#337 Bob Dylan, 'John Wesley Harding' (1967)

Previously #303

Dylan’s 8th album in 6 years was a semi return to acoustic folk music following the three major and very electric rock albums. On this record, Dylan was backed by three country musicians from Nashville; Kenneth A. Buttrey, Pete Drake and Charlie McCoy on drums, pedal steel guitar and bass guitar respectively. 

Dylan, being Dylan, insisted on no publicity and no hype on this record. It was released on 27 December 1967, traditionally a black hole for album releases. There were no singles as such but 9 months after the release of the album, Jimi Hendrix covered ‘All Along The Watchtower’ on his third and final album, solidifying the legacy of the song. Also on this album is ‘I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,’ a song which was a hit for Robert Palmer and UB40 in 1990. To be honest, even though I listened to this album last time around, I had forgotten that this song was originally a Dylan song. The man can write a hit, that’s for sure!

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