The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Important? Sure. Historical? Yes. Fun to listen to? No.

[strums guitar gently, starts singing] “How many Bob Dylan albums must a man endure, before he’s free of this god forsaken list? The answer, my friend is blowing in the wind.” [abruptly stops strumming] …wait, not it’s not. Seven. The answer, my friend, is seven.

Not my favourite Dylan album, but holds a lot of magic. So self-assured and pure. Hard Rain has been a huge influence. Don't Think Twice is one of my favourite love songs ever.

i don't care if i sound shallow but this is one of the best albums of all time sure his lyrics are dense and it's kinda pompous but u just gotta roll wit it

No. No Bob Dylan. I can't stand the sound of his voice, I can't stand the fawning hero worship, I can't stand his terrible paintings. I flatly refuse to even entertain the suggestion of listening to this. No.

Another Dylan master class for his second album more blues and less folk, less biblical and some really profound lyrics when everyone else was singing about taking girls to discos. For a point of reference 1963 was the same year Cliff Richard released “summer holiday”. This is why Bobby D was a groundbreaking artist, maybe not the most technically gifted musician but his lyrics are more like poetry and will go down in history as great feats of English literature. In my opinion this album goes beyond music.

I honestly don't get the big deal with Bob Dylan. Bored the balls off me.

Really up my alley, don't know why I hadn't jumped into Bob Dylan's discography. That guitar strumming, that lyricism. His voice is full of emotion and carries the words so well. BUT? He sounds nasally as FUCK. An acquired taste that I have not entirely acquired.

Bob turns up proper on his second album. Finger pointing protesting love/hate songs. This album sounds like it's going to be friendly with the finger picking acoustic and down home folky couple on the front, but it picks you up by the ear and kicks you in the balls. After that, if you still don't like it it means you haven't been paying attention. Best Tracks: Girl From The North Country; Don't Think Twice It's All Right; Talkin' World War 3 Blues

Not my favorite of Dylan’s early all acoustic stuff (that would be The Times They Are A-Changin’) and a tad inconsistent, but “Blowin In The Wind,” “Girl From The North Country,” “Masters Of War,” “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” are among the greatest songs ever written.

Difficult to actually hear as I know the album so well, for so many years. Struck by the skillful way he uses his voice - variety of accents, young/old, the rhythm, the poetry.

This is where Dylan began to establish himself as a serious songwriter and accidentally ended up changing songwriting itself. Starts incredibly strongly with the first three songs being absolutely timeless pillars of music that will last through the ages. It's almost as if Dylan was a human version of the monolith from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and everyone who came into contact with his music began to evolve after listening to it. He's still in the shadow of Woody Guthrie here when he wants to be, but at this point I think it's more to temper the sheer power that is pouring out of him with something more down to earth.

Here it is, finally! I'm not sure if this is my favorite Dylan album, but I knew it was only a matter of time until we got one that is a five star for me. This is easily one of my favorites from Bobby boy. It's that early, folksy style that I love, even veering into blues territory. There's a few classic bangers on here like "Blowin in the Wind" and "Don't Think Twice It's Alright," but the depth is extremely rewarding. I love the story-telling Dylan over acoustic guitar and some harmonica here and there, long before he expired. Take "Down the Highway" for example, just a long blues progression with a story and that repeated, lilting vocal inflection is just so addictive to me. He sounds like he's a thousand years old, like the mysterious man singing "O Death" in O Brother Where Art Thou. As much as I rag on Bob Dylan for some of his later stuff (I've given one of his albums a one star already), he's really an incredible songwriter and musician, and this album is one I will always champion. One of the best. Favorite tracks: Don't Think Twice It's Alright, Corinna Corinna, Down the Highway, Girl from the North Country, Talking World War III Blues, I Shall Be Free. Album art: One of his must unassuming. Of course I've seen it a million times, but it doesn't leave much of an impression. I like that humility. Is that Corinna he's walking with? Is she from the north country? 5/5

What if... this screeching is not harmonica but some entity that Bob Dylan came in contact with like in Saya no Uta. That thing just talks like that and he's the only one who can understand it. Aww, it's so cute, this little Lovecraftian monster is trying to help with the song! On a serious note, I don't want to be serious. It's like I'm given the same album three times already. I just can't generate a different response That being said, I think I'm warming up to this music, it was slightly more bearable again. This or the fact that I'm literally getting older

