FEATURE:
From a Buick 6 on Desolation Row
Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited at Fifty-Five
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ON the day (30th August) of the…
IN THIS PHOTO: Bob Dylan in 1965/PHOTO CREDIT: Barrie Wentzell
fifty-fifth anniversary of Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, I wanted to investigate further one of the greatest albums ever released. His sixth studio album was released by Columbia, and Highway 61 Revisited marked a radical shift for Dylan. This was the first album where he used Rock musicians on all tracks - the only exception is the album’s closer, Desolation Row. I wonder whether that eleven-minute closer could have been given something extra with electric guitar. It is clear that, by 1965, Dylan wanted to move in a different direction and was bringing in new influences in terms of genres. Dylan was utilising the Blues more, and he was combining that with exquisite and thought-provoking poetry that documented the realities and struggles of American society. It is no wonder many view Highway 61 Revisited as one of the most important album of the 1960s. Although there are only nine tracks on the album, there are so many lines, stories and spine-tingling moments revealed. With no weak tracks, one of Dylan’s finest songs, Like a Rolling Stone, opens things, and it must have blown people away in 1965! Unlike anything he had ever released, the song cracks out of the gates and never relents! Going down as one of the most inspiring songs in Rock history, there are articles dedicated to the song and its incredible genius.
With musicians including Mike Bloomfield (electric guitar), Paul Griffin and Al Kooper (piano, organ), and Bobby Gregg (drums), there are so many different shades and layers to the album. Aside from the phenomenal opener of Like a Rolling Stone to the biblical swansong of Desolation Row, Dylan reaches new peaks on every song. I think Ballad of a Thin Man is one of finest cuts from Highway 61 Revisited. With pulsating piano and eerie organ, the song concerns the media’s inability to understand the singer and the song. It is a remarkable protest song, and it remains one of Dylan’s best-loved songs. The impact Highway 61 Revisited has had on other artists is immense. Songs such as Like a Rolling Stone have been covered by everyone from The Young Rascals, to David Gilmour, and PJ Harvey even included a cover of Highway 61 Revisited’s title track on her Rid of Me album in 1993. I want to bring in a couple of reviews of Highway 61 Revisited. In 2010, this is what AllMusic wrote:
“Taking the first, electric side of Bringing It All Back Home to its logical conclusion, Bob Dylan hired a full rock & roll band, featuring guitarist Michael Bloomfield, for Highway 61 Revisited. Opening with the epic "Like a Rolling Stone," Highway 61 Revisited careens through nine songs that range from reflective folk-rock ("Desolation Row") and blues ("It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry") to flat-out garage rock ("Tombstone Blues," "From a Buick 6," "Highway 61 Revisited").
Dylan had not only changed his sound, but his persona, trading the folk troubadour for a streetwise, cynical hipster. Throughout the album, he embraces druggy, surreal imagery, which can either have a sense of menace or beauty, and the music reflects that, jumping between soothing melodies to hard, bluesy rock. And that is the most revolutionary thing about Highway 61 Revisited -- it proved that rock & roll needn't be collegiate and tame in order to be literate, poetic, and complex”
There are few albums that receive almost perfect acclaim across the board. It is one of those rare records that has reverberated through the decades, and it remains so powerful and relevant. Dylan would go on to create other classics (including Blonde on Blonde in 1966), but I don’t think anything reaches the same highs as Highway 61 Revisited. I want to source from a Sputnik Music review of 2006, as they make some interesting observations:
“Bob Dylan gathered a good band of musicians to accompany him on this album as guitarists, pianists, organists, bassists, and drummers among other instruments. With this band, Dylan explored a new sound, most noticeably his signature organ-guitar blend so recognizable on Like A Rolling Stone. Unlike most folk music, Bob Dylan allows a lot of instrumental variety into his music and allowing for distorted guitar leads, catchy piano melodies, and emotion dripping harmonica solos. The songs range from bluesy, sultry ballads to 50s rock and roll to absolutely beautiful folk mastery.
