Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964)

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter who emerged out of the early 60s folk revival to become an informal chronicler and reluctant figurehead of social unrest. He famously made the move from folk music to electric rock in the mid-60s, and has remained a major figure in music for five decades.

With his second album, Bob Dylan had become the new young prince of American folk music, introducing a repertoire of modern folk songs that suited the social unrest of the 60s. His songs were being covered by all sorts of big names in the music business, and he was becoming a household name not just in the folk community but in the wider pop world. His follow-up came out the next year.
More than anything, 1964’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ proved that he was not running out of good material any time soon. Whilst The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan had featured two covers, his third album was notable for being the first to be made up entirely of original compositions. The title song became his most well-known, capturing the spirit of social and political upheaval that characterized the times. The other nine songs all dealt with issues which were all too real - racism, poverty, war and social change, told through his poetic and engrossing storytelling style. Whilst his earlier work had incorporated elements of humour, there was nothing funny about the new material. It was all very serious, and more powerful for that. This was around the time that he was being labelled ‘Spokesman of a Generation’, a title he would come to dislike, but which was nevertheless indicative of the high esteem his songs were held in.
It got to #20 in the charts, eventually going Gold. Retrospectively it can be seen as the strongest and most consistent of his early folk albums, and also the most stark and haunting.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963) <|> Another Side Of Bob Dylan (1964)
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