Oh yeah, this feels iconic - you can definitely see how Dylan captured the zeitgeist of the times. Most of these songs could be dropped into the soundtrack of a scene and instantly paint a picture of 60s cultural tumult... Fave track - toss up between "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" and "Masters of War"

How did he sound so old so young? I can understand why he walked a little back from the political content, as it’s so powerful that I imagine he had a lot of people trying to commission him for more, and outrage never runs dry. I enjoyed this a lot, and was surprised by how stirring the raw acoustic delivery was for me, as I’d only gone through the electric albums previously. The non-sequiturs work for me- “good car to drive/after a war” - presented as afterthoughts

I can respect him as an artist. I think that Bob Dylan was a trailblazer for folk music, but personally it is not for me.

Me - "Poor predictable Bob, always takes harmonica." Dylan - "Good old harmonica, nothing beats that!"

Το άκουσα στο αυτοκίνητο οπότε δεν καταλάβαινα στίχους. Η μουσική ήταν μονότονη.

Oh, fuck this. This wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Blowin’ in the Wind and Don’t Think Twice are truly fantastic songs. I suppose there is something to be said about a dude, a guitar and a harmonica being enough for a song. I didn’t really notice the lyrics and the ones I did weren’t particularly insightful, probably because I’m listening to this nearly 60 years later. Overall, I found it to be boring background music until the damn harmonica came in and steamrolled everything in the most annoying way. Like, Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance is kind of fun until the fucking harmonica just BLARES. No desire to listen to this again. This album is for boring softies.

How can a 21yo write "It's A Hard Rain.."? And include 4-5 other all-time classics on one album? Even the longer/less tuneful ones are very entertaining. Just incredible [EDIT: Mark, I hope you appreciated "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right", the motherlode of the "pedagogic goodbye" style]

Every male be acting like this album cover come autumn/early winter.

although i don't think this is necessarily bob dylan at the height of his powers, this is a terrific album and one that shows essentially where he started from. maybe the most pure folk album he ever released (outside of his debut) and there is some terrific stuff on here. this album really showcases him as a pure folk singer, which i think is very important in his history, but in his relation to the evolution of popular music in the 20th century. if i can nitpick, not all of the songs are 10 out of 10 bangers, but most of them are great and there are some all-timers on here. safe to say, it's one of my favorites of his and an overall great album.

Stone cold masterpiece and the apex of Bob Dylan's early folk protest singer phase. Any record that has "Blowin' in the Wind", "Girl from the North Country", "Masters of War", "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right", and "Corrina, Corrina" in its tracklisting MUST be included in a list like this, even if the rest was made out of absolute duds. Luckily, the rest is not made out of duds, so ignore the usual grumblers complaining about Bob's voice and dive in. The words and stories are fascinating. The music is subtle and far more sophisticated than it seems, with some terrific harmonic moments. And once you get that, Dylan's vocal performance becomes perfect as well. I don't have enough time today to elaborate, sadly. But in a way, I *refuse* to elaborate. There's a very clear reason Bob Dylan became a cult figure -- in spite of himself, at first. And this album is exhibit A. for it. A lot of people telling you that he is overrated end up changing their minds at some point. I did. It's just that I didn't know what I was talking about before. So dive in as well if you haven't yet. And for those who may have questions about how I ended up changing my mind... Well indeed, the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. But if you end up loving this LP, you'll manage to catch said answer before it's out of your grasp. It's all up to you, really. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums. 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 4.5) (a quick note about that grading: no album in my list of 20 records released in 1963 reaches a perfect mark. *The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan* is the best album of that year for me, followed by releases by Charles Mingus, The Beach Boys and the first two Beatles LPs. Anything beyond isn't really essential as far as albums go. So you have to put your head back then to picture what a shock for the audience this sort of album could be. Which is another good reason to include it here...) Number of albums left to review: 58 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 407 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 234 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 302

Classic early Dylan. definitely a good listen - if not every-day.

Great

No. 91/1001 Blowin' in the Wind 5/5 Girl from the North Country 4/5 Masters of War 3/5 Down the Highway 2/5 Bob Dylan's Blues 3/5 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall 4/5 Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 5/5 Bob Dylan's Dream 4/5 Oxford Town 3/5 Talkin' World War III Blues 3/5 Corrina, Corrina 4/5 Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance 4/5 I Shall Be Free 3/5 Average: 3,62 This album showcases all the things I find good and bad about Dylan. Love the lyrics and songwriting on some songs. On others it feels like him rambling along to music.

