Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan (1962)

What can you say about Bob Dylan – except that for quite some time I quite disliked this debut, only appreciating it over  time.  Starting off by buying ‘Blonde on Blonde’ then working backwards and forwards I was disappointed by his debut, especially as only a few months later he released his entirely self-written ‘The Freewheelin’ which I absolutely loved.  Apparently Bob was very nervous at this recording and simply played songs he was already performing; with only a handful of his own material he stuck to pretty standard Greenwich Village folk tunes.  But slowly this album, recorded very simply with just Bob, his harmonica and his guitar has grown on me.  It includes the very heartfelt ‘Song for Woody’ and his autobiographical ‘Hard Times In New York City’ alongside songs like ‘House Of The Rising Sun’, soon to be covered by The Animals.  Incredible to think now that he was given the chance to record at all, and that Columbia stuck with him despite poor sales of this album.  Thank Goodness they did. Some forty odd studio albums later and Bob is still going strong – and getting better all the time.  Strange co-incidence that at exactly the time he was recording this, The Beatles released ‘Please Please Me’.  The two most important and influential artists emerged on two different continents at exactly the same time.