#Bob dylan discography numberd full#

More a collection of acoustic parables than anything else, the album is noted for its simple arrangements, economical lyrics, and Biblical qualities. Odds and Ends: John Wesley Harding found a very different Dylan returning to his first proper recording after his infamous motorcycle crash and sessions with The Band at Big Pink. One for the Road: While Dylan has used вЂњAll Along the WatchtowerвЂќ (Setlist.fm shows itвЂ™s his most-played song) as a thundering closer for hundreds of performances on his Never Ending Tour, other songs from John Wesley Harding, like вЂњDrifterвЂ™s EscapeвЂќ and вЂњThe Wicked Messenger,вЂќ have joined вЂњIвЂ™ll Be Your Baby TonightвЂќ as semi-regular inclusions between better-known fare. The ambling send-off holds no grand mysteries, offering only the promise of a bottle and some companionship for the night. Gone but Not Forgotten: Closing track вЂњIвЂ™ll Be Your Baby TonightвЂќ offers a welcome respite after 11 tracks that make you feel like you didnвЂ™t pay enough attention in Sunday school or your Bible as literature class. While Dylan does offer us a moral at the storyвЂ™s conclusion, most listeners will probably echo the sentiments muttered under the breath of the boy in the penultimate stanza: вЂњNothing is revealed.вЂќД«lowinвЂ™ in the Wind: вЂњOutside in the distance/ A wildcat did growl/ Two riders were approaching/ The wind began to howlвЂќ - from вЂњAll Along the WatchtowerвЂќ It AinвЂ™t Me, Babe: Near the middle of the album sits вЂњThe Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest,вЂќ a rambling morality play that sticks out among its more laconic brethren. For what itвЂ™s worth, Dylan preferred the guitar godвЂ™s version and styled his own performances of the song after Hendrix from then on.

#Bob dylan discography numberd full#

Jimi Hendrix would go on to transform the simple acoustic song into an expansive jam full of portent and electricity. While fans and academics alike have tried to make sense of the songвЂ™s sparse narrative for decades, an acoustic strum, a howling harmonica, and an ominous drumbeat tell us all we need to know: that something grim - perhaps even apocalyptic - is about to go down, and the characters best get away while they still can. ItвЂ™s All Good: The gem of the collection, of course, remains вЂњAll Along the Watchtower,вЂќ an urgent tale that centers around a cryptic conversation between a joker and a thief. While photographer John Berg acknowledges the resemblance, he denies that the likeness was intentional. Legend has it that if you turn the album cover upside down, you can see an image of The Beatles in the knot of the tree. Behind them is a local carpenter named Charlie Joy. Flanking Dylan on his left and right are sibling Bengali minstrels Luxman and Purna Das, the latter of whom has performed in more than 140 countries. When I Paint My Masterpiece: DonвЂ™t beat yourself up if you donвЂ™t recognize the other three men in the photo on the albumвЂ™s cover. Here is our definitive ranking of Bob DylanвЂ™s 15 best records, in ascending order. ItвЂ™s all there - glorious and cringe-worthy - and waiting to be discovered, revisited, forgotten, salvaged, and, most of all, celebrated.ДЇor now, though, as we celebrate DylanвЂ™s 80th birthday, weвЂ™ll choose to focus on only the best of the best. That means phases where heвЂ™s penned songs that spoke to a generation and etched their words into our souls but also phases where he seemed to be just really into Jesus or wanted to follow in SinatraвЂ™s footsteps. Dylan, if nothing else, has been, and continues to be an artist of phases - one still вЂњbusy being bornвЂќ even as he turns 80 years of age on Monday (May 24th).

And, yes, some of DylanвЂ™s 39 studio albums and the songs that populate them are painfully awful.Д«ut that comes with the territory. Yes, there are albums here with nary a flaw on them, but sometimes that pales in comparison to the excitement of finding a great Dylan song on a terrible Dylan album. Sure, we all know the euphoric sound of Al KooperвЂ™s organ riff kick-starting вЂњLike a Rolling Stone,вЂќ but thereвЂ™s also the intense pleasure of identifying with a deep cut youвЂ™ve always skipped over in the past. Revisiting these albums has been a complicated and daunting joy. So many songs that a generation of listeners once claimed as their own have now found their way into the ears of children and grandchildren and will continue doing so for as long as albums and songs continue to be mediums we embrace.

The albums ranked in the following pages are a rare breed in that many mark their times but also mark all times. We can proclaim with even more confidence - in fact, utter certainty - that no artist has left a more exalted or scrutinized collection of albums and songs behind. Apart from, say, Frank Zappa - and thatвЂ™s a rabbit hole many of us arenвЂ™t prepared to go down - there probably isnвЂ™t a more sprawling body of work in popular music than Bob DylanвЂ™s discography.