Is it rolling, Bob?...

Everybody else is writing about Bob Dylan - it’s his 80th birthday today - so I’ll take my turn too. The first time I heard him sing - or trying to sing - must have been in 1962, when I was eleven. My sister Kari had been given a copy of his first eponymous LP. I had a listen, but it sounded terrible. In 1964 I heard The Times They Are a-Changin’ on the radio. I was intrigued, though it sounded, at first, like a novelty song by some old American guy. It wasn’t until the release of Blonde on Blonde - the first double album, the first gatefold sleeve - in 1966, that I ‘got’ Dylan.   

The first single I ever bought was A Scottish Soldier by haggis-botherer Andy Stewart. The B side was I Won't Go Huntin' with You Jake (But I'll Go Chasin' Wimmin). Blonde on Blonde was the first LP I bought: a distinct improvement in my musical taste. I cycled from Uppingham School to a record shop in Corby, and cycled back with the LP taped to the frame of the bike. I played those four sides on my Dansettle record player, one after another, trying to decipher the enigmatic lyrics (and the equally enigmatic album sleeve). I bought more Dylan albums, in reverse order. Like “Mr Jones”, on Ballad of a Thin Man (Highway 61 Revisited) I knew that “something is happening here but you don't know what it is”.

Now, all those years later, I’m listening to Rough and Rowdy Ways (his 39th studio album). Happy birthday, Bob, and thanks for the musical companionship. It’s not dark yet… but it’s getting there…