Although his first album, the self titled “Bob Dylan”, was released in 1962, his second album released in May of 1963, “The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan”, was his breakout into the big time. 50 years ago and how many of these songs are still being played/remembered today? Timeless.
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Side one
"Blowin' in the Wind"
"Girl from the North Country"
"Masters of War"
"Down the Highway"
"Bob Dylan's Blues"
"A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall"
Side two
"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"
"Bob Dylan's Dream"
"Oxford Town"
"Talkin' World War III Blues"
"Corrina, Corrina" (Traditional)
"Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance" (Dylan, Henry Thomas)
"I Shall Be Free"
I’m sure there will discussions on his subsequent albums and his move to electric guitar but this and his follow up album “The Times They Are a-Changin'”, set the stage for what would be the soundtrack of the civil rights/anti-war movements.
A quick aside. I went to hear him after he went electric and he first played an acoustic set. As he was tuning his guitar he quipped, “My electric never goes out of tune.”
To say that Dylan influenced a generation artists would probably be the understatement of the decade (if not the century). Here’s just one observation.
In March 2000, Van Morrison told the Irish rock magazine Hot Press about the impact that Freewheelin' made on him: "I think I heard it in a record shop in Smith Street. And I just thought it was incredible that this guy's not singing about 'moon in June' and he's getting away with it. That's what I thought at the time. The subject matter wasn't pop songs, ya know, and I thought this kind of opens the whole thing up ... Dylan put it into the mainstream that this could be done."
Is he the most covered song writer? Who knows but this list on Wiki gives you an idea of the how many have covered his songs.
If you want to cover any of his songs, the lyrics are here.
http://www.bobdylan.com/...
Enough ramblings by me, lets hear Joan sign him a love song.