A Bob Dylan day

I started Boxing Day by popping in The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in the car CD player.

As a follow-up, I finished listening to the album on the way home from work, and took a little detour through the neighborhood near our house just to get the whole 50+ minute album in before pulling in the garage. (With the exception of his debut album, Dylan's records from 1963-1966 are all quite long). 

Back to Freewheelin', I hadn't listened to it in quite some time. I'm not that into Dylan's acoustic era. I prefer when he went electric and rock in early 1965 and beyond. That said, I was pleasantly surprised at how varied Freewheelin' is. Sure, it has the deep protest songs like "Blowin' in the Wind," "Masters of War," "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," and "Oxford Town," but it also has love (or love-adjacent) songs like "Girl From the North Country," the gentle yet bitter "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," and then there are straight-up funny/goofy songs like "Talkin' World War III Blues" and "Bob Dylan's Blues." Finally, there's "Corrina, Corrina," which might have been the very first "folk rock" song. That might be a stretch, since it has no electric instruments, but it does feature double bass and drums in addition to Dylan's acoustic guitar.

I have to add that the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the epitome of Greenwich Village cool. Bob sauntering arm-in-arm with an adoring Suze Rotolo up Jones Street in the West Village. They look carefree and total bohemian chic, as if they're on the way to a cafe for some espresso or perhaps to Suze's apartment, where they'll drink a bottle of wine, share a joint, and listen to old blues records.

So I guess you'd say I'm gearing up and doing homework for A Complete Unknown, which I am determined to see this weekend. When I first heard of this movie, I was lukewarm. Timothee Chalamet hasn't wowed me in anything I've seen him in, not even the Dune movies. But it sounds as if he fully committed to playing Bob Dylan, even taking a few years learning to play guitar. (Apparently he practiced on the set of Dune). So, I'm willing to give it a shot even if it might fall prey to the usual rock biopic cliches.

I'm not sure if I'll listen to Dylan on the way to work tomorrow, but if I do, I'll probably skip ahead to 1965 and Bringing It All Back Home.