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58 Years Ago Today, This 1967 Classic Now Considered One of the Greatest Albums Ever Took Over the Charts and Became No. 1
Bob Dylan‘s 1967 album John Wesley Harding went against the grain when it was first released. 1967 was the year of psychedelia, led by The Beatles and the release of their legendary album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Dylan’s folksy, introspective tunes seemed to have no place in that world, but Dylan was never one to follow the trends. He has always been the kind of musician to release whatever he wants, regardless of what the music industry might be pushing for at a certain time. Back then, this album was purposely recorded and released without fanfare. Bob Dylan didn’t want to bring attention to it or do any kind of publicity, just let it find its way to fans organically. It worked. The album topped the UK charts and became a huge success immediately after its release.
This Bob Dylan Album Quietly Topped the Charts 58 Years Ago
When Bob Dylan released John Wesley Harding, he was making a statement in more ways than one. For one, this was his first release after his recovery from a very serious motorcycle accident that led to his withdrawal from the public eye for over a year. There was little to no information about what happened to him at the time, and a lot of people speculated that he was dead. After the accident, he secluded himself in his house in Woodstock and turned very introspective. This time of isolation and reflection had even his closest friends worried. One of George Harrison‘s most beautiful love songs, “I’d Have You Anytime,” was written while he was visiting Dylan in Woodstock during his recovery, and he grew concerned over his friend’s dour mood.
But Dylan wasn’t brooding. He was getting ready for his next step creatively. The following year, with no warning or promotion, he released John Wesley Harding. “I asked Columbia to release it with no publicity and no hype, because this was the season of hype,” he said at the time. He didn’t even put out a single for the album, just releasing it quietly and letting the songs speak for themselves.
Despite the lack of promotion, or “hype,” as Dylan put it, the record did incredibly well, competing even with The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper and The Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request, two very extravagant albums that dominated the music industry that year.
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John Wesley Harding’s Great Reception
In 1968, with no promotion or singles, John Wesley Harding topped the UK charts and reached No. 2 on the American charts. Even in “the season of hype,” as Bob Dylan put it, good music still found its way to the public, even if no one pushed it. The record had gone gold in just two months after its release, and in 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it among the Greatest Albums of All Time.
“Dylan’s voice has grown fuller and warmer, as this album shows us. The cynical edge is gone. He went off the bike and his life flashed before him and he is glad to be alive. He holds notes much longer now than he used to and, like much of his music and lyrics in the past, the songs are deceptively simple,” Rolling Stone Magazine wrote in 1968. “He takes clichés from all of pop music and changes all their faces so that he ends up implying the use of a cliché rather than actually using it, and you find, as in the jazz soloists, a marvelously subtle turn which transforms a possible cliché into a new statement.”
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Indeed, while the psychedelic era was a beautiful and rich time in rock music, to stay true to one’s own style despite where the world is going and not caring about seeing a reward, that’s a statement in itself. It’s clear, as the 1968 review speculates, that the incident played a huge role in how the musician chose to present himself and this record. In the end, it was about showing the world something that was meaningful to him, whether people bought it or not.
“The reaction is mixed. But that’s to be expected. Wasn’t it always mixed? No matter what move he made, didn’t they regret that he made any move at all?” The review goes on, adding that they’re stoning him again when he’s trying to go home.”
Dylan brought us all home with this album, and 58 years later, it’s still the masterpiece it was back then.