Bob Dylan
Studio album by Bob Dylan
Released	March 19, 1962
Recorded	November 20, 1961 and November 22, 1961
Genre	Folk
Length	37:04
Label	Columbia Records
Producer	John H. Hammond
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Bob Dylan chronology
Bob Dylan (1962) The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)

Bob Dylan is the eponymous debut album from American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. A studio album is an original collection of new tracks by a recording artist Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. 762 - Bögü Khan of the Uyghurs, Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Folk music can have a number of different meanings including Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing John Henry Hammond II ( December 15, 1910 – July 10, 1987) was a Record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the allmusic (previously All Music Guide) is a Metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan 's second Studio album, released in May 1963 by Columbia Records. Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major It was released on March 19, 1962 on Columbia Records, when Dylan was 20 years old. Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company It features two original compositions, the rest being old folk standards, and was produced by Columbia's legendary talent scout John H. Hammond, who signed Dylan to the label. John Henry Hammond II ( December 15, 1910 – July 10, 1987) was a Record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the

Recording sessions

Dylan met John Hammond at a rehearsal session for Carolyn Hester on September 14, 1961, at the apartment shared by Hester and her then-husband, Richard Fariña. Carolyn Hester (b 1937 Waco Texas was an important figure of the early '60s folk revival singing traditional material in the manner similar to that of later chanteuses such as Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Richard George Fariña ( March 8, 1937 &ndash April 30, 1966) was an American Writer and Folksinger. Hester had invited Dylan to the session as a harmonica player, and Hammond approved him as a session player after hearing him rehearse, with recommendations from his son, musician John Hammond Jr., and from Liam Clancy. John P Hammond (born John Paul Hammond, 13 November 1942, New York) (often mistakenly known as "John Hammond Jr" which William 'Liam' Clancy (born on September 2, 1935) ( Irish; Liam Mac Fhlannchadha) is an Irish Folk singer.

Hammond later told Robert Shelton that he decided to sign Dylan "on the spot," and invited him to the Columbia offices for a more formal audition recording. Robert Shelton may refer to Robert Shelton (critic (1926-1995 music and film critic No record of that recording has turned up in Columbia's files, but Hammond, Dylan, and Columbia's A&R director Mitch Miller have all confirmed that an audition took place. Mitchell William Miller (born July 4, 1911) is an American Musician, Singer, conductor, Record producer, It is claimed that producer Fred Catero, then a recording engineer for Columbia Records, owns the master of that session.

On September 26, Dylan began a two-week run at Gerde's Folk City, second on the bill to The Greenbriar Boys. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a Gerde's Folk City was a legendary venue in the West Village. Opened by owner Mike Porco as a coffeehouse in 1952 it was located at 11 West 4th Street (the building The Greenbriar Boys were a seminal northern Bluegrass music group who first got together in jam sessions in New York 's Washington Square Park. On September 29, an exceptionally favorable review of Dylan's performance appeared in the New York Times. Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. The same day, Dylan played harmonica at Hester's recording session at Columbia's Manhattan studios. After the session, Hammond brought Dylan to his offices and presented him with Columbia's standard five-year contract for previously unrecorded artists. Dylan signed immediately.

That night, at Gerdes, Dylan told Shelton about Hammond's offer, but asked him to "keep it quiet" until the contract's final approval had worked its way through the Columbia hierarchy. The label's official approvals came quickly.

Studio time was scheduled for late November, and during the weeks leading up to those sessions, Dylan began searching for new material even though he was already familiar with a number of songs. According to Dylan's friend Carla Rotolo, "He spent most of his time listening to my records, days and nights. Carla Rotolo (born March 5, 1941) is the older sister of Suze Rotolo, one of Bob Dylan's early girlfriends in New York City. He studied the Folkways Anthology of American Folk Music, the singing of Ewan MacColl and A. L. Lloyd, Rabbit Brown's guitar, Guthrie, of course, and blues. . . his record was in the planning stages. We were all concerned about what songs Dylan was going to do. I remember clearly talking about it. "

The album was ultimately recorded in three short afternoon sessions on November 20th and 22nd. Hammond later joked that Columbia spent "about $402" to record it, and the figure has entered the Dylan legend as its actual cost. Despite the low cost and short amount of time, Dylan was still difficult to record, according to Hammond. "Bobby popped every p, hissed every s, and habitually wandered off mike," recalls Hammond. "Even more frustrating, he refused to learn from his mistakes. It occurred to me at the time that I'd never worked with anyone so undisciplined before. "^[1]

A total of seventeen songs was recorded, and five of the album's chosen tracks were actually cut in single takes ("Baby Let Me Follow You Down," "In My Time Of Dyin'," "Gospel Plow," "Highway 51 Blues," and "Freight Train Blues") while the master take of "Song For Woody" was recorded after one false start. Gospel Plow is a traditional American folk song It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index, number 10075 The album's four outtakes were also cut in single takes. During the sessions, Dylan refused requests to do second takes. "I said no. I can't see myself singing the same song twice in a row. That's terrible. "^[2]

The songs

By the time sessions were held for his debut album, Dylan was absorbing an enormous amount of folk material from sitting and listening to contemporaries performing in New York's clubs and coffeehouses. Many of these individuals were also close friends who performed with Dylan, often inviting him to their apartments where they would introduce him to more folk songs. At the same time, Dylan was borrowing and listening to a large number of folk, blues, and country records, many of which were hard to find at the time. Dylan revealed in an interview in the documentary No Direction Home that he needed to hear a song only once or twice to learn it. No Direction Home is a Documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th century American

The final album sequence of Bob Dylan features only two original compositions; the other eleven tracks are folk standards and traditional songs. Few of these were staples of his club/coffeehouse repertoire. Only two of the covers and both originals were in his club set in September of 1961. Dylan stated in a 2000 interview that he was hesitant to reveal too much of himself at first.

Of the two original songs, "Song for Woody" is the best known. According to Clinton Heylin, the original handwritten manuscript to "Song For Woody" bears the following inscription at the bottom of the sheet: "Written by Bob Dylan in Mills Bar on Bleeker Street in New York City on the 14th day of February, for Woody Guthrie. Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14 1912–October 3 1967 was an American Singer-songwriter and Folk musician Guthrie's musical legacy " Melodically, the song is based on one of Guthrie's own compositions, "1913 Massacre," but it's possible Guthrie fashioned "1913 Massacre" from an even earlier melody; like many folk artists including Dylan, Guthrie would often adopt familiar folk melodies into new compositions. Guthrie was Dylan's main musical influence at the time of Bob Dylan's release, and indeed on several of the songs Dylan is apparently imitating Guthrie's vocal mannerisms. "Talkin' New York" references Guthrie's song "Pretty Boy Floyd".

Dylan takes an arranger's credit on many of the traditional songs, but a number of them can be traced to his contemporaries. For example, the arrangement of "House Of The Risin' Sun" was developed by Dave Van Ronk, who was a close friend at the time. " The House of the Rising Sun " is a folk song from the United States. Dave Van Ronk ( June 30 1936 – February 10 2002) was a Folk singer born in During his recording of "Baby Let Me Follow You Down", Dylan mentions the arranger, Eric Von Schmidt, whom he met in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Eric Von Schmidt ( May 28 1931 — February 2 2007) was an American Singer-songwriter associated with the Folk/blues Von Schmidt introduced the arrangement to Dylan as well as an arrangement for "He Was a Friend of Mine," which was also recorded for but omitted from Dylan's first album. He Was a Friend of Mine is a traditional folk song in which the singer laments the death of a friend

Dylan would leave most of these songs behind when he moved to the concert stage in 1963, but he performed "Man of Constant Sorrow" during his first national television appearance in mid-1963 (a performance included on the 2005 retrospective No Direction Home). The Bootleg Series Vol 7 No Direction Home The Soundtrack is the second most recent installment in the Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series" of rare and/or officially "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" would later return in a driving electric arrangement during his 1965 and 1966 tours with The Hawks; a live recording was included on Live 1966. The Band was a rock group active from 1967 to 1976 and again from 1983 to 1999 The Bootleg Series Vol 4 Bob Dylan Live 1966 The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert is a live recording from Bob Dylan 's legendary "world tour"

After 1966, Dylan performed only four songs from his debut album in concert, and only "Song to Woody" and "Pretty Peggy-O" would be heard with any frequency.

Outtakes

Four additional songs were recorded during the Bob Dylan sessions, of which three have been included on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991: Woody Guthrie's "Ramblin' Blues" (which remains unreleased), "House Carpenter," "He Was a Friend of Mine," and another original composition, "Man on the Street. The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased 1961–1991 is a compilation box set by Bob Dylan. Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (July 14 1912–October 3 1967 was an American Singer-songwriter and Folk musician Guthrie's musical legacy "

Of these four, the most celebrated is perhaps "House Carpenter," the final song recorded for Bob Dylan. A new rendition of the 16th century Scottish ballad "The Daemon Lover," Clinton Heylin wrote that it was "the most extraordinary performance of the sessions, as demonically driven as anything Robert Johnson put out in his name. Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8 1911 – August 16 1938 is among the most famous of Delta blues musicians " Though it was a favorite at the time in folk circles, Dylan apparently never played "House Carpenter" in any documented performance.

An alternate (shortened) version of "House of the Rising Sun," heavily overdubbed with electric instruments in 1964 (produced by Tom Wilson), was later included on the Highway 61 Interactive CD-ROM. CD-ROM (an initialism of "Compact Disc Read-Only Memory " is a pre-pressed Compact Disc that contains data accessible to but not writable

Aftermath

Bob Dylan did not receive much acclaim until many years later. "These debut songs are essayed with differing degrees of conviction," writes NPR's Tim Riley, "[but] even when his reach exceeds his grasp, he never sounds like he knows he's in over his head, or gushily patronizing. . . Like Elvis Presley, what Dylan can sing, he quickly masters; what he can't, he twists to his own devices. And as with the Presley Sun sessions, the voice that leaps from Dylan's first album is its most striking feature, a determined, iconoclastic baying that chews up influences, and spits out the odd mixed signal without half trying. "^[3]

However, at the time of its release, Bob Dylan received little notice, and both Hammond and Dylan were soon dismissive of the first album's results. According to Shelton, who pseudonymously wrote the liner notes, Dylan approached him only a month following the album's sessions and told him that his liner notes were better than the record. Dylan would continue to express his disappointment with his debut album to the present day.

The album did not initially sell well either, and Dylan was for a time known as "Hammond's Folly" in record company circles. Mitch Miller, Columbia's chief of A&R at the time, said US sales totaled about 2500 copies. Mitchell William Miller (born July 4, 1911) is an American Musician, Singer, conductor, Record producer, Artists and Repertoire ( A&R) is the division of a Record label that is responsible for talent scouting and artist development It would remain his only release to not chart at all in the US, though it eventually made the UK charts in 1965, reaching #13.

Despite the album's poor performance, financially it was not disastrous. The album was very cheap to record, and at the time, folk albums in general sold very modestly.

On December 22, 1961, a month to the day after Bob Dylan's final session, Dylan was in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he and his friend Tony Glover paid a visit to their friend, Bonnie Beecher. Events 1790 - The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers Dylan held an informal session at her apartment, performing twenty-six songs which were recorded by Glover on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. Often known by a misnomer, the "Minneapolis hotel tape" would soon enter private circulation, providing a thorough look at Dylan's musical potential only a month after recording his debut album. A larger and far more diverse selection of songs, they were all recorded the night of the 22nd in roughly two and a half hours.

Among the songs recorded that night were the harrowing, racially-charged morality tale "Black Cross," Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go" (in which Dylan displays his growing skills at bottleneck guitar), the pentecostal "Wade in the Water", Dylan's own reinterpretation of the traditional "Nine Hundred Miles" (retitled "I Was Young When I Left Home" and later issued on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack ), the traditional "Poor Lazarus", a Memphis Jug Band arrangement of the traditional "Stealin'", another rewritten folk song called "Hard Times in New York Town" (based on the traditional "Hard Times in the Country Working on Ketty's Farm"), and the John Lomax discovery "Dink's Song". The Bootleg Series Vol 7 No Direction Home The Soundtrack is the second most recent installment in the Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series" of rare and/or officially John Avery Lomax (September 23 1867 - January 26 1948 was a pioneering musicologist and folklorist. " Dink's Song " (sometimes known as " Faretheewell " is an American Folk song played by many Folk revival musicians such as (According to Clinton Heylin, Lomax first heard the song "in 1904 when, across the Brazos river from Texas A&M College, he heard a lady called Dink sing her song. "^[4] First published in Folksong USA, Dylan's "hotel" recording would later be included on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack. The Bootleg Series Vol 7 No Direction Home The Soundtrack is the second most recent installment in the Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series" of rare and/or officially )

