JWH feels kind of quietly brilliant. Itās so easy to listen to, isnāt it? I wonder if Iād like All Along the Watchtower even more if Iād never heard Hendrixās version first. Itās great anyway.
That bass work on As I Went Out One Morning.
And the whole of Frankie Lee and Judas Priestā¦ I always listen intently to the lyrics and appreciate Bobās storytelling.
Reckon Frankie Lee is in my top 5 Dylan songs. Itās bloody amazing
Iām going to say it. Nashville Skyline is not good. Two and a half great songs on it. (The half is for āTonight Iāll Be Staying Here With Youā because the Rolling Thunder version shits all over it.)
That version of āā¦North Countryā with Cash is terrible. An instrumental straight afterwards is no improvement. So many throwaway songs.
Better enjoy this though, thereās some real shit on the way.
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let me at least post the thing first!
Nashville Skyline
Alright, listening on headphones again and JWH actually quite lovely and warm. Someone mentioned Belle and Sebastian upthread and thatās actually a great shout.
26 minutes! What is this EP nonsense Bob
First experience of this album was buying the Lay Lady Lady 7" from a record fair at uni. Knew nothing about it being country, or Bobās crooner voice
Genuinely thought Iād put it on at the wrong speed when he started singing
Still love it though, even if it is much more slight than his previous work
the change from BoB and what came before to JWH/ NS is pretty stark. not totally my thing but fair play for such a shift at a point when I assume he was spectacularly popular
I would have had zero idea this was Bob if I didnāt already know, can barely hear a trace of his voice in this. Maybe just a bit in I Threw It All Away, but thatās all
His voice is complete bobbins on this.
Totally get why others donāt rate this one as highly but I think Nashville Skyline belongs in the masterpiece run too.
It completely makes sense to me that, after years of really florid intense songwriting, heād go for something casual and lose.
Despite that though thereās real bite to some of these is a simpler way. I Threw It All Away and Tonight Iāll be Staying Here With You both stand out for this.
Itās his domestic contentment album which can be a tricky one (see Human Touch by Bruce).I think it gains some power though from its contrast with Blood on the Tracks which is about the end of the relationship that starts around Nashville Skyline.
I quite like NS for what it is, itās a nice listen, and Iāve always liked āLay Lady Layā, but itās so slight compared to whatās come before.
Until very recently I had very little interest in Nashville Skyline, Iād only listened once or twice, thought Country Pie was fun but otherwise it was very much not for me. It was the first of this run of albums that I wasnāt very familiar with.
Relistened a couple of months ago, around the time this listening club was starting, and I maybe itās being in my mid 30s but I quite enjoy it now. I Threw It All Away is great and Tell Me That it Isnāt True is also very good. Not keen on the new version of Girl from the North Country though.
Not an essential album by any means but itās a fun little diversion, more than I previously thought.
Love this
Forgot until very recently that YLT covered it too
This fucking SLAPS.
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Ok finally caught up with blonde on blonde and itās amazing. Even the weaker songs are still very good. The brass just lifts the songs so much. Still I think the best of the electric era and sort of a fully developed version of the sound hinted at in parts of highway 61. I would say the lyrics are more meandering and less cutting. So I get why people like it less.
is there a well-known later version or remake of Lay Lady Lay? I definitely know the song but remember it with older croaky (but still good) Bob vocals
John Wesley Harding Is wonderful and quietly lyrically brilliant. Itās not his peak but very good. Above Another side and way better than then the debut but perhaps not quite the level of the others
Refreshingly outward facing after the narcissism inward facing blonde in blonde. Musically I love itā¦. And that includes the harmonica!
Maybe a bootleg or live cut?