The rather direct nature of modern pop culture’s influence and inspiration is what has made it revolutionary. By sharpening each other’s steal, Bob Dylan and The Beatles led the charge. “The great beauty of contemporary music, and what gives it its edge and vitality, is its devil-may-care attitude toward appropriation. Everybody is grabbing stuff from everybody else, all the time,” Nick Cave once explained. It’s a feeding frenzy of borrowed ideas that contributes to the advancement of rock music — our era’s great artistic experiment.”
When it comes to the original Vagabond, there was one album that got the ball rolling in style for the Fab Four. Bob Dylan’s self-titled debut contained only two original songs, his iconic follow-up, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, released in 1963. It featured introspective folk lyricism that would catch the ear of many a songwriter. I first heard Dylan at all in Paris in 1964“. John Lennon said in The Beatles Anthology. A French DJ gave Paul the record [The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan]. We didn’t stop playing it for three weeks in Paris. Dylan made us all go potty.”
There is no doubt that after this period, The Beatles’ songs became more complex, lyrically more probing and literary, and outwardly more politically liberal. This may have been an unavoidable outcome, but Dylan’s important LP certainly aided them along the way. Similarly, the fact that they referred to him as their “hero” had a profound effect on Dylan. After all, the reason Lennon hadn’t heard him until 1964 was because The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan only charted at number 22 in the United States.
Nonetheless, there is no doubt about how massive the record was. Bob Dylan was in his early twenties when these songs were recorded in 1963. The collage of tracks contained within would go on to change music forever, and there is no hint of nostalgia about that. These are songs that have something to say about the singer. The singer’s name appears in two of the titles to hammer home the unique introspective message.
Its brilliance is almost draining at times. You have to squint the psyche to keep the whole thing in focus. A zen act is required to ensure that you’re savoring the words and wisdom in the way that they deserve. It’s an album as simple as a rustic stew that demands fine-dining treatment. You can’t just eat it greedily. It’s as if you’re one of those kids who was denied sweets by strict parents. And then you find yourself on a sleepover at a more liberal household, and you’ve overindulged on a bounty of goodness. Dylan dazzles and is overwhelmed with sonic sugar that the world had previously foregone.
In a nutshell, it’s one of the best albums of all time. It’s no surprise that The Beatles adored it and were eager to join him. “He was our hero. It was an honor to meet him, and we had a wild party the night we met. “I thought I’d found the meaning of life that night,” a bemused Paul McCartney said. He was, of course, referring to the night The Beatles met Bob Dylan at New York’s Delmonico Hotel on August 28, 1964.
It was during this fabled meeting that he gave the band weed, and they went potty differently, eventually creating the likes of Rubber Soul and Revolver in a haze of inspiration.
