions about the Nobel Prize Winner’s legacy. |
live reviews |
Palladium, London, 19/10/2022 |
![]() |
Nick Dent-Robinson finds Bob Dylan on fine form at an intimate show at the London Palladium on the opening night of his ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’ tour. |
O2, London, 25/4/2009 |
Wembley Arena, London, 15/4/2007 |
Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth, 28/ |
Brixton Carling Academy, London, 21/11/2005 |
Wembley Arena, London, 15/11/2003 |
favourite album |
Slow Train Coming (2003) |
![]() |
"Genuinely challenging", but sometimes ignored and often misunderstood, Ben Howarth argues the case for Bob Dylan's 1979 Christian album 'Slow Train Coming' as one of the great Dylan albums |
features |
61 Highways Revisited: The Albums Of Bob Dylan (2018) |
![]() |
In her 'Raging Pages' book column Lisa Torem finds that Chicago author Bob Shiel with is new book, '61 Highways Revisited — The Albums of Bob Dylan’, does everything Dylan by way of smart, comprehensive reviews and a double-CD of related renditions in which he strums and sings. |
Chronicles : Volume One (2005) |
soundcloud
reviews |
Fallen Angels (2016) |
![]() |
Fabulous thirty-seventh album from Bob Dylan, which is his second album in succession to cover songs from the 1940s and 1950s originally recorded by Frank Sinatra |
Together Through Life (2009) |
Modern Times (2006) |
No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (A Martin Scorsese Picture) (2005) |
Live 1964 : Concert At Philharmonic Hall (2004) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Pennyblackmusic - Writers and Photographers' Albums of the Year 2024Peter Perrett - In Dreams Begin Responsibilities Interview Part One
Man From Delmonte - Interview
Clive Langer - Interview
Pennyblackmusic - Book of the Year Award 2024
Johnnie Johnstone - Interview
Marianne Faithfull - Reflections
Laura Nyro - Profile
Johny Brown - Corpse Flower
Vinyl Stories - Vinyl 2024
previous editions
Heavenly - P.U.N.K. Girl EPMichael Stuart Ware - Pegasus Epitaph: The Story of the Legendary Rock Group Love
Trudie Myerscough-Harris - Interview
Marianne Faithfull - Interview
Dwina Gibb - Interview
Joy Division - The Image That Made Me Weep
Henry McCullough - Interview
Beautiful South - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Peter Paul and Mary - Interview with Peter Yarrow
Marianne Faithfull - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Dorie Jackson - Stupid Says RunRingo Starr - Look Up
Beabadoobee - This is How The World Moves
Pixie Lott - Encino
Dusty Springfield - The BBC Sessions
Unthanks - In Winter
Joan Armatrading - How Did This Happen and What Does It Mean?
Rosie Lowe - Lover, Other
Oïmiakon - Comptoir Des Vanites
Emily Burns - Die Happy
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart