Freewheelin Bob Dylan (Hybr) [Hybrid SACD, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, SACD]

I am not a Dylan fan. But I've got an SACD player, and whenever I notice a retailer selling off their SACD stock cheaply, I tend to hoover it up.

I've always felt a bit guilty about not liking Dylan, given that he has had millions of fans, and was, at least until his motorbike accident in 1966, as big as Elvis and the Beatles. I think the problem is that I was born a decade too late, and music has always been much more important to me than lyrics. It may be heretical to say this but, as a teenager in the 1970s, I found the music of bands like Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers more catchy than Dylan (great though the 'Desire' LP was).

But Dylan doesn't go away, and he's now one of the few popular artists to have much of his output available on SACD. THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN was one of the key visual references in the recent Cameron Crowe movie VANILLA SKY.

I think you have to have lived through the era to really appreciate the impact of what Dylan was doing. Coming late to the era, it matters little to a new fan that 'Highway 61 Revisited' was the first electric folk rock album. There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of electric folk rock albums to choose from, and if anything, the later ones are likely to smoothe off the rough edges of the first.

But now I have a wad of Dylan SACDs and the opportunity to wade through them in chronological sequence. And I keep coming back to THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN because it possesses a great purity and enthusiasm. As other reviewers have said, it's just the man, his mouth organ and his guitar (apart from on 'Corrina, Corrina'). SACD captures the simplicity of his performance superbly. NB This is SACD Stereo -- not Surround Sound, nor Dolby 5.1.

The music is part folk, part blues. Yes, it's slightly repetitive in that it lacks the diversity and creative input you could get from a wider group setting. But for me, this is solo Dylan at the top of his game, bristling with confidence that an enormous audience would take to the album. To enjoy this CD, you don't need to organise a sit-in, protest march or late-night coffee with a few student friends. It really is OK to listen to this in the car or while exercising or even (heaven forbid!) as background music while working or giving a dinner party. Dylan probably foresaw none of these uses for his music, and I suspect the only protest at such abuse would come from his diehard folk fans -- the same ones who protested about his later transition to electric instruments. Me, I just love it because it's so uncluttered. (And normally I don't like folk music!)

It's almost impossible to put Bob Dylan's music in the context of when it was first released, as he is going on forty-plus years of fame and icon status in most learned musical circles. It's hard to hear the songs he penned, seen through the lens of what they came to mean and what they continue to mean, as if they were new, sparkling examples of a talent just beginning to be realized.

All of which makes hearing "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", his 1963 sophmore album (after a self-titled debut the year before) all the more impressive. With just his guitar and harmonica, Dylan manages to weave his way through social protest, love and loss, and story-songs like the gifted folk poet that he was first sold to the world as. Before he went electric, Dylan became the darling of the folk movement through songs like "Blowin' In the Wind", "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright", "Masters of War", and all these are presented in the exceptional technical format that maximizes their beauty and stark evocations of subject matters both political and personal.

It's the spit and anger of "Masters of War" that many people will probably take away from this record, but don't forget the humorous side; as showcased in some of his best tracks from the mid-Sixties, Dylan was not born missing a sense of humor. "I Shall Be Free", in particular, is one of the funniest tunes committed to record. "Talking World War III Blues", "Bob Dylan's Blues", and "Bob Dylan's Dream" make for a humorous aside to the more strident sloganeering that Dylan engages on. "Corrina, Corrina" sees Dylan backed by a sparse band, and it is entirely possible that the original album would have been more along those lines had not Dylan's manager at the time sought to court the folk audience and shun the rockers who might have grasped Dylan back then.

I have to confess that I was hesitant to purchase this; as a fan of the "electric years" (starting with the masterpieces contained on "Bringing It All Back Home"), I was reluctant to hear some of the folk material. But this album could very well be the perfect introduction to Dylan; it contains classic songs that any artist would give their right arm to pen (and many would cover), and flows perfectly from one tune to the next. There's not a bad note on the album.

If you want to hear Dylan, you must hear "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan". You owe it to yourself to get this album, and prepare to put it on repeat at least seven or eight times the first time you play it. It's that damn good, and I don't know how else I can emphasize that.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is one of those albums that I think I could listen to and enjoy anytime, regardless of mood. It's just a wonderful classic album. Dylan's second album, Freewheelin' is a great improvement over his debut (which is also a very good record). After composing only two songs for his debut, Freewheelin' finds Dylan significantly more confident in his songwriting abilities. As well he should be, because his original songs here are amazing.

1. Blowin' in the Wind - One of the greatest folk songs of all time, and has been covered by numerous artists. Still one of Dylan's most well-known songs today.

2. Girl from the North Country - A lovely folk ballad, and one of my favorite romantic Dylan songs. In 1969, Dylan would resurrect this song as a duet with his Johnny Cash on his Nashville Skyline album.

3. Masters of War - Dylan's most scathing anti-war song and one of his most vicious protest songs ever. You can feel the venom in his voice as he talks of politicians who use war for financial gain. This song is still powerful now in 2005, in fact it may be more relevant than ever now.

4. Down the Highway - Country-blues tune with Dylan doing sort of an imitation of Hank Williams. A good song, but not the most memorable.

5. Bob Dylan's Blues - A short, lightweight country-folk tune. One of the album's lesser tracks.

6. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - One of Dylan's all-time classics. It resembles a protest song, but it's not quite direct enough lyrically to qualify. But it is one of the finest songs of Dylan's early years.

7. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Another classic and one of my personal favorites. This is a lovely ballad directed to Dylan's girlfriend Suze Rotolo. Heartfelt lyrics, a wonderful vocal from Dylan and excellent fingerpicked guitar too. One of his best songs.

8. Bob Dylan's Dream - A lovely folk song in which Dylan reminisces about the past. A great lesser-known Dylan song.

9. Oxford Town - Potent protest song about a racial incident, but I'm not sure exactly what incident is referred to.

10. Talking World War III Blues - A humorous narrative-song with lots of great lines including "'I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours,' I said that." However, I prefer the version of the song on Bootleg Series, volume 6 - Live 1964.

11. Corrina, Corrina - A lovely interpretation of an old folk song, and the only song on the album to feature accompaniment. It features a drummer and possibly a second guitar player. It was to be the B-side of an early single, "Mixed-Up Confusion", which would have been Dylan's first electric song.

12. Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance - Another folk tune arranged by Dylan. Dylan's energetic vocal style on this song is quite similar to that of his debut.

13. I Shall Be Free - The album closes with this humorous story song which starts a style that Dylan would revisit several times in the future. This song reveals Dylan's sense of humor better than nearly anything else he would record. "I make love to Elizabeth Taylor... catch hell from Richard Burton".

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is an excellent album that any serious fan of music should own and relish. If you're new to Dylan, this should be one of your first purchases, after Blonde On Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited and Blood On The Tracks. But don't stop here! If you like Freewheelin' be sure to check out Dylan's third album, The Times They Are A-Changin' which is almost as good.

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