https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DegLninxVkQ It's hard to imagine that Bob Dylan was ever unknown: after all, the man has part of our lives for over fifty years, defining every era that he's ever recorded in, and his music is part of the soundtrack of several generations. And in retrospect, it's even harder to imagine that his first album tanked, but that's exactly what it did. Dylan's first, self-titled album is an excellent collection of folk covers that sounds like the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou? (incidentally, "Man Of Constant Sorrow" is one of the covers on the album). Unfortunately, the album was sloppily released by Columbia Records, who had no faith in this new artist, and inevitably it made no money, and Dylan would have to wait until his next album (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan) to achieve his "legend" status. The album's obscurity, however, doesn't change the fact that Dylan's debut is brilliant. The best song on the track list is the final one, "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean." It's essentially a grittier version of Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." Instead of being mellow and sad like "Heaven," however, "Grave" paints a picture of a tough guy going to his death. Said tough guy gathers his acquaintances together and expresses his final wish: the title of the song. It's a raw, unsparing song, and one that every Dylan aficionado should hear.
Alan Howell is a native of Southern California. He loves movies of any and all kinds, Hollywood, indie, and everywhere in between. He loves pizza, sitcoms, rock and pop music, surfing, baseball, reading, and girls (not necessarily in that order).