(Disclaimer: Those looking for a brief description of the album will find what they're looking for in the "Review Body" section. The section titled "Track Reviews" is meant only for those who want to read detailed descriptions of the songs, and they do not constitute the essence of this review. Lastly and most importantly, this review might not be written by the point of view of a Bob Dylan fan.)

Overall Score: 11/15
Best song: “House of the Risin' Sun”
Worst song: “Baby, Let Me Follow You Down”

Review Body:

In the beginning, Bob Dylan's only instruments were his voice, his acoustic guitar, and a harmonica. He didn't come fully armed with his own songs, however; this is a covers-oriented folk album. That might be surprising at first glance. I mean, what is Bob Dylan if he isn't the greatest singer-songwriter who ever lived? (If you don't agree with such that statement, then I would kindly ask you to devise a way of kicking your own butt since I'm too lazy to track you down and do it myself.) But if you look at other folk albums released in the early '60s, you'll quickly notice that covers-oriented albums were the standard practice.

Folk revivalists, in particular, seemed to believe that writing original songs went against their principle; they were most interested in performing and preserving world-be forgotten folk classics. (I don't look down on that, by the way. They were doing a valuable service since many of these songs were very well worth preserving.) Dylan, however, might not have been so much interested in this; many of these songs were already well-known at the time. Rather, it seemed like he was just biding his time to make a name for himself in the recording industry to generate enough clout to start releasing his own material.

That said, he did manage to get by with two originals on this 13-track album, but they were hardly earth-shattering. Their melodies aren't great, but they're not bad. The most interesting thing about them are the lyrics, which appropriately enough, center around Dylan's own early history; “Talkin' New York” is an account of his arrival to the Big Apple, and “Song to Woody” is a fond tribute to his ailing hero.

One thing that Dylan did differently than most of his contemporaries regarding the folk covers was that he injected all sorts of humor into his vocal performances. That was rather odd since most folk songs are about death. In a few of the old blues, such as “In My Time of Dyin'” and “Gospel Plow,” he does the best he can to adapt an overblown gruff and snarling tone to his voice. He did that, I assume, because knew that he wasn't going to be nearly as convincing singing it as the people who originally sang them (he was, after all, a 21-year-old Jewish kid singing black music). So, he decided to take a gamble, for better or worse, and just sound like he was having a blast singing it. As far as I'm concerned, it worked. He comes off as playful and a lot of fun to listen to. The cover of “Freight Train Blues” is also hilarious; he rambles off the lyrics with the rapidity of an auctioneer except for one note that is so long-sustained that it's ridiculous.

These goofy vocal interpretations might have meant that Dylan didn't take his duty as a folk revivalist very seriously, but that quality does make this album an enjoyable listen for contemporary audiences. Certainly, this is miles more entertaining than Joan Baez's more respectable albums of the early '60s, which were so serious and straight-minded that they drove me mad. (I still haven't forgiven her for her rendition of “Kumbaya.”) It also helps that Dylan frequently either energetically or thoughtfully chugs away at his harmonica during most of these songs. A harmonica might not seem like much, but it was practically an excess as far as solo-artist folk albums go.

There's almost no debate that the best song of this album is the cover of the brooding English folk classic, “House of the Rising Sun.” It's one of the best songs ever written both for its melody and for its captivating lyrics. The Animals' version of it recorded two years later greatly eclipsed this version in notoriety, but you'd might as well hear both versions, because they're both excellent. Fans of the film O Brother Where Art Thou? might also be interested in hearing his version of “Man of Constant Sorrow,” which sounds extremely different than the version featured in the film. To me, it's one of the album's more underwhelming songs, but it's certainly a point of curiosity for audiences of my generation.

Even though this album is rightfully considered “merely” a precursor to the trio of iconic folk albums he would release right after this, it's still an album well worth scouting out. It not only provides a valuable insight into his roots, but it's a damn entertaining listen as well. I like it better than anything Joan Baez ever made. (Not Judy Collins, though.)

Track Reviews:

You're No Good A-
This is a rather brief though catchy composition written by Jesse “Lone Cat” fuller, and Dylan sings it with conviction (and he even does a little 'chuckle' in here, I do wonder what that was all about ... maybe it was just a trip-up). It's great that he has passion in his voice. Some reviewers have wondered if he was overcompensating by singing so passionately because he was concerned that people wouldn't like his singing voice. That's difficult for me to fathom nowadays; even though it takes awhile of getting used to, I consider Dylan's vocal style to be one of the best in the business. The acoustic guitar is strummed excitedly and boldly, and he turns in some fast-paced harmonica while he wasn't singing.

Talkin' New York A
It's one of only two original songs of this album, and it reflects upon Dylan's first arrival in the Big Apple. He rambles off the lyrics in a conversational manner, and it's quite humorous. That's a stark contrast to the ultra-serious stuff that he would do on his album immediately after this. He manages to come up with a harmonica riff that's pretty catchy, and his pleasant laid-back strumming is breezy. Quite good! I'd say this guy has a future ahead of him!

