Bob Dylan

Hello,

The May 26th, 2011 Rolling Stone featured Bob Dylan on the cover. The article was about his 70 greatest songs. Originally when I saw that cover, I thought to myself "please". I also thought he might have 3 or 4 good songs but he's one of the most overrated musicians ever. (Kurt Cobain is without a doubt the most overrated musician ever. If it wasn't for the 5 minutes of punk fury of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", would we still remember him? No! One amazing song does not a genius make.)

This blog started out as a way to mock Bob Dylan. But before I did that I did some research. I have very little Bob Dylan on my iTunes, so I went to my friends at Spotify. They don't have a large selection of Bob Dylan either. Thankfully I've kept my napster.com account active. I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan songs on napster.com last night.

I actually might even buy a Bob Dylan Greatest Hits CD.

This is the one I would recommend for us Bob Dylan novice's to buy, his 1983 Greatest Hits. Or if you are feeling rich and don't mind some filler you can buy The Essential Bob Dylan. You could probably pick up a Greatest Hits collection at Wal-Mart for $5.

1. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 4:38
2. Blowin' In The Wind 2:49
3. The Times They Are A-Changin' 3:16
4. It Ain't Me, Babe 3:37
5. Like A Rolling Stone 6:10
6. Mr. Tambourine Man 5:29
7. Subterranean Homesick Blues 2:21
8. I Want You 3:08
9. Positively 4th Street 3:56
10. Just Like A Woman 4:56

While I don't think he has 70 great songs, I do think he has 14 very solid songs and here they are. I'm following Rolling Stones Top 70 list. The number is where Rolling Stone ranks the song as voted on by music insiders.

The first two songs aren't on Rolling Stone's Top 70 songs, but I feel they definitely should be.

"Outlaw Blues":



"I Want You":



45) I've lived this song from both sides. I love the commentary attached to this video at youtube. "It Ain't Me Babe":



39) I really like this song "Hurricane":



While the song is not 100% accuracy as Dylan took some poetic license it was one of the things that helped Ruben Carter get free. This is from Rolling Stone:

"It took eight more years before a federal district court judge in Newark, N.J., finally overturned Carter's conviction, insisting, "The extensive record clearly demonstrates that the petitioners' convictions were predicated upon an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure."

Or, as Dylan had sung ten years earlier:

"How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game."

Here's the trailer for the movie starring the great Denzel Washington:



28) "Times They Are A Changin":



25) "Knockin' On Heaven's Door":



Of course the above song became one of the most popular songs in Guns and Roses concerts back in the day. (Do you remember when Guns 'N Roses was actually relevant?)



Here's the sloppy, boozy sing along version of GNR's "Knockin On Heaven's Door". Keep an eye out for Spanish lessons with Axl.



24) Of the several videos I looked at for this song, sadly this was the best sound. The very seductive "Lay Lady Lay":



20) "Blowin' In The Wind":



16) I'm going with a cover on this song, I really like Lucinda Williams version. "Positively 4th Street":



13) "Subterranean Homesick Blues":



8) Here's another cover, this version is by the Byrds. "Mr. Tambourine Man":



Here's Rolling Stone's Top 5 Greatest Bob Dylan songs:
5) No doubt that this is a classic, "All Along The Watchtower". No doubt Jimi Hendrix sings the ultimate version of this song:



4) "Just Like A Woman":



3) "Tangled Up In Blue". I don't hear what makes this song a classic.
2) "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall". I don't understand how this is considered a classic either.
1) "Like A Rolling Stone":



Here's the Rolling Stones version:



themusicaddict