A handful of recognizable hits as well as a handful of songs that sound like the recognizable hits. He’s less of a singer than a poet soliloquizing his thoughts with a guitar and harmonica. I like when he laughs mid-speak/song.

I think I enjoyed it but not so much due to its soft nature , I guess I am in a different mood but Bob Dylan is a great musician and a legend , I do love some of his songs <3

I think I've come to the conclusion that I prefer Dylan songs when someone other than Bobby sings them. Most of the time anyway. This has some lovely songs on it, but I'd really rather listen to, say, Peter, Paul and Mary sing them. Or Joan Baez. Or John Martyn. I'll draw the line at Clapton obviously, but there are lots of nice versions of a number of these songs that I'm very happy to listen to multiple times. Fwiw, Blowin' in the Wind might be the time when Dylan's is the better version. So, it was nice to listen to this to say that I have, but I doubt I'll ever put it on again.

Still so accurate

Normalerweise bin ich in diesem old school, tramp on train Folk super gern zu Gast, esse Bohnen aus der Pfanne, trinke Maisschnaps ausm Zinnbecher und lege meine zerzausten Gedanken auf einem Büschel Stroh zur Ruh‘ Aber dass die Größe dieses einzelnen Bobs das monumentale Genre der uramerikanischen Geschichten Erzähler überragen soll, kann ich nicht erkennen

dadrock at its finest, thats why I can't recommend this to anyone except boomers

Bob Dylan does nothing for me, actually that’s not quite true. Bob Dylan makes me bored. Is it important? Sure I guess, enough people say it is but, no thanks

As boring as it is iconic

Nope. I can't bear an entire album of all-acoustic Dylan. Blonde on Blonde and the Basement Tapes are hard enough, but just him with his guitar and a harmonica going on and on like some lunatic busker? I just can't.

boring, same thing all the time, meh

This is my 2nd least favourite genre (folk) and it shows with this review. 1 star

This man cannot sing!!

Amazing lyricist that should've been born mute

This is my first time listening to Bored Dylan and will likely be the last. I'm sure he's great if you really like folk music though

His voice infuriates me in an indescribable way

Superb

Great vibes, maybe good driving, good background, great sound quality, 87%

Only got to half. But enjoyed it. Felt like maybe I was the wrong generation though.

Heard before incredibly decent and fine

A damn fine album

Dylan's a great storyteller and now I wanna buy a harmonica, this Aussie gives it five Kanos from Mortal Kombat out of five.

Classic album, I’ve heard most of it before. Girl from the north country w cash is better.

What a classic!

Either the second or third song with the long harmonica

All-time favourite. Everybody must listen to The Freewheelin'.

Que disco tan agradable, lleno de canciones clásicas y de contenido poderoso. Cuando todavía no se le atoraba la nariz y todavía cantaba sin maullidos tan pronunciados; eso de entrada ayuda mucho. Las canciones perfectos ejemplos del rock folk más puro y bien hecho, melodías extraídas perfectamente del Mississippi, Pantanos y los Montes Apalaches con letras totalmente modernas para su tiempo, hablando desde mujeres, protesta, humor, derechos civiles, discursos políticos y hasta letras que a veces son demasiado perdidas en su propio mensaje y solo dejan confundido. Un álbum que no solo tiene la importancia de haber iniciado todo un movimiento y la carrera de quien (queriendo o no) fue un portavoz de una generación, sino que también ha envejecido con muchísima gracia y se sigue escuchando tremendamente bien. La amplitud de temas en las canciones, los cambios al cantar entre amores perdidos a sentimientos de verdadera devastación por la sociedad de su tiempo reflejan muy bien los tiempos tan difíciles y cambiantes que había. Tendría un detalle en que ciertas canciones se sienten de creación improvisada en su letra (p. ej. Bob Dylan's Blues) al punto en que no solo son difíciles de seguir, sino que a veces me dejan con una gran interrogación flotando arriba de la cabeza sobre qué trataban. Decir que es un disco excelente e importante se queda corto. Creo que sin duda es un disco que debería estar calificado al menos dentro de los 50 (si no es que 20) mejores discos de la historia. Sin banda, solo con una guitarra y una armónica es una postal perfecta de cómo era el mundo en ese momento y cómo estaba por cambiarse mucho en la manera de pensar y la trayectoria tanto de la música como de la sociedad.

