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Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

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4.57143
Average: 4.6 (7 votes)

Album Info

On the slow train time does not interfere & at the Arabian crossing waits White Heap, the man from the newspaper & behind him the hundred Inevitables made of solid rock & stone -- the Cream Judge & the Clown -- the doll house where Savage Rose & Fixable live simply in their wild animal luxury . . . . Autumn, with two zeros above her nose arguing over the sun being dark or Bach is as famous as its commotion & that she herself -- not Orpheus -- is the logical poet "I am the logical poet" she screams "Spring? Spring is only the beginning!" she attempts to make Cream Judge jealous by telling him of down-to-earth people & while the universe is erupting, she points to the slow train & prays for rain and for time to interfere -- she is not extremely fat but rather progressively unhappy . . . . the hundred Inevitables hide their predictions & go to bars & drink & get drunk in their very special conscious way & when tom dooley, the kind of person you think you've seen before, comes strolling in with White Heap, the hundred Inevitables all say "who's that man who looks so white?" & the bartender, a good boy & one who keeps the buffalo in his mind, says, "I don't know, but I'm sure I've seen the other fellow someplace" & when Paul Sargent, a plainclothes man from 4th street, comes in at three in the morning & busts everybody for being incredible, nobody really gets angry -- just a little illiterate most people get & Rome, one of the hundred Inevitables whispers "I told you so" to Madam John . . . Savage Rose & Fixable are bravely blowing kisses to the Jade Hexagram Carnaby Street & to all the mysterious juveniles & the Cream Judge is writing a book on the true meaning of a pear -- last year. he wrote one on famous dogs of the civil war & now he has false teeth & no children . . . . when the Cream met Savage Rose & Fixable, he was introduced to them by none other than Lifelessness -- Lifelessness is the Great Enemy & always wears a hip guard -- he is very hipguard . . . . Lifelessness said when introducing everybody "go save the world" & "involvement! that's the issue" & things like that & Savage Rose winked at Fixable & the Cream went off with his arm in a sling singing "summertime & the livin is easy" . . . . the Clown appears -- puts a gag over Autumn's mouth and says "there are two kinds of people -- simple people & normal people" this usually gets a big laugh from the sandpit & White Heap sneezes -- passes out & rips open Autumn's gag & says "What do you mean you're Autumn and without you there'd be no spring! you fool! without spring, there'd be no you! what do you think of that???." then Savage Rose & Fixable come by & kick him in the brains & color him pink for being a phony philosopher -- then the Clown comes by and screams "You phony philosopher!" & jumps on his head -- Paul Sargent comes by again in an umpire's suit & some college kid who's read all about Nietzsche comes by & says "Neitzsche never wore an umpire's suit" & Paul says "You wanna buy some cloths, kid?" & then Rome & John come out of the bar & they're going up to Harlem . . . . we are singing today of the WIPE-OUT GANG -- the WIPE-OUT GANG buys, owns & operates the Insanity Factory -- if you do not know where the Insanity Factory is located, you should hereby take two steps to the right, paint your teeth & go to sleep . . . . the songs on this specific record are not so much songs but rather exercises in tonal breath control. . . . the subject matter -- though meaningless as it is -- has something to do with the beautiful strangers . . . . the beautiful strangers, Vivaldi's green jacket & the holy slow train

you are right john cohen -- quazimodo was right -- mozart was right. . . . I cannot say the word eye any more . . . . when I speak this word eye, it is as if I am speaking of somebody's eye that I faintly remember . . . . there is no eye -- there is only a series of mouths -- long live the mouths -- your rooftop -- if you don't already know -- has been demolished . . . . eye is plasma & you are right about that too -- you are lucky -- you don't have to think about such things as eye & rooftops & quazimodo.

Notes By Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan -- Guitar, Harmonica, Piano and Police Car
Michael Bloomfield -- Guitar
Alan Kooper -- Organ and Piano
Paul Griffin -- Piano and Organ
Bobby Gregg -- Drums
Harvey Goldstein -- Bass
Charley McCoy -- Guitar
Frank Owens -- Piano
Russ Savakus -- Bass

Comments

It's the Other Songs

5

While Like a Rolling Stone will always be the torch bearer, I think this is a great album because all the other songs are so strong, particularly Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues and Desolation Row.

Dave

Another great album.

5

Another great album.

at the risk of loosing all credibility...

No Rating

sorry but in my opinion this album is not Bob's best. My feeling is that Like a Rolling Stone there set a bar which was vitually impossible to match. I would never put down this song, but I find a few others to be over-rated. It Takes Alot To Laugh is not a favorite of mine.Niether is Tombstone Blues or Buick 6.
I'm not a big fan of Desolation Row either, in terms of his lengthy songs I think Sad Eyed Lady from Blonde on Blonde is a better performance.

To me the outstanding tracks are:

Rolling Stone
Thin Man
Highway 61
Tom Thumb

thats just 4 out of 9. Blonde on Blonde and Blood on Tracks are both better albums in my opinion.

Quite simply, the greatest

5

Quite simply, the greatest album ever released, rock or otherwise.

The blues...

4

I really think that Bob was trying to make a straightforward electric blues album. Again, a step forward in terms of writing and arrangement. Besides any album with "Like A Rolling Stone", has to be something.

The first rock album

4

For me it's still not good-enough-sounding nowadays, as Bringing it all back home to have an easy listening. Anyway the songs are nearly all interesting, as proves the fact that it's probably the album more easily played live by Bob. It's really the first rock album, as there's no folk part in it.

Highway 61 Revisited

4

Highway 61 Revisited is not nearly as good as Bringing It All Back Home but still an amazing album. More fun up-tempo blues numbers: “Tombstone Blues”, the title track, “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry”, and “From A Buick 6” (two more great titles!). “Like A Rolling Stone” deserves its reputation as an all-time rock’n’roll classic. Bob is stretching with “Ballad Of A Thin Man” and it works. Creepy and funny, it’s my favorite song on the album. Side two is a problem though. Other than the title track, it’s filled with somewhat tedious, mid-tempo, too long excuses for clever lyrics: “Queen Jane Approximately”, “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” and “Desolation Row”. “Desolation Row” even features the return of that incessantly jamming slightly off-key guitar from “It’s All Over Now”. Sure, nothing could be as good as it, but Highway 61 Revisited is still a worthy follow-up to Bringing It All Back Home.

highway 61 revisited

No Rating

This is probably Dylan's best album, every track is a masterpiece and his voice is on top form. Opens with Like a rolling stone and ends with Desolation Row. What more do you need?