The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan cover

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Album · 1963 · Columbia

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was released by Columbia on May 27, 1963, as Dylan’s second album (mono CL 1986, stereo CS 8786). It was assembled from sessions at Columbia’s Studio A in New York between 1962 and April 1963, produced first by John Hammond and later by Tom Wilson. Eleven of its thirteen songs are credited to Dylan, among them “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Girl from the North Country,” “Masters of War,” “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”

Dylan plays acoustic guitar and harmonica on the album. The exception is “Corrina, Corrina,” recorded on October 26, 1962, his first studio session with a backing band: Dick Wellstood on piano, Howie Collins and Bruce Langhorne on guitar, Leonard Gaskin on bass and Herbie Lovelle on drums.

The song selection changed late in the process. “Rocks and Gravel,” “Let Me Die in My Footsteps,” “Rambling, Gambling Willie” and “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” were withdrawn and replaced with newer songs, among them “Girl from the North Country,” “Masters of War,” “Talking World War III Blues” and “Bob Dylan’s Dream,” all recorded on April 24, 1963. A few copies of the original pressing with the deleted tracks have turned up. In 2002 the album was one of the first fifty recordings added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.

Tracklist

  1. 1 Blowin’ in the Wind alt version 2:48
  2. 2 Girl from the North Country alt version 4:20
  3. 3 Masters of War 4:38
  4. 4 Down the Highway 3:32
  5. 5 Bob Dylan's Blues 2:29
  6. 6 A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall 6:53
  7. 7 Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright alt version 3:41
  8. 8 Bob Dylan's Dream 5:03
  9. 9 Oxford Town 1:50
  10. 10 Talkin' World War III Blues 6:27
  11. 11 Corrina, Corrina 2:44
  12. 12 Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance 2:01
  13. 13 I Shall Be Free 4:47

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