Maps of Music

Bob Dylan (1962)

Where the lyrics of Bob Dylan take you, and where it was really made.

Dylan's debut album sold so poorly that he was briefly nicknamed "Hammond's Folly" in record company circles, yet it later reached the UK charts.

Key places

Afternoon sessions on 7th Avenue (1961)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album was recorded in three short afternoon sessions on November 20 and 22, 1961, at Columbia's 7th Avenue studio in New York City. The point is placed at city-center level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Bob Dylan: debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan
• Released March 19, 1962 by Columbia Records
• Produced by Columbia talent scout John H. Hammond, who had signed Dylan to the label earlier, a controversial decision at the time
• Mostly folk standards; only two original compositions, "Talkin' New York" and "Song to Woody"
• "Song to Woody" is an ode to Woody Guthrie, a significant influence on Dylan's early career

Background

• The album received little attention at first and began to sell as Dylan's career progressed
• Charted in the UK three years after release, reaching No. 13
• Dylan met John Hammond at a rehearsal session for Carolyn Hester on September 14, 1961
• Hester invited Dylan to the session as a harmonica player; Hammond approved him after hearing him rehearse
• Hammond then presented Dylan with Columbia's standard five-year contract for previously unrecorded artists, and Dylan signed immediately

Recording

• Recorded in three short afternoon sessions on November 20 and 22 at Columbia's 7th Avenue studio
• Hammond joked that Columbia spent "about $402" to record it, a figure that entered the Dylan legend
• Hammond found Dylan difficult to record despite the low cost and short time
• Five chosen tracks were cut in single takes; the master of "Song to Woody" came after one false start
• Dylan refused requests to do second takes

Cover

• Cover shows a reversed photo of Dylan holding his acoustic guitar
• Reversed so the guitar neck would not obscure Columbia's logo

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota; raised in Hibbing, Minnesota.
• Moved to New York City in January 1961 to pursue a music career.
• Signed to Columbia Records after playing harmonica on Carolyn Hester's album; debut album Bob Dylan released in 1962.

Members

• Solo artist; backed over the years by bands including the Hawks/the Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and his touring band led by bassist Tony Garnier.

Career

• Breakthrough with The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963); protest songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements.
• Went electric with Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966), provoking controversy among folk fans.
• Motorcycle accident in 1966 led to nearly eight years without touring; Basement Tapes recorded with the Band.
• Converted to Christianity in the late 1970s and released gospel albums; won Album of the Year Grammy for Time Out of Mind (1997).
• Has toured since 1988 on the Never Ending Tour; won an Academy Award and ten Grammy Awards; awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Billboard (April 14, 1962) highlighted the album as a 'special merit' release
• Billboard called Dylan one of the most interesting and most disciplined young performers on the pop-folk scene in a long time
• Billboard praised his moving readings of originals such as "Song to Woody" and "Talkin' New York"
• Despite this notice, the album did not sell well at first
• Dylan was for a time known as "Hammond's Folly" in record company circles

Reappraisal

• Critic Tim Riley wrote in 1999 that the debut songs are sung with differing degrees of conviction
• Riley said Dylan never sounds like he is in over his head, even when his reach exceeds his grasp
• Riley singled out the voice as the album's most striking feature, a determined, iconoclastic baying
• Riley compared Dylan's mastery of influences to Elvis Presley's early Sun sessions

Records

• Mitch Miller, Columbia's chief of A&R at the time, said U.S. sales totaled about 2,500 copies
• Bob Dylan is Dylan's only release not to chart at all in the U.S.
• Reached No. 13 in the UK charts in 1965, after the success of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
• The album was not a financial disaster because it was very cheap to record

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album is credited with a cost of "about $402" to record, a figure Hammond joked about and that became part of the Dylan legend.
• The cover photo is reversed so the guitar neck does not block Columbia's logo.
• Dylan refused requests to do second takes during the sessions.
• The album was nicknamed "Hammond's Folly" inside the record company.
• Columbia's chief of A&R Mitch Miller gave the album's U.S. sales as about 2,500 copies.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact