No Direction Home (Bob Dylan)

dylan is one of my favorite artists of all time. he creates music that when listening at times is akin to a spiritual experience.

this album, no direction home, is the soundtrack to the documentary of the same name which was directed by martin scorsese. the documentary goes from the beginning of Robert Allen Zimmerman's (his real name) career, through to the motorcycle crash in 1966 which is seen as the major turning point in his career. the soundtrack is two discs long, with 28 tracks in all. the first album focuses on the folky side of dylan, and the second is mostly comprised of songs from the post-bringing it all back home era, when dylan had gone electric.

i am generally partial to dylan's earlier folk-oriented songs, though i cannot deny the appeal of his electric sound too. dylan is dylan, no matter what he plays.

the beauty of this soundtrack is the insight it seems to have in the evolution of dylan's sound, as well as his persona. the first track is a home recording that i believe has been dated to when dylan was about 15. you can hear the youth in his voice, but there is still an assertiveness present even then. through the next couple songs you hear the influences of woody guthrie, culminating in "song to woody," which is possibly my favorite track on the first disc:

"hey hey woody guthrie, i wrote you a song. / about a funny ol' world that's a-comin' along. / seems sick and it's hungry and it's tired and it's torn. / it looks like it's a-dying and it's hardly been born."

here, have a listen.

Bob Dylan – Song to Woody


there are also several alternate and live versions of "blowin' in the wind" as well as folk classics like "this land is your land" and "man of constant sorrow." all are excellent in their own right. stand-out tracks are "i was young when i left home" and "a hard rain's gonna fall." this album is dylan, front and center.

the second album begins with an alternate take of "she belongs to me," and suddenly there is bass, rhythm and lead guitar. the shift to this new sound is jarring, and i can only imagine what it was like back when all this was going down and people were boo'ing him and worse. it's different, sure, but it's brilliant. the songwriting and lyricism is still there, but the tempo has sped up to keep pace with his ideas. the alternate takes and live versions on the second disc are just as well-chosen as those on the first disc. "desolation row," and "tombstone blues" are stellar.

the magic, though, is in the energy from the organ player and dylan's vocals in this live cut of "ballad of a thin man." please listen.

Bob Dylan – Ballad of a Thin Man (Live version)


no direction home excels as a documentary and a soundtrack. to some, this 2-disc set would be a little too much dylan. and i can understand how some people can only take so much. nonetheless, this is a stellar collection and a wonderful way to begin exploring the dylan discography.

and the documentary could not be recommended enough. below is a great scene i had found posted on youtube of dylan just playing with language: