Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding

Bob Dylan – John Wesley Harding
Columbia, 1967
Acquired: Half Price Books, Used, 2011
Price: $2

John Wesley Harding sounds like an exhalation after three solid, groundbreaking, and classic electric-Dylan albums. It almost seems slight, coming off of all that epic, legendary shit, but this record is loaded down with jams. It’s almost deceptive, how many stone cold killer tunes are on this album. “As I Went Out One Morning,” “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine,” “All Along the Watchtower,” all run in a little row on the first side. John Wesley Harding seems to be touted as a return to roots of sorts, but Dylan sounds different here. More mature and wizened. Or something. Weird that he wrote a song about someone named Frankie Lee meeting the heavy metal band Judas Priest, weirder since the band didn’t even exist when the song was written! GO FIGURE! JUST KIDDING! Fun fact though, those heavy metal dudes got their name from “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest,” which makes them a bunch of country music loving wimps. Anyway, I’d never even listened to this album until now and it’s much better than I ever thought it would be despite all the five star ratings and such.