Dylan’s songwriting is masterful, each chord progression simple enough yet so incredibly original and recognizable that nothing sounds bland or uninteresting. A perfect blend of II V Is and I IV Vs make songs up to nearly 12 minutes never drag on and the songs pass by like a breeze although not a single song really fits the standard pop song length. However, fans around the world do not care about the song length, as Rolling Stone magazine called Like A Rolling Stone the greatest song ever recorded and Desolation Row remains a fan favorite in many hearts. The title track of the album appeared on the list as well, although in the 300s.
However, the music isn’t the only thing to marvel at on this album. Bob Dylan, ever since his induction into the music industry, has been looked upon as one of the greatest lyricists of all time, and for good reason. He makes classic literary allusions, conveys a message that is heart-felt and honest, and always maintains a rhyming pattern without sacrificing the meaning or story in any way. Whether the message refers to politics, love, or just general society, it doesn’t matter because Dylan explains all of them with unrivaled intelligence and flair. No matter how much the music conveys by itself, Dylan makes sure his lyrics and story are the main focus of every song. Ballad of a Thin Man makes “Mr. Jones” as relevant a term for the common man as John Doe or John Smith. Desolation Row features the most classical allusions one has ever seen, making references to his idols while still maintaining a message and relevant flow, something Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers wishes he could do”.
I know there will be a lot of celebration of Highway 61 Revisited, as it is fifty-five, and I am sure the album will continue to inspire artists and listeners for decades to come. Before ending things, I want to circle back to Like a Rolling Stone, as it is the song that announced a different side of Bob Dylan. His infamous appearance at the Newport Folk Festival is one of the most-talked about events from all of music. Those who were expecting a stripped-back Folk Bob Dylan were in for a shock! Rolling Stone examined Highway 61 Revisited in 2016, and they talked about the recording of Like a Rolling Stone, and how Dylan’s Rock and Blues-orientated tracks were perceived by the Folk community:
“When they returned the next day, 21-year-old Al Kooper had bluffed his way into the session. Kooper was a guitarist, but he sat himself at the organ (which he says he faked his way through like “a kid fumbling for the light switch”) and wound up on the song. “Highway 61 was an unprofessional situation,” he says today, “exemplified by how I ended up playing on it.”
With Kooper supplying a bed of organ and Griffin at the piano, it took two rehearsals and four takes for “Like a Rolling Stone” to come together – though they kept going through 11 more takes, still searching, as if unaware of the history they’d made.
No one was unaware for long. The single was released on July 20th. Initial copies sent to radio split the six-minute song between two sides of a 45, but listeners demanded the whole song, and they got it. “It seemed to go on and on forever,” Paul McCartney remembered of hearing it at John Lennon’s house. “It was just beautiful. He showed all of us that it was possible to go a little further.”
Just five days after “Like a Rolling Stone” was released, with the song burning up the radio, Dylan appeared at the Newport Folk Festival with an electric band.
There is some lingering debate about the reaction: Were the boos that greeted their versions of “Maggie’s Farm,” “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Phantom Engineer” because the music was a shock, because there wasn’t enough volume for the audience to hear it, or because there was too much volume? But there was no mistaking Dylan’s intention. “Dylan wore rock & roll clothes,” Bloomfield said. “Black leather, yellow pin shirt without the tie. And he had a Fender Stratocaster. He looked like someone from West Side Story.” Four days later, that street fighter was back at Studio A, running down the rest of the songs for Highway 61 in just four days”.
So many great and influential albums are celebrating anniversaries this year, but I don’t think they come much bigger than Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. If you do not own the album, then go and grab a copy, as it is a sensational listening experience! Highway 61 Revisited is so much more than another Bob Dylan album. On its arrival on 30th August, 1965, a masterpiece was released into the world that would…
CHANGE music forever.