Category Archives: dylan weekends

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Song of the Day #664: ‘One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)’ – Bob Dylan

I’ve referenced my Dylan Six — the six albums I consider his unqualified masterpieces — many times over the past few months. And I’ve named five of them already: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Bringing it all Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde and Blood On the Tracks.

1976’s Desire is not the sixth. But I adore this album and I’m tempted to expand that list to a Dylan Seven just to sneak it in there. It’s one of the most musically adventurous and lyrically compelling releases of Dylan’s career and contains a few songs I count among my very favorites.

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Song of the Day #658: ‘This Wheel’s On Fire’ – Bob Dylan

As befits an album called The Basement Tapes, pulled together as a collection of odds and ends recorded by friends who didn’t know if they’d ever see the light of day, the songs on this double album are all over the place.

About a quarter of the tracks are written and performed by The Band, and recorded apart from the Dylan tracks, but those songs maintain the same vibe as the rest. I’ve read some negative comments about The Band’s material on the bobdylan.com message boards but I’ve always been a fan of their work on this album. I see the mix of sounds and styles as appropriate for a collection like this.

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Song of the Day #657: ‘Please Mrs Henry’ – Bob Dylan

I’m always amazed by the release schedule of Bob Dylan’s early career. As somebody who is used to waiting three or four years between my favorite artists’ albums, I can’t even fathom what it must have been like to have a new Dylan release available every six months or so.

And not just new releases, but new releases containing his best material. I already documented that 18-month span that saw the release of Bringing it all Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde. And this weekend I’m writing about the second in another trilogy of spectacular albums, these released within a 12-month period.

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Song of the Day #651: ‘You’re a Big Girl Now’ – Bob Dylan

Blood on the Tracks is, obviously, the fifth member of my Dylan Six — the six Dylan albums I consider his true untouchable masterpieces.

(On a side note, every time I write Dylan Six I’m reminded of the Dylan Four in Battlestar Galactica… the four crew members who discovered they were actually Cylons after being triggered by the words and music of ‘All Along the Watchtower.’ Geek detour concluded. We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.)

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Song of the Day #650: ‘Tangled Up in Blue’ – Bob Dylan

In 1975, nine years had passed since the release of Bob Dylan’s last undisputed masterpiece, Blonde on Blonde. During those nine years he had released seven studio albums, two greatest hits collections and a live album.

He had matched his pre-1966 output but it would be hard to argue that any of those seven albums were equal to his first seven. Could it be his best days were behind him?

The answer, which came in the form of Blood on the Tracks, was a resounding no.

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