|
John Wesley Harding
Vital Stats And A Historical Perspective
|
|
Vital
Stats: |
 |
|
"I asked Columbia to release it (JWH) with no publicity and no hype, because this was the season of hype."
Bob Dylan, 1967 |
|
|
|
Achieved Gold
Status: |
March
19,
1968
|
|
Recorded: |
October
-
November,
1967
-
Nashville
Tennessee
|
|
How Long: |
9
hours
|
|
Achieved
Platinum
Status: |
August
16,
2001
|
|
Produced By: |
Bob
Johnston
|
|
Engineered By: |
Charlie
Bragg
|
|
Cover Photo: |
John
Berg
|
|
Photo
Subjects: |
Purna Das, leader of the Bauls of Bengal
Lakhsman Das, another
Baul,
Bob
Dylan
and Charlie
Joy
|
|
|
Track
Listing:
|
1. John Wesley
Harding
2. As I Went Out One Morning
3. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
4. All Along the Watchtower
5. The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas
Priest
6. Drifter's Escape
7. Dear Landlord
8. I Am a Lonesome Hobo
9. I Pity the Poor Immigrant
10. The Wicked Messenger
11. Down Along the Cove
12. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight |
Musicians:
|
Bob Dylan -- Vocal, Guitar, Harmonica and Piano
Charles McCoy -- Bass
Kenny
Buttrey -- Drums
Pete Drake -- Steel Guitar on "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" and "Down Along The Cove"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Historical
Perspective: |
|
A look at critical album releases over the span of nineteen months using the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" as the pivotal point: |
|
|
| Album |
Released |
| The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" |
May 1966 |
| The Byrds "Fifth Dimension" |
July 1966 |
| The Doors "The Doors" |
January 1967 |
| Jefferson Airplane "Surrealistic Pillow" |
February 1967 |
| Grateful
Dead
"The Grateful Dead" |
March 1967 |
| The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" |
June 1967 |
| Pink Floyd
"The Piper At The
Gates Of Dawn" |
August 1967 |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience "Are You Experienced" |
August
1967 |
| The Rolling Stones "Their Satanic Majesties Request" |
November 1967 |
| Bob Dylan
"John Wesley Harding" |
December 1967 |
|
|
One of these albums is severely out of place and it doesn't take a music professor to figure out that JWH is the odd man out. The peace and love, LSD-drenched flavor of the other albums crashed head on into Dylan's dig deeper, get back to the roots and think about the big picture attitude.
As radically different an album as it was, the masses took to it in droves, immediately driving the album to number two, sandwiched between The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Certainly, it's this spirit and courage that separates the good from the great and the forgotten from the legendary. |
|
|
