 "One Heck of a Record" | 2008-04-10 |
| - Reviewed By bootleg_press |
After his motorcycle accident and during his recovery, Bob Dylan, according to what I've read, spent hours and hours recording with the band in New York in that Big Pink house. Many years later, probably because of all of the bootlegs of these sessions, some of those recordings would be officially released as The Basement Tapes but for some reason, Dylan decided not to put that stuff out when it was fresh. Instead he went down to Nashville and in a few short days wrote all new material, hired three Nashville musicians and recorded "John Wesley Harding" and who could have believe that in such a short time, such a masterpiece could be created. This record is truly a testament to Dylan's genius.
I've also read that Dylan has said on many occasions that his songs are what they are, that the words are out there for everybody to hear, that there are no hidden meanings, no secret messages, but I have to say on the second song on this record, "As I Went Out One Morning," that I can't help but picturing the "fairest damsel that ever did walk in chains," as America. It seems to me that Dylan is saying that Tom Paine would be so disappointed at what she has become. Also, this record is peppered with Biblical references, maybe this is a glimpse of Slow Train off in the future, maybe not, but were those references messages or was Dylan just into reading the Bible when he did this record. Actually it doesn't matter, because this is one of the best records to come out of the last century. "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" is just one heck of a story. "Down Along the Cove" is one heck of a love song. "John Wesley Harding" just one heck of a ballad. Every song on this record is great. Can I say it just one more time? "John Wesley Harding" is just one heck of a record.
Ken Douglas, author of Dead Ringer, Desperation Moon & Running Scared. |
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| "One Of Dylan's Underated Gems" | 2006-11-27 |
| - Reviewed By saracco |
| Hard for me to add to some of the outstanding reviews of this incredible - and often underated work. It seems in part a summary of the previous seven albums in its scope with shades of things to come. As a hard core listener, it might be the one I had to choose if I could only choose one of his. |
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| "There was a wicked messenger" | 2006-09-25 |
| - Reviewed By ekutinsky |
| Why is the way Bob Dylan's structured his career so damn important to the history and existence of rock music? For the answer to that question, I give you 1967's John Wesley Harding, not because of its quality (which is impeccable, I'll get there), but because its sound was such an about face to the climactic fullness of Blonde on Blonde that it appeared career suicide, because the world was on a sex-drugs-and-rock kick that summer and Dylan denied all three by releasing a record of spiritual asceticism, and because to this day it remains amongst the most inscrutably mercurial and fascinating records ever made. I'll give you my take - Dylan was recovering from his motorcycle accident at the time, and broke with his long-term manager Albert Grossman. The record reflects a deep turning inward for Dylan by reflecting on the state of society, being disgusted by everything he saw, and turning that hatred inward upon realizing he's guilty of all that he accuses. Listen to "I Dream I Saw St. Augustine" - "No martyr is among you now/ whom you can call your own/ but go on your way accordingly," he sings. All of the characters he fastens himself in and out of during the record make the same assessment, and Dylan himself feels on trial - he's the drifter of "Drifter's Escape," the hobo of "I Am a Lonesome Hobo," and the Judas of "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" doing time for everything except being true to who he is. The record, then, becomes stripped musically of everything in Dylan's quest to reemerge - he cocoons, if you will, and comes out singing "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," a bit of a love song to himself, predicting safe, pastoral times ahead (see New Morning). Plus, it features a little song called "All Along the Watchtower," a song that redefined the word "ominous," and one that brilliantly wagered the idea that we may not deserve what waits for us, good or bad, but at all costs, we have to approach it. That may be the defining statement of Dylan's career. |
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| "Bob Dylan at his Best" | 2006-09-04 |
| - Reviewed By shalaila_earth_person |
| Recorded with a set of Nashville musicians, this is one of Bob Dylan's best albums. The music is superb and the lyrics draw you right in. These are songs with a story, with a purpose. and there is even a love song thrown it, "Down Along the Cove" and to my way of thinking its one of the best love songs ever written. Coming out after his long hiatus after "Blonde on Blonde" (supposedly because of his motorcycle accident) the way it did, his fans were probably starving for music and they snatched this one right up (or so I'm told). Still, it must have been a little bit of a shocker to his fans, you know, the direction his music was taking. A few years later they would be shocked even more, because Dylan is not your basic static musician, he's ever growing, ever changing and this incantation of the never the same Bob Dylan is truly one of the best. |
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 "a let down from earlier albums but still good" | 2006-08-28 |
| - Reviewed By sebasto20002002 |
| i dont know who john wesley hardung is but he must be somebody because nes got an album named after him.ill cut right to it.this album is pretty average in comparison to anything hed done by 1967 with 2 glaring exceptions......they are "all along the watchtower" which is a great great song".jimi hendrix who is a fellow musical genius covered that one and the other is the love song "ill be your baby tonight".pretty plain and slower than you may be used to. |
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| "A Record that is Always New" | 2006-04-02 |
| - Reviewed By sarababehackett |
| I just love this record. A solid rocker with a country flavor. The music is tone down quite a bit from "Blonde on Blonde" but it's still got many songs with a driving beat. The most famous song on JWH has to be "All Along the Watchtower." Jimi Hendrix did such a great job with his cover of that song. Dylan himself, still plays it all the time, changing it as he's always changing himself. "As I Went Out One Morning", is my favorite. Dylan sings about what America as all about and how Tom Paine would be so disappointed if he were around today. That's my read on the song anyway, you may have yours. So many of Dylan's songs are open to different interpretations. My next favorite song is "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest." It seems that Dylan just loves to showcase his humor. There is just so much going on in this record, it's almost impossible to take in. I've been listening to JWH for years and years and it's always fresh and I always seem to be finding something new, a new way to look at one of these songs. |
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