Bob Dylan: “The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan” (1963)

On May 27, 1963, Bob Dylan followed up his debut with the brilliant "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan." The album was recorded at Columbia Studio A in New York City with John Hammond and Tom Wilson as producers.

By Martin Johannessen

On his debut the year before, there were only two original songs, while on the follow-up, there were only two cover songs. This allowed the 22-year-old Bob Dylan's songwriting talent to shine impressively.

He opens confidently with “Blowin' in the Wind,” which has become one of the world’s most famous songs, followed by “Girl from the North Country” and “Masters of War” as the next two tracks on side 1!

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Guitar and Harmonica
With the exception of the cover “Corrina, Corrina,” which features a group of other musicians, it is still just Dylan, his guitar, and his harmonica.

The working title was “Bob Dylan's Blues.” As usual, he recorded more songs than could fit on the album.

In July 1962, he recorded many new songs, including “Blowin' in the Wind,” which he had already performed live several times.

Bob Dylan performing at St. Lawrence University in New York, November 26, 1963
(Photo: Unknown/Wikipedia Commons).

"No, it's Not Atomic Rain"

In September, Dylan played Carnegie Hall for the first time, with Pete Seeger headlining. He performed five songs, and “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall” was performed for the first time.

He was back in the studio in October and November, recording new songs. In December, he finished recording, including “A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall.”

The young Dylan had much to say and managed to create fantastic songs out of it. He was still only 21 when he wrote “A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall,” which, in my opinion, is the highlight of the album. Many interpreted “Hard Rain” as referring to nuclear fallout, but according to Dylan, this is incorrect:

"No, it's not atomic rain, it's just a hard rain. It isn't the fallout rain. I mean some sort of end that's just gotta happen … In the last verse, when I say, 'the pellets of poison are flooding the waters,' that means all the lies that people get told on their radios and in their newspapers.”

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Why Tune the Guitar?
But on a song like “Down the Highway,” the guitar isn’t even tuned. Maybe because he didn’t bother, maybe because he wanted to stay true to his blues roots, or maybe because he is more spontaneous in the studio than the producers. Dylan explains:

“What made the real blues singers so great is that they were able to state all the problems they had; but at the same time, they were standing outside of them and could look at them. And in that way, they had them beat.”

Dylan’s incredible creative talent as a lyricist blossoms on this album. For example, the opening of “Talkin' World War III Blues”:

Some time ago a crazy dream came to me
I dreamt I was walkin’ into World War Three
I went to the doctor the very next day
To see what kinda words he could say
He said it was a bad dream
I wouldn’t worry ’bout it none, though
They were my own dreams and they’re only in my head

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In December, Dylan took a trip to England where he made several appearances, including performing “Blowin’ in the Wind” and two other songs on TV.

He also met people from the folk scene, including Martin Carthy, who taught him the arrangement for "Scarborough Fair," which later formed the basis for Dylan's own "Girl from the North Country." While in England, he also wrote “Masters of War,” which was recorded in April 1963.

Bob Dylan's career was only going in one direction: up. During the summer, he played several major concerts and festivals, including a legendary performance at the Newport Folk Festival. And Dylan was already moving forward. Watch “North Country Blues” from Newport below: