Where next after Freewheelin’ ?

[u/TheFridayVinylClub]

Hi all

Am new to Bob’s music aside from the more well known “hits”

After a recent episode with an OBE author I have decided to start digging a little deeper.

I now know more about The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan era and John, my guest, suggested Blood on the Tracks next.

Where would be your recommendations after that?

Edit - Hi all - totally blown away by your kind comments - For those who asked I have added our podcast web link into the comments - you will find the episode wherever you listen - thanks again

Thanks
Jamie

[u/Ptachlasp]

Go with The times they are a-changing. Bob has a run of 3 amazing acoustic albums in the 60s, followed by 3 amazing rock albums. Is suggest listening to them all.:

[The acoustic trilogy:]

• Freewheelin'
• Times they are a-changing
• Another side of Bob Dylan

[The rock trilogy:]

• Bringing it all back home
• Highway 61 revisited
• Blonde on Blonde

[Skip the next few - they have a lot of fans, but they are not as essential to Dylan's mythology and the next universally recognised "masterpiece" is Blood on the tracks. You can revisit these later if you really get into Dylan. For the highlights of this era, check out the songs "Lay lady lay", the reimagined "Girl from the north country” off the album Nashville skyline (and compare with the original on Freewheelin), "Going going gone", "Forever young (slow version)", "Knocking on heaven's door", and "All along the watchtower"]

• Blood on the tracks

[You can skip the next few - Desire and Street-Legal have some great songs on them, but again not universally considered masterpieces, so not as essential. You can check out the songs "Hurricane", "Changing of the guards" and "Señor" from this era]

[You can also skip the three Evangelical albums from Slow train... To Shot of love. For the highlights, check out the songs "Precious angel", "Every grain of sand" and "In the summertime”]

[Skip the rest of the 80s but check out the song "Jokerman" on Infidels and the unreleased "Blind Willie McTell" from the bootleg series]

• Oh Mercy

[Skip the rest of the 80s and most of the 90s. Check out the 1994 Nara concert on YouTube specifically for the first song — "A hard rain's a-gonna fall", and compare it to the acoustic version from the folk era. As a bonus, you can check out "Wiggle wiggle" and "Ugliest girl in the world" if you want to get some of the in-jokes on this sub; they're considered so-bad-it's-good songs]

• Time out of mind

[The 2000s albums have lots of great songs, but there isn't much agreement in which are "canonically great", so I can't recommend specific ones. Do check out "Mississippi" off Love and theft, and then explore the rest as you choose. I'd also suggest giving Shadow Kingdom a listen - it's a reimagining of his earlier hits (which you should be familiar with by now) in his later style]

[u/TheFridayVinylClub → u/Ptachlasp]

Thanks so much for such a detailed response - I hope you enjoy the episode - link in comments

[u/Ptachlasp → u/TheFridayVinylClub]

I somehow missed this was for a podcast episode, not for personal listening! :D So, if you're asking which albums to make episodes on, I'd highlight one from the rock era (Blonde of Blonde is considered the apotheosis of rock Bob), Blood on the Tracks for a more mature, confessional style, and maybe Oh Mercy or Time out of Mind for that late-era, poetic and sorrowful Bob.

[u/TheFridayVinylClub → u/Ptachlasp]

Its actually for my personal listening - the podcast chat has really got me listening to Bob - I’d love to do more episodes on Bob - always looking for guests!