Tag Archives: Bob Dylan

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Song of the Day #6,110: ‘Oh, Sister’ – Bob Dylan

Concluding a countdown of my favorite albums of 1976…

#1 – Desire – Bob Dylan

Desire might be my eighth or ninth favorite Bob Dylan album, but that’s enough to make it my favorite release of 1976.

This album is a showcase of Dylan as a collaborator. He co-wrote most of the songs’ lyrics with psychologist Jacques Levy; Emmylou Harris’ backing vocals add grace and texture; and most important, Scarlet Rivera’s violin gives the record a rich air of mystery. Desire sounds like nothing else he ever recorded.

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Song of the Day #6,054: ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ – Timothee Chalamet and Monica Barbaro

My final musical selection from a 2024 film comes from a movie that has too many to count. I could have dedicated all ten of my posts from the past two weeks to A Complete Unknown, director James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic.

If I had to pick just one, I’d go with a performance of ‘The Times They Are A-Changin” at the Newport Folk Festival. In that scene, the crowd — hearing the song for the first time — instantly recognizes its impact and starts singing along by the second chorus.

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Song of the Day #5,847: ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’ – Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan showing up on the list of notable artists who’ve never had a #1 hit isn’t exactly surprising. Even at his most popular, his music was a bit too cerebral and too far out of the mainstream to translate to chart success.

While he’s not a singles artist, Dylan’s complete albums have sold well. He has placed 20 albums in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, and five at #1. But how close has he come to a #1 single?

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Song of the Day #5,424: ‘If You See Her, Say Hello’ – Bob Dylan

Continuing my look at 1975, first by counting down my own top albums of that year.

#1 – Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks

I once named Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks my favorite album of the 70s, so it follows that it would be the best album of 1975. No surprise here.

First, though, I want to give an honorable mention to another great Bob Dylan album that came out the same year. The Basement Tapes, recorded in 1967 with The Band after Dylan’s motorcycle accident, was released eight years later. This double album is a gloriously laid back collection of roots rock ramblings. It likely would have cracked my top five but I figured I’d spread the love and note it here instead.

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Song of the Day #5,202: ‘Goin’ to Acapulco’ – Bob Dylan

Today’s random selection is a cut from the 11th volume of Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series, this one dedicated to the Basement Tapes album he recorded with The Band in 1967. Those recordings didn’t see an official release until 1975, a span that saw Dylan release eight other albums.

While the final album featured 16 songs from those 1967 recordings, along with eight more recorded by The Band in the ensuing years, there was a wealth of other material committed to tape during those sessions. Bootlegs of those songs have been passed around by fans ever since.

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