Dylan is known for being an outstanding poet and a brilliant song-writer which is probably why people tend to overlook this album or dismiss it as unimportant - it consists mostly of covers of old folk and blues pieces. Only two of the thirteen tracks are his own – ‘Talkin’ New York’, a song that matches the other well-chosen pieces in both mood and quality, and ‘Song To Woody’, a touching tribute to the folk legend Woody Guthrie. Neither has the elaborated, philosophical lyrics Dylan is so famous for (Although they are still pretty damn good, at least in my opinion – take ‘People goin’ down to the ground/ Buidings goin’ up to the sky’ as description of New York for example), and that means this album is often looked upon as, well, less worthy in a way.

Dylan’s genius has given us so many excellent and mind-blowing songs, none (or few) of which are on here, and that means it can’t possibly compete with other albums of his. That’s right, of course, but this album’s musical quality makes it as good an album to listen to as any other masterpiece of his.

The songs vary from bright to depressing, and while Dylan sounds like he has fun in some of them (take ‘Freight Train Blues’ for example), he also manages to create the feeling of tragic in others. Dylan follows few rules here – he does weird things with his (weird) voice in weird places, he even meddles with the rhythm, and it sounds GOOD! It sounds free, uncalculated and emotional, like all music should.

The album includes Dylan’s version of ‘House Of The Rising Sun’, a traditional folk song that gained popularity thanks to ‘The Animals’ cover of it. Compared to their version, Dylan’s is a lot more depressing and has a great deal more feeling. Dylan also doesn’t change the original lyrics (he sings ‘It’s been the ruin of many poor girls…’) which means the story keeps its original meaning.

‘Bob Dylan’ is remarkable for it’s intensity. There’s not one boring moment throughout the album, and Dylan doesn’t sound self-conscious or inexperienced (something you’d expect from a guy of 20 on his first record). This album seems more ‘love it or hate it’ somehow than other stuff of his. To people who only have a ‘Best Of’ of Dylan’s: you’ll be surprised, hehe…

Dylan singing other people’s songs, you’ll say. Nah… the songs are all his, who cares other people wrote them first.

Best songs: ‘In My Time Of Dyin’’, ‘Baby, Let Me Follow You Down’, ‘See That My Grave Is Kept Clean’.

More Info: Five of the album tracks were cut in single takes ('Baby Let Me Follow You Down', 'In My Time Of Dyin'', 'Gospel Plow', 'Highway 51 Blues', 'Freight Train Blues').