Though only a few selections from the Minneapolis hotel tape would ever be officially released, all twenty-six songs have been heavily bootlegged and celebrated by the likes of Greil Marcus, a music critic who wrote about the recordings in Rolling Stone Magazine. Greil Marcus (born 1945 is an American Author, music Journalist and cultural Critic. Rolling Stone is a United States -based Magazine devoted to Music, Politics, and Popular culture that is published As Heylin writes, some of these songs gave Dylan "an all-important clue as to how he might mold traditional melodies and sensibility to his own worldview. "^[5] This would come on full display when Dylan began work on his next album a year later; by then, both his reputation and his stockpile of original songs would have grown considerably.

Track listing

1. "You're No Good" (Jesse Fuller) – 1:40
2. "Talkin' New York" (Bob Dylan) – 3:20
3. "In My Time of Dyin'" (trad. " You're No Good " is a song written by Clint Ballard Jr Jesse Fuller ( March 12, 1896 — January 29, 1976 was an American One-man band Musician, best known for his Song Talkin' New York is the second song on Bob Dylan 's eponymous first album. " In My Time of Dying " is a Blues song that has been covered by many rock musicians since the early 1960s arr. Dylan) – 2:40
4. "Man of Constant Sorrow" (trad. " Man of Constant Sorrow " is a traditional American folk song first performed by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky arr. Dylan) – 3:10
5. "Fixin' to Die" (Bukka White) – 2:22
6. "Pretty Peggy-O" (trad. Fixin’ to Die Blues is a Blues song written by legendary Mississippi bluesman Booker T Bukka White ( November 12 1909 – February 26 1977) was a Delta blues Guitarist and Singer. The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie ( Roud # 545 is a Scottish Folk song about a thwarted romance between a soldier and a girl arr. Dylan) – 3:23
7. "Highway 51 Blues" (Curtis Jones) – 2:52
8. "Gospel Plow" (trad. Gospel Plow is a traditional American folk song It is listed in the Roud Folk Song Index, number 10075 arr. Dylan) – 1:47
9. "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" (trad. " Baby Let Me Follow You Down " is a traditional folk song popularised in the late 1950s by blues guitarist Eric Von Schmidt. arr. Reverend Gary Davis, Eric von Schmidt, Dave Van Ronk) – 2:37
10. "House of the Risin' Sun" (trad. Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, ( April 30, 1896 &ndash May 5, 1972) was a Blues and gospel singer Eric Von Schmidt ( May 28 1931 — February 2 2007) was an American Singer-songwriter associated with the Folk/blues Dave Van Ronk ( June 30 1936 – February 10 2002) was a Folk singer born in " The House of the Rising Sun " is a folk song from the United States. arr. Dylan) – 5:20
11. "Freight Train Blues" (trad. arr. Dylan) – 2:18
12. "Song to Woody" (Dylan) – 2:42
13. "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (Blind Lemon Jefferson) – 2:43

References

• Bob Dylan, Chronicles: Volume 1. Simon and Schuster, October 5, 2004, hardcover, 208 pages. ISBN 0-7432-2815-4
• John Hammond, John Hammond On Record, Ridge Press, 1977, 416 pages. ISBN 0-671-40003-7. Title sometimes reported as On The Record.
• Clinton Heylin, Bob Dylan: A Life In Stolen Moments, Schirmer Books, 1986, 403 pages. ISBN 0-8256-7156-6. Also known as Bob Dylan: Day By Day
• Clinton Heylin, Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited. Perennial Currents, 2003, 800 pages. ISBN 0-06-052569-X
• Robert Shelton, No Direction Home, Da Capo Press, 2003 reprint of 1986 original, 576 pages. Robert Shelton may refer to Robert Shelton (critic (1926-1995 music and film critic ISBN 0-306-81287-8