Clusters (Bob Dylan)

'Bringing it all back home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, Live 66'

There is a general theory among all walks of life, and all art forms. The “Low-Middle-High” progression. Low, being the beginnings of the artist’s career. Middle, being the peak, or apex of the artist’s talents and success. The High, comes after the artist has accomplished what is considered by the general public as his/her best work, and attempts to peak again, or rather, “get it back” as they say. A short cut example- The Beatles land in Hamburg, Germany, get a record deal (Low) and cut their first records, to the middle albums around “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (Middle) as they reinvented mainstream pop culture beyond the massive revolutionary aspect of their evolving song structures and in depth lyrics. The High point, being the “Abbey Road.” sessions- Lennon coming back to the blues, and McCartney trying to recapture his progressive rock innovations. In a macro overview of Bob Dylan’s discography, I think of his coming to New York City, “The Gaslight Tapes” and “Bob Dylan (self-titled)” , as his low point. Dylan peaked throughout the mid-sixties era, transforming folk rock, on records like- “Bringing it all back home”, “Highway 61 Revisited”, “Blonde on Blonde”, and my personal favorite- “Live 66” (Middle). Many think of “Love and Theft” as the High point, although he still records, and we have yet to hear what he’s conjuring up in his mansion these days.

Already successful among his traditional folk peers, with a batch of stellar albums in the suitcase (“Freewheelin”, “The Times they are a Changin”, “Another side”), people questioned Dylan’s turn to rock and roll. Folk aficionados unleashed a back lash on Dylan, which only pushed him further in that direction, and we later find out through interviews and readings, that it didn’t really effect his natural progression anyway. All successful artists rebel against themselves if they are to continue their career interestingly. Dylan had out-folked his contemporaries and idols, including Woody Guthrie. His chord changes, still minimal, were more expressive and advanced as opposed to any Guthrie or Kingston Trio song. His lyrics to date, are far more incisive and prolific than anyone else of that time. For him, rock and roll were unchartered waters. The Beatles were newly influenced by him (e.g. Norwegian Wood), and still hanging around their “Rubber Soul” vibes in 1965. The Rolling Stones were still in black, grungy three chord songs, in the midst of “Aftermath”. Dylan opens “Bringing it all back home” with a song called- “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. This broke the mold of 4/4 A/B, A/B, middle eight, chorus song structure. With run-on lines and rhymes that go over the 4/4 bar, one questions whether this was intentional or accidental. The band follows him, in order to avoid the sound of sloppiness, but by doing so, the lyrics of this song stand forefront as if leading the band by each individual line’s declaration. In “It’s alright ma, I’m only bleeding”, Dylan continues pioneer bluesman- Robert Johnson’s musical journey as for time changes, tempo changes, basically announcing there are no rules anymore, just listen to my words, and let the music be the backdrop setting. Poetry has become his palette, and his guitar is now his canvas. Dylan ends the white-bluesman theory, being as black and soulful as any songwriter of any genre. “Maggie’s Farm” is a song about slavery sung by a white man? It works, just the same. “It’s all over now, baby blue” closes out this LP. It’s interpretive lyrically, as the end of a love affair or the end of the world. Dylan always ends his records with cliff hangers, deep philosophical ideas that make the listener believe every album could be his last.

Moving on to “Highway 61 Revisited”, Dylan refines his lyrical adventures, cleans up his act musically. You could compare “Like a Rolling Stone” to “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. Both songs open each record with extended lines, floating in between heartfelt lyrics and mindless unconscious gibberish. Where “Subterranean” fell off the standard rock formula guidelines, “Like a Rolling Stone” falls back into perfect placement. There are no off tempo changes, or the use of the accident. “Rolling Stone” is the perfect 1960’s pop rock song. All except Dylan’s crooning offbeat voice, this track literally could’ve been taken off a Byrds album, or pass for a Rolling Stones single. Another noticeable fact, is the production of his records are getting slicker. This could be due to the equipment he was recording on and his ears evolving. Releasing this record within the same year (1965), Dylan’s moving at a faster pace. My guess is, he’s purely getting better at what he does without thought, all experiential. Following in his former record’s tradition, Dylan closes this record with “Desolation Row”, a dark lyrical-tone poem about the american wasteland. Once again, he closes apocalyptically. This is Dylan’s best piece in my opinion. Its never ending lyrical schemes run over the repetition of strumming D/G/A chords. Only Dylan could do this without being boring. One has to gain momentum lyrically, and continue to introduce new characters and situations so that the song feels like it’s beginning over and over again. Dylan called it, “vomiting words onto paper”. Finally, ending this masterpiece with himself as part of the desolate circle - “Right now, I can’t read to good. Don’t send me no more letters no. Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row.” He’s reflecting himself, the fact that he’s living in an art-rockstardom bubble. He’s sleeping 3 hours a night on tour, and thinning out physically and mentally. This is the “to-be-continued” outro, leading him into outspoken psychedelia that opens his next record - “Blonde on Blonde”.