Classic

lit ass album

Classic

Poesía musicada. Espectacular

It sure is music.

Not my favourite album but it's classic Bob Dylan ffs 5/5

of course its great!

Five all day long. Can understand those who don't like his voice but to write songs of the lyrical power of Masters of War; Hard Rain; BITW at what must have been 21/22 is mind-blowing. Impressive and depressing in equal measure.

Yep

U already no

Can't say much about this one. Beautiful music

My favourite Bob Dylan album, with my favourite track: Masters of War.

Amazing album; Hard rains a comin, girl from the north country, and Bob Dylans blues among my favorites.

Premium groß - vor allem hard rain

Weltklasse

Every song goes hard. One of my favourite albums.

Possibly Bob Dylan's best album before he went electric and a personal favorite of mine. 9.4/10 Best Tracks: "Blowin' in the Wind" "Girl from the North Country" "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" "Bob Dylan's Dream"

Great, just great

Took a song or two to get used to his style, but once I did I love it.

4th favorite Dylan album which still is a no-brainer 5 star choice. Even if the 2nd side is quite a bit weaker than side 1...that side 1; WOW

27th August 2021 Was supposed to listen on Friday but had bad side effects from Covid jab the day before. Listened on Saturday morning while getting the house cleaned up before Gareth came round and watched Liverpool Chelsea. Dylan before the cycism set in. Beautiful, passionate and intelligent.

Folk masterpiece. One of Dylan's best from the 60s. Some of the second half tracks are very... Dylan-y, perhaps too Dylan-y. 9/10 1. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall 2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right 3. Bob Dylan's Dream

It is a 5, however there are some notes -we all know there is an inferior cover -is masters of war THAT good a song -don’t think twice and hard rain gonna fall are AMAZINg songs

Classic. To carry 95 of the album with just a guitar is incredible. Everything is right; lyrics, melody, balance of ‘heavy’ to ‘light.’

Quel Album incroyable. On dirait un album qui pourrait changer le monde ou du moins amener un peu de paix. C'est un classique des classique. Il n'y a pas de mauvais moment pour écouter cela . 5/5

What artist fills this album? What poetry? Blowing in the Wind is a standard for the ages; Masters of War takes its place in the ranks of angry, powerful protest songs; Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right is a charming, elegant song; Corrina, Corrina a

Perfection.

Love this album, really good early raw Dylan with a lot of classics, just him and his guitar

This is one of the best albums ever made. His voice was really peak and the songs are of a cleverness and creative quality few artists match

Brutal.

A masterpiece from, perhaps, the greatest song writer.

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right remains a favorite for me

Blues, folk and protest rock combine on this iconic album.

Really good Dylan. Can't believe he was in his early 20s. 9/10

9/10. I think this might be my favorite Bob Dylan album so far. It's nice to not have any ridiculously songs, and a lot of the songwriting here felt less rambley than many of his songs, though that's hard to quantify.

classic

Superb. Listened to it twice!

So much warm and breadth from a voice and a guitar. His words are an orchestra.

I don’t really have anything to say about this album that hasn’t been said by many people. It’s in the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress, for Pete’s sake. There are better Dylan albums, but this is a better album than most artists will ever dream of making. It’s an important marker of the era in which it was made, but also a timeless work of art. Fave Songs (All songs from most to least favorite): Don't Think Twice, It's All Right; Girl from the North Country; Blowin' in the Wind; A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall; Masters of War; Corrina, Corrina; Bob Dylan's Dream, Talkin' World War III Blues, Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance; Oxford Town, Down the Highway; I Shall Be Free

The messages in the protest songs remain as strong as they did when the album was released.

What an album! Banger after banger. I love Bob Dylan but this is especially fantastic

Another album I already own on Vinyl, one of my favourites!

What an album! Knew a Bob Dylan offering wouldn't disappoint .

And so it did happen like it could have been foreseen The timeless explosion of fantasy's dream At the peak of the night, the king and the queen Tumbled all down into pieces - Ballad in Plain D (the other side of Bob Dylan)

Yep.

Marvelous!

This Dylan album gives everyone something to love. Rock, folk, politics, swagger. All encompassed in incredible music sensibilities and outstanding lyrics. Just wow.