I get that the album is not to your taste, but you’re being a little harsh on a what is functionally (if not literally) a debut album by a young solo artist working in (as you acknowledge) a limited genre. In fact, it’s an impressive effort to break the boundaries of that genre.
Freewheelin’ is not my favorite, either, but it is a bold offering flecked through with brilliance and a sporting a number of masterpieces (“Girl,” “Don’t Think,” “Hard Rain”). “Blowin’” doesn’t tickle me the way it does others, but there’s no denying the inspiration it provided to the CRM. It’s “wishy-washy” take is far more insightful than a journalistic song like “Deportees,” as wonderful as that number is. (Sam Cooke said that such a profound song coming from a white kid inspired him to pen “A Change Is Gonna Come”.) And “Masters,” for all its bombast and clumsiness, still resonates.
I wouldn’t be so dismissive of an album that began the transformation of a stodgy genre, inspired activists, and produced several timeless numbers. Plus, features one of the most memorable album sleeves of all time. Freewheelin’ doesn’t make it onto my playlist much either, but it deserves a great deal of respect, though not reverence.
Dylan for a range of reasons was hugely influential and popular, which put him in a position to inspire a lot of artists who were better than Dylan. I don’t exactly know that that makes Dylan better? Like, the reasons people become super popular often are fairly random.
It's telling that one of the songs is titled "Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance"- which his most devoted followers have constantly done in spite of all of his changes of genre and repertoire over the years.
Sometimes, delivery makes the difference - Mountain/Leslie West's acoustic version of 'blowin' is angry, both shouted and sad, puts it in a very different light. As for Dylan, I couldn't get past his voice until later in my life, preferred others' version of his songs, and was more into music than words in songs, inspired more by clear statements than poetry, BUT, he did influence others (Simon and Garfunkel, Byrds, Beatles etc.) in ways that we have all enjoyed.
It’s curious to me, that with all the Dylan records (some of which I retained) my parents had, and an occasional passing references to his “genius” (dad thought “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” was hilariously clever, but only, I think, the title), I can’t recall either of my parents ever listening to an entire Dylan album even ONCE. After dad purchased his first CD player I heard “Lay Lady Lay” coming out of the speakers a lot but that was about it.
I get that the album is not to your taste, but you’re being a little harsh on a what is functionally (if not literally) a debut album by a young solo artist working in (as you acknowledge) a limited genre. In fact, it’s an impressive effort to break the boundaries of that genre.
Freewheelin’ is not my favorite, either, but it is a bold offering flecked through with brilliance and a sporting a number of masterpieces (“Girl,” “Don’t Think,” “Hard Rain”). “Blowin’” doesn’t tickle me the way it does others, but there’s no denying the inspiration it provided to the CRM. It’s “wishy-washy” take is far more insightful than a journalistic song like “Deportees,” as wonderful as that number is. (Sam Cooke said that such a profound song coming from a white kid inspired him to pen “A Change Is Gonna Come”.) And “Masters,” for all its bombast and clumsiness, still resonates.
I wouldn’t be so dismissive of an album that began the transformation of a stodgy genre, inspired activists, and produced several timeless numbers. Plus, features one of the most memorable album sleeves of all time. Freewheelin’ doesn’t make it onto my playlist much either, but it deserves a great deal of respect, though not reverence.
Dylan for a range of reasons was hugely influential and popular, which put him in a position to inspire a lot of artists who were better than Dylan. I don’t exactly know that that makes Dylan better? Like, the reasons people become super popular often are fairly random.
It's telling that one of the songs is titled "Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance"- which his most devoted followers have constantly done in spite of all of his changes of genre and repertoire over the years.
Sometimes, delivery makes the difference - Mountain/Leslie West's acoustic version of 'blowin' is angry, both shouted and sad, puts it in a very different light. As for Dylan, I couldn't get past his voice until later in my life, preferred others' version of his songs, and was more into music than words in songs, inspired more by clear statements than poetry, BUT, he did influence others (Simon and Garfunkel, Byrds, Beatles etc.) in ways that we have all enjoyed.
It’s curious to me, that with all the Dylan records (some of which I retained) my parents had, and an occasional passing references to his “genius” (dad thought “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” was hilariously clever, but only, I think, the title), I can’t recall either of my parents ever listening to an entire Dylan album even ONCE. After dad purchased his first CD player I heard “Lay Lady Lay” coming out of the speakers a lot but that was about it.