“Rainy Day Women, Nos. 12 & 35” is the most outrageous opening track of any record I’ve ever heard! Dylan perfects his approach to rock and roll on the last two records, only to deconstruct everything in light of a new sound, a new Bob Dylan. Right when you feel you’re getting used to him, Dylan takes an unexpected turn for the open minded. He’s eliminated the 4/4 classic rock beat, and replaced it with a jumbo circus bass drum, gigantic crash cymbals and an out-of-tune horn section introducing, once again, a new Dylan personage. Meet the new Dylan, the wasted on drugs Dylan. This is a fuck you to everyone that’s ever tried to pigeon hole his work. It defies all of his previous record’s standards. First off, he’s absolutely smashed drunk and stoned, barely finishing a line without laughing. His slick production is absent, with the background sounds of a party going on in the studio! Even the French Horn is wasted and falling in and out of the song. This is Dylan’s 1st take vision, to not get in-studio and edit the mistakes out. No tuning, no nothing... just plug in, amplify, let the tape roll. Bands like the Velvet Underground would later make a career out of this sound, but even The Beatles, with George Martin breathing down their necks, wouldn’t have tried and released this. This is 1966, and rock and roll was still finely tuned by an individual band’s record label before release. Above all these observations on “Rainy Day Women”, even the words are about marijuana and getting high. Yes, Dylan’s still got wild lyrics under his sleeve, but the mad genius has cracked. This song is a time capsule piece for the hippy flower-power movement to come. If released at any other time, it would’ve been trashed, but for 1966, it was a hit! Coming off of “Rainy Day Women”, we get a 12 bar blues- “Pledging my time”. It’s pretty much, your standard ranch stash 12 bar blues, except that off tempo marching drum is still resonant. There are barely any cymbal hits, no percussionary dividing points, which is more true to the blues of the pioneers, as opposed to the “New Blues” christened by emerging bands- The Yardbirds or Cream. Dylan prevents his listeners from their initial shocking reaction to this transitional record, keeping them from tossing it into the garbage before revealing his latest love poem, beautifully scripted- “Visions of Johanna”. This is classic Dylan. Throughout this massive double record, he inserts perfect little pop songs (“I want you”, “Just like a woman”), in so that “Blonde on Blonde” is not a complete stoner joke on the record buyer. He is also dabbling with new lyrical ideas. His extended gibberish rhyming scheme is now making sense! “Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again” is as ever wordy and forthright, but the thoughts are coming slower and clearer than the previous album tracks (e.g. “Desolation Row”, “Like a Rolling Stone”). This song captures the feelings and dreams of the touring musician. It’s an on-the-road song. His stream of consciousness poetry has taken a life of its own. It feels like the master is no longer in control. Every thought’s flowing smoother, the way you’d think and feel on tour under the influence of a lot of coffee and sleeplessness. An eleven and a half minute track- “Sad eyed lady of the lowlands”, not only closes this record, but ends this chapter in Dylan’s career. This is the epic ending to this trilogy.

'Live 66'

Now onto my favorite Dylan record, and a return to the young Dylan (vox-guitar-harp), “Live 66”. This record is so incredible, I need only touch on side one, the acoustic side. This performance is germane to what actually was the genius running throughout these last three records. He is back to the core creation of the song. This is what Dylan heard in his head before each song was reworked and reshaped in the recording studio. Not only stripped down skeletal frames, but no accompanying band. Anyone who loved Dylan between 62 and 64, and doubted his sincerity and direction during the 1965-66 cluster, has got to adore this. Dylan is at his most effusive, as if he wants to prove to the world, he’s every bit the cultural icon we built him up to be. Songs that come off poppy and quick on record (e.g. “Just like a woman”, “4th time around”, “Mr. Tambourine Man”) are presented as epic dramas, with the signature Dylan strum, folk traditionalists praised him for. The harmonica solos are astonishing, particularly the long sweeps around the pentatonic on “Desolation Row”, and the speed licking cross harp solo of “Mr. Tambourine Man” not only shows off his technical skill, but his feel is unworldly. The aura of this performance is dead-serious, like a politician announcing the armageddon. Every whisper, or breath is sonically noted and echoed throughout the Royal Albert Hall. To me, this is a functional/dysfunctional climactic Bob Dylan. A man who’s lived beyond his dreams, and now is recapturing what drew him to music originally. He is now experienced in all musical explorations, learned life lessons behind him, all is second nature now. We are getting the true Bob Dylan here, no gimmicks or cliché. Songs like- “Desolation Row” or “It’s all over now baby blue”, come off like the preaching of Christ. There is no filler. He moves flawless between verses and solos like a true musical virtuoso. Side Two revs up like a motor running on all six cylinders, The Band crunching away behind him at maximum volume, and the rest is history. Dylan is now a full-on rock star. The introduction of this new wave has come, despite what the anti-rock Dylan fans thought. Many were taken back and shocked, but in time, this movement for Dylan is remembered as his best and most astounding.