John Wesley Harding

Artist: Bob Dylan
Label: Sony
Category: Music

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Format: Box set
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 3

UPC: 827969497425
EAN: 0827969497425
ASIN: B000AAIXSG

Release Date: 2005-08-30

The Collection, Vol. 4: Nashville Skyline/New Morning/John Wesley Harding

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Tracks:

Girl from the North Country - Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan
Nashville Skyline Rag
To Be Alone with You
I Threw It All Away
Peggy Day
Lay Lady Lay
One More Night
Tell Me That It Isn't True
Country Pie
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You

Tracks:

If Not for You
Day of the Locusts
Time Passes Slowly
Went to See the Gypsy
Winterlude
If Dogs Run Free
New Morning
Sign on the Window
One More Weekend
Man in Me
Three Angels
Father of Night

Tracks:

John Wesley Harding
As I Went Out One Morning
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
All Along the Watchtower
Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
Drifter's Escape
Dear Landlord
I Am a Lonesome Hobo
I Pity the Poor Immigrant
Wicked Messenger
Down Along the Cove
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

Similar Items:

The Collection, Vol. 2: Freewheelin' Bob Dylan/Times They Are A-Changin'/Another Side
The Collection, Vol. 3: Blonde on Blonde/Blood on the Tracks/Infidels
The Collection: Oh, Mercy/Time Out of Mind/Love and Theft
Bringing It All Back Home
Modern Times (Deluxe Edition With Bonus DVD)

Customer Reviews:

A Perfect Collection, Bob Dylan's Country Period -- Kind of.......2006-04-02

My older brother thinks "John Wesley Harding" is the best Dylan album ever. Is it? I don't know. "Blood on the Track," "Desire", "Highway 61" and "Blonde on Blonde" are all records I like better, but right after them, I'd but "JWH" maybe tie it with "Oh Mercy." Don't get me wrong. JWH is a must own album. Not only because you can see here how he transitions into his country period with "Nashville Skyline" and "New Morning," but because it's a record that plays on in your head long after you've turned of the CD player. JWH was not only a change of direction in Dylan's music, but it was written while he was recovering from his motorcycle accident, so one could also assume his life was taking a new direction as well. I'm not sure about that, but I would think a long recovery would make you think about life and what it's all about, that's what this record seems to be about anyway. At least that's what I take away from it.

Dylan goes country on "Nashville Skyline" and he does it well. This is a record far too short. Good songs here, but not enough of them. It seems like you've just put the CD in the player and it's over. But other than the fact that there isn't as much music here as on a normal Dylan CD, I have no complaints. Dylan is in fine voice here, sort of a country, high pitched twang that works very nicely. He tells these songs of love and loss with such sincerity, such honesty. But then he attacks everything he does that way, so it should be no surprise. This is just a wonderful, if a bit too short, record.

Some of the best lyrics of Bob Dylan's career are tucked away on "New Morning, a record that sadly hasn't been as popular as some of the rest of his music. Maybe because it's a bit spiritual with the gospel singers who sing background on some of the songs. Maybe it's because some of the songs really are spiritual and Dylan makes no attempt to hide it, like he did so successfully on "John Wesley Harding." Maybe it's because he has a bit of that "Nashville Skyline" country voice some people (I'm not one of them) didn't like. But none of those are reasons to give this record a pass. If you are one of those who gave it a listen one time or two years ago, please take my advice and give it a listen now, because I think you'll find that you've misjudged this record. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It'll be like discovering a brand new Bob Dylan record.

Three Records I Play All the Time.......2006-04-02

My favorite song on JWH is "Dear Landlord." It's a lament driven by a soulful piano that will reach right into your soul. You can just feel the desperation the singer is crying about. "Only a Hobo," is another song where Dylan sings from the view of someone less fortunate. "I've served time for everything except begging on the street." What a line. You can just see this hobo Dylan sings about, a shyster, con man, often down and out on his luck. A hobo without regret and some advice to give, "Stay free from petty jealousies, live by no man's code, and hold your judgment for yourself, lest you wind up on this road." Dylan's hobo, like Dylan himself, is a lot of things, but a beggar he is not. Then there is the excellent song about that western outlaw, turned somewhat of a saint in the title song of this record, "John Wesley Harding" is Dylan accurate in his portrayal of the outlaw, well he misspelled his name, maybe that's a clue. Dylan is always doing that, surprising us and fooling us. This is an excellent record, full of fine music, double entendres and maybe some simple advice on how to live your life, like these outstanding words, "Live by no man's code."

