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 In the Beginning Dec 24, 2009
His first album. He wasn't satisfied with it, but it holds up well. He seems to be stifling his own creativity--offering up only two original songs--and trying to say he was an authentic participant in an old tradition of blues, country, and folk--what today is called roots music. His voice sounds as though he's deliberately trying to age it sometimes. It is almost as though he didn't quite trust his own artistic skills either as songwriter or vocalist.
Dylan himself was disappointed with the performance. But in the light of what happened to him, this album is fascinating for what it reveals about what Dylan saw as significant sources to his music and what themes would emerge that were important to him.
--Lawrence J. Epstein, author of Political Folk Music in America from Its Origins to Bob Dylan
Excellent Album! Nov 07, 2009
I am so glad I purchased this album. I own several of Dylan's albums, but many are just compilations which don't include the overlooked songs on this CD.
Some of my favorites:
'Talkin' New York' is an outstanding song chronicling Dylan's impression of the city.
'Gospel Plow' has an amazing harmonica piece all throughout it.
'House of the Rising Sun' - I had always only heard 'the Animals' cover of this song, so it was nice to hear Dylan's take on it.
I downloaded the CD to my computer and started listening to it and found the sound quality was excellent. I recommend this album to any Dylan fan or anyone who loves music period.
5/5
Surprisingly Powerful Aug 19, 2009
Whenever I listen to this disc, it always comes as a pleasant surprise. As a loyal fan and follower of Bob Dylan's for over 40 years, I know him primarily through his own compositions to be a tremendous song-writer. Because his voice can take some getting used to, it is easy to overlook the fact that Dylan is a remarkably powerful interpreter of his own songs and of the songs of others. On this, his first album, Dylan's set list is comprised almost entirely of staple items from the folk-catalogue, and he interprets each and every one with subtlety and power. If you enjoy Dylan as a singer-songwriter, you owe it to yourself to explore this early work in which he performs selections from the popular folks-song catalogue. And if you do enjoy this disc, you may also want to consider two later albums, "Good as I Been To You" and "World Gone Wrong" in which an older, more ragged-voiced Dylan, returns to his folk roots.
 Not a bad album of folk music. Not his best. Not his worst. 7/10 Jul 24, 2009
I'm not exactly sure what version of this cd I have...perhaps not the remastered version...my cd would have been cheap. In any case, I have found that there is not a lot of discernable difference with remastered versions of Dylan's accoustic cds, in some cases. Guessing that that would be the case here too. I did find that the sound in this cd was of the faux stereo kind...i.e. you'd get vocals in one speaker and the guitar in another speaker, which isn't ideal, but is to be expected for releases produced around this time.
Anyway, in his debut album, Dylan pretty much covers traditional folk songs. For a man who would gain a stellar reputation for songwriting, it's a pity that in some cases he didn't change a word here or there, to agree with his gender, so that he makes the song absurd.
Anyway, I think that the best tracks on this cd are:
Talkin' New York - an original composition which seems autobiographical. Vocals and harmonica in the left speaker and the guitar on the right, which is how the first song was arranged. Good harmonica in this song.
In my time of dyin' - features a steel string accoustic guitar, I think, with a twangy intro to the song. It's a bluesy, negro-spiritual type of song. Not sure, but I think that my notes say that Dylan sounds like a black singer or something.
House of the risin' sun - I watched a documentary a while back which informs my comments on this song...I'm using the entry for this album on Wikipedia to source my information - in the documentary "No direction home", fellow folk artist Dave Van Ronk claims that Dylan used his arrangement of this song and recorded it before he had a chance to. To me, this speaks ill of Dylan, although I can understand his motivation...he was a nobody, and would step on a peers head to get ahead. In any case, this is a nice song, but unintentionally funny as Dylan neglects to change the gender terms in this song, like I mentioned previously, meaning that Dylan is singing about a hard life, with himself as a girl! In any case, it's a pity Dylan stooped this low for this song...I feel sorry for Van Ronk.
That's pretty much the best of this album, in my view. For some of the rest:
You're no good - has some humour and unintelligible lyrics as well.
Man of constant sorrow - having heard a different version of "Man of constant sorrow" in the movie "Oh brother, where art thou?", I think, Dylan might have been smarter raiding someone else's arrangement for this song. It does have good harmonica playing though, but he does hit a bung note on his guitar!
Fixin' to die - mentions Jesus multiple times in this song. The Bob really lets rip, vocally, on this song. I don't think he has ever sounded so wild.
Pretty Peggy-0 -Features the vocal "hoo" which will appear in his later albums.
Highway 51 - sounds like he uses the riff from The Everly Brother's song "Wake up little Suzie".
Gospel plow - more Jesus talk. Has frenetic harmonica playing.
Baby, let me follow you down - has a chatty intro and some nice harmonica playing.
Freight train blues - The Bob near yodels in this song and he must sing the longest note ever!
Song to Woody - an ode to his musical influence.
See that my grave is kept clean - The Bob varies his guitar playing techniques in this song.
I can't say that I am a huge fan of Dylan or consider him to have written lots of classic albums or songs, but I like this album for its listenability.
My favourite Dylan album is "The freewheelin' Bob Dylan". His bleak "The times they are a changin'" is also a good listen.
Both the above two albums offer a different mood for the man. In a similar vein, I'd recommend his "Blood on the tracks" album for offering up something different again...in this case, easy listening music. "Blonde on blonde" is also a good album.
For a left-field suggestion, Aussie protest pop-rockers Midnight Oil did a rootsy kind of album in "Place without a postcard" which they had never done the likes of before or after. It's a more European kind of folk influence, I think. Not a favourite album of mine, but I like some of the songs, and fans of folk might like it more than I did. My favourite Midnight Oil albums are their more traditional pop/rock albums in "Diesel and dust" and "10,....,1". They have a very good arty pop/rock protest album in "Red sails in the sunset". Definitely worth exploring for fans of protest music.
Unjustly forgotten diamond from the master.... Jun 08, 2009
I had bought this album a long, long time ago, and I swear I've only played it twice, maybe three times. The copy that I had bought was warped, so I had another incentive not to play it. So why did I decide to buy it on CD?
This is a pretty awesome album. Dylan was a mere 21 when he recorded it, and he sounds like a veteran. His voice is remarkably strong and angry, and he sings the 11 traditional tunes with a bravado unmatched by any of his contemporaries at the time. His choice of material is exemplary, with such great blues/folk classics as Jesse Fuller's You're No Good (which is one of the best songs on the album), House of the Risin' Sun, In My Time of Dyin', and See That My Grave is Kept Clean. His two originals, Song to Woody and Talkin' New York, are nice. His guitar playing is phenomenal along with his harmonica. Many dismiss this album because there's only two Bob Dylan originals on it. I think that's shortsighted and silly. Dylan did two albums of standards in the 90's (Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong), and those are both excellent albums. This album can stand up with them easily.
Dylan's debut album is an unjustly forgotten album that needs to be rediscovered. It's a great album that is filled with great blues songs and a harbringer of the brilliance to come.
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