In My Time of Dyin' A
It's impossible to deny that this old timey gospel song (written by some genius named “Traditional”) isn't one to blow you out of your socks. Its dramatic melody is phenomenal. Dylan manages to deliver a rough vocal performance of it, proving once and for all that his voice make him sound well past his years. You would expect an old person to gruffly sing these lyrics (“Well, well, well, so I can die easy / Jesus is going to make up my dying bed”).

Man of Constant Sorrow B+
This is the song you'll probably remember from O Brother Where Art Thou?. Yes, that version was better, but remember this is just old Bob Dylan singing with an acoustic guitar. Anyone who hates his voice will probably be grating their teeth hearing him sing these extended notes! He does the same thing with the harmonica. As a folk arrangement, this drags a little more than the previous songs. I'm not nearly as engaged listening to it. It has a good melody, though.

Fixin' to Die B+
It's really great hearing Dylan's vocal performances. He's completely singing it over-the-top, frequently taking to growling and snarling. I don't really see that as passion but playfulness. This probably wasn't the most compelling old blues song he chose to cover (although Wikipedia states that Dylan changed the vocal line to what it was in the original, written by Bukka White).

Pretty Peggy-O A-
This is a playful cover of an old Scottish folk song. Dylan seems to have a lot of fun, chugging away with his harmonica, strumming his acoustic guitar quickly, and letting out little “woohoo” calls throughout. His vocal performance is intentionally tacky, but it's fun. This sense of humor and fun puts Dylan's folk covers 1,000,000% over Joan Baez folk covers, even though Baez was probably technically better and had a prettier voice.

Highway 51 A-
Hell yeah... It's Highway 61's older brother. I love that gruff way Dylan sings this. You can tell he's not trying to sing as well as the old blues masters sung these, but he's giving it a go with a laugh under his breath. He picked a good song to cover. This one has a catchy riff, which he strums confidently with his acoustic guitar. On a whole, he does an excellent job keeping our interest!

Gospel Plow A
This is one of my favorites just by listening to how it starts with that furiously strummed acoustic guitar and rapidly chugging harmonica. Dylan comes in with one his stronger and more confident “snarling” vocal performances of the album, and he's a lot of fun to listen to. Again, he's not better than the people who originally sang these songs, but he's really not trying to be. He's different, at least!

Baby, Let Me Follow You Down C+
There's nothing terribly wrong with this song. It just doesn't do anything in particular that pops out at me. The melody is forgettable, and Dylan doesn't do anything particularly silly with his vocal performance. What you get here is the standard acoustic guitar playing, harmonica, singing. He says he heard this from Rick Von Schmidt from Cambridge. That explains why this uninteresting. (Burn, people who go to Harvard. As a matter of fact, I hate all the ivy leagues.)

House of the Risin' Sun A+
This is a phenomenal song. It's most famous for the electric version The Animals did after this, but it's difficult to decide which version of it is better. ...It's probably The Animals', but you'll like this one as well. It's just Bob Dylan playing that killer riff with his acoustic guitar and giving a convincingly world-worn vocal performance. We also know that the melody is great. It's the sort of melody that gets caught in your head after the first listen.

Freight Train Blues A-
This song makes me laugh every time I hear it. I'm reviewing this album for the third time right now, and that ridiculously long-sustained note he sings always seems to catch me. When he's not doing that, he rambles off these lyrics as though he were a rapid-tongued auctioneer. It's quite a lot of fun. If he would have sung this straight, I probably would have been bored with it. So thank goodness; he saved me from boredom.

Song to Woody B+
This is the second and final original composition on this album, and it's quite good. As you might suspect from the title, this is where he pays tribute to one of his principle influences, Woody Guthrie. Musically, it's nothing too special. It's a strummy sing-songey tune, and the vocals are performed quite seriously. The melody is rather forgettable.

See That My Grave is Kept Clean B
Yeah, when I'm buried, I don't want all this dirt around me! (Actually, I want to be cremated. I don't want worms eating through my eye sockets, thank you very much.) But anyway, I'd say Dylan chose a rather underwhelming song to close things with. The melody doesn't interest me at all, but Dylan does what he can to sing it with these outlandishly overblown guttural singing. Again, I find this amusing, so I'm not criticizing his vocals. ...All that said, now I'm looking forward to reviewing his classic albums!

Concluding Remarks:

You'd might be surprised to see that Bob Dylan, one of rock 'n' roll's most celebrated singer-songwriters, didn't write his own material for his debut album. Rather, he covered a bunch of old folk and blues classics. However, if you glance over other prominent folk revival acts at the time, such as The Kingston Trio or Joan Baez, you would notice they didn't tend to write their own material, either. So, really, within the context of the times, Dylan was just being one of the crowd!

Read More Bob Dylan Reviews by Starcollector!

Bob Dylan (1962) | The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) | The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964) | Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964) | Bringing it All Back Home (1965) | Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

Recommended: Yes