John Wesley Harding [Remastered] [Remaster]

Performer: Bob Dylan
Engineer: Charlie Bragg
Producer: Bob Johnston
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano); Pete Drake (steel guitar); Charles McCoy (bass); Kenny Buttrey (drums). Includes liner notes by Bob Dylan. Personnel: Bob Dylan (vocals, guitar); Pete Drake (steel guitar); Charles McCoy (bass instrument); Kenneth A. Buttrey (drums). Bob Dylan returned from exile with John Wesley Harding, a quiet, country-tinged album that split dramatically from his previous three. A calm, reflective album, John Wesley Harding strips away all of the wilder tendencies of Dylan's rock albums -- even the then-unreleased Basement Tapes he made the previous year -- but it isn't a return to his folk roots. If anything, the album is his first serious foray into country, but only a handful of songs, such as "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," are straight country songs. Instead, John Wesley Harding is informed by the rustic sound of country, as well as many rural myths, with seemingly simple songs like "All Along the Watchtower," "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine," and "The Wicked Messenger" revealing several layers of meaning with repeated plays. Although the lyrics are somewhat enigmatic, the music is simple, direct, and melodic, providing a touchstone for the country-rock revolution that swept through rock in the late '60s. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine Bob Dylan's eighth album followed a lengthy hibernation due to a motorcycle accident in which the singer re-evaluated his art. He emerged with a set of stark simplicity and heartfelt intensity, melding folk, rock, and country with a mesmerizing power that set off a huge back-to-basics movement in rock that lasted well into the next decade. A biblical purity encompasses the collection as Dylan paints graphic portraits of the disenfranchised--hobo, immigrant, drifter, messenger--articulating the uncertainty of the times. The best-known song here is the apocalyptic "All Along the Watchtower," which would soon be electrically redefined by Jimi Hendrix. The mood lifts on the final track "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," a beautifully tender love song, suggesting that this is where salvation lies. John Wesley Harding repays repeated play with ever-unfolding metaphor and interpretation, including four hidden Beatles on the cover.

Rolling Stone (4/11/02, p.106) - Ranked #15 in Rolling Stone's "50 Coolest Records". Rolling Stone (3/30/00, p.68) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...one of Dylan's most cryptic and thematically complex albums....its songs are rife with religious imagery, both explicit and implied....a masterful move - the original Dylan unplugged." Q (Magazine) (p.111) - "[T]his spare collection of outlaw allegories and Biblical allusions is in stark contrast to the louder aesthetics prevailing elsewhere at the time..."

Bob Dylan began as a Woody Guthrie acolyte, imitating the dust-bowl balladeer as faithfully as a baby boomer from Hibbing, Minnesota, could. It wasn't long before he found his own voice, spearheading the early-1960s folk revival as well as the singer-songwriter movement, and introducing poetry into pop music. Through countless changes in sound, image, and even religion, he retained his unique artistic vision even when his popularity occasionally waned. By the 21st century, he was enjoying an upsurge of critical and popular interest based on a series of powerful late-career albums that crystallized his aesthetics and unique world view.

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