NASHVILLE SKYLINE is a nice record, good to put on when you want to relax with a glass of wine and a good book. I know that's not the usual way one would listen to a Dylan record, but this is not a usual Dylan record. "Nashville Skyline" is full of uplifting, twangy songs, plus it has the Dylan mega hit on it, "Lay, Lady Lay which has always been a favorite of mine. I also like "Peggy Day" an awful lot as well as the duet Dylan sings with Johnny Cash, "Girl From the North Country." That song is just sublime. "Tonight I'll be Staying Here With You," is another sublime song about the narrator's lost love that will pull a tear from the driest eye, if you're a sentimental girl like me anyway. Then there is "Tell Me that it isn't True" another song about lost love, well a love about to be lost anyway, as the narrator is asking his girl about another man. Yes this is, at least up to now, a totally new direction for Bob Dylan, but it's a direction I kind of like.

There are spiritual overtones on this NEW MORNING and that is fine with me. Bob Dylan has always worn his beliefs on his sleeve. He puts it all out there and if you don't like it, tough. Well, in this case I like this record just fine. Bluesy sometimes, jazzy sometimes and always with those Bob Dylan lyrics you can take at face value the way Dylan says you're supposed to, or you can read all kinds of things into his words. Did he mean this? Did he mean that? It seems Bob Dylan is like a chameleon, so many different things to so many different people, but that's also okay by me, because he has been making the best stuff to listen to on my record player and now my CD player for the last three decades.

A Super Collection.......2006-04-02

John Wesley Harding -- A Record that is Always New

I just love this record. A solid rocker with a country flavor. The music is tone down quite a bit from "Blonde on Blonde" but it's still got many songs with a driving beat. The most famous song on JWH has to be "All Along the Watchtower." Jimi Hendrix did such a great job with his cover of that song. Dylan himself, still plays it all the time, changing it as he's always changing himself. "As I Went Out One Morning", is my favorite. Dylan sings about what America as all about and how Tom Paine would be so disappointed if he were around today. That's my read on the song anyway, you may have yours. So many of Dylan's songs are open to different interpretations. My next favorite song is "The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest." It seems that Dylan just loves to showcase his humor. There is just so much going on in this record, it's almost impossible to take in. I've been listening to JWH for years and years and it's always fresh and I always seem to be finding something new, a new way to look at one of these songs.

Nashville Skyline -- A Pure Joy to Listen to

I love the guitar work on this record, especially on "Nashville Skyline Rag" and "Country Pie." I love the country flavor, but then I've always been a fan of country music. I'm a huge Dolly Parton fan and I like George Jones too. So, liking Bob Dylan as much as I do and since my husband has him playing in our house an awful lot, this tends to be one of my favorites of his. True there are no protest songs here, not hard driving rock, no secret messages, no songs that you can interrupt in a number of ways. This is a very straightforward record with very straightforward music that is just a pure joy to listen to.

New Morning -- A Truly Fabulous Record

It's true he came from a small town in Minnesota, but Bob Dylan went on to conquer the world. He is the poet of more than one generation and some of his best stuff is on this records. "Went to See the Gypsy" and "Three Angels" are two of my favorites. The haunting "Ooo, Ooo, Ooo" (I don't know how else to describe them) vocals in the background of "If Dogs Run Free" are just chilling and they really set of the song which is my favorite song on the record. Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention "If Not For You", which is done just wonderfully on this record. I like the way George Harrison does it as well. In fact I just got the Bangledesh Video for my birthday and Bob and George perform it on the extras part of the video. It's just a fabulous song, one of many on this fabulous record.

Three Outstanding Countrified Records.......2006-04-02

John Wesley Harding - A Little Country, But Still a Rocker

What a change for Bob Dylan. First he was a folk singer, than a hard rocker and now it seems he'd turned direction, going a bit country. However, don't make any mistake, just because he's got country musicians, this is still a rocker and it's one of my top five favorite Dylan records. "John Wesley Harding" is sort of a western ballad that will have you stamping your feet. "As I Went Out One Morning" is a country rocker with a message. So are many of the other songs on this record.

Nashville Skyline - What a Shocker

Wow, what a shocker this record must have been when it came out. The opening song, a reworking of the lovely "Girl from the North Country" is nothing like the original. Sung as a duet with Johnny Cash, this song, like the rest of the record, is pure out and out country. Country all the way. But that's not necessarily bad. Dylan is great when he does folk, he is great when he does rock and he is great when he does country. I really love the instrumental "Nashville Skyline Rag," which kind of reminds me a bit of "The Cough Song," from Bootleg fame. I play this record an awful lot, usually right after I play JWH, in fact I have those two records on the same playlist on my iPod along with "New Morning." These records, for me at least, are very uplifting. I know back then, maybe a lot of Dylan's fans didn't think so, but I bet they all appreciate them now. I know I sure do.

New Morning - It's Like Nashville Skyline married John Wesley Harding

For me this record seems like a blend of "Nashville Skyline" and "John Wesley Harding." That's probably the best way for me to describe it and the blend works well. The first few times I listened to it I had a hard time with the female back up singers, but I'm used to them now, hardly hear them. I think "Time Passes Slowly." It does pass slowly, then like Dylan says, "it fades away. But this record will never fade away for me. I just love it. If you get a chance go to see the Gypsy and get a copy of this CD, you won't be disappointed.

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