50. Bob Dylan — Bringing It All Home (1965)

1. Here it is, the big Dylan Goes Electric moment. It’s…not as revolutionary as I expected, to be honest! The first half of this album is the “electric” half, with the latter half more solo/acoustic, but that first half is still dominated by acoustic guitars, banjos, harmonicas, etc. There’s certainly electric guitar here, but it’s by no means overpowering. The folk scene in the 60s sure was touchy!
2. That said, this soft blending of folk and rock seems pretty ideal; it keeps the focus on the folk while expanding what “folk” means. Lyrically, Dylan goes for a looser, more surrealistic perspective, breaking away from the protest / confessional format of most folk music of the time (his included). The electric first side is bookended by two highlights — “Subterranean Homesick Blues” is a freeform beat poem picture of the moment, while “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream” is a loose and funny satire of Columbus. Musically, Dylan goes beyond the traditional tunes & covers from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, churning out more complex arrangements that keep your attention without demanding it every moment.
3. The album’s acoustic second half open with the powerhouse “Mr Tambourine Man,” a gorgeous, fluid lullaby finding Dylan seeking solace and meaning. I love some of Dylan’s phrasing here; the “jingle jangle morning,” the “laughing, spinning, swinging madly across the sun,” “disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind, down the foggy ruins of time.” This isn’t going to be my choice for One Essential Song, but it’s the best on the album, and one of the best ever.
4. The acoustic second half has only four tracks, but what it has are excellent. On top of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” Dylan offers up “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding),” a pure folk blues tune seething with anger and frustration at the world. It’s a reminder that the pure folk Freewheelin’ Dylan had only emerged three years prior.
5. This album also may have birthed the music video? I’m not sure whose idea it was to create a promotional video for “Subterranean Homesick Blues” but the outcome — Dylan flipping through cue cards with lyrics, frequently misspelled or miswritten intentionally for effect — is just brilliant.

One Essential Song:

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