Expecting Rain

We’ve all been there.

As for Michael Gray, nothing is more.

I dont mind him but he likes reminding people on the dylan facebook pages who he is.

JWH is, unquestionably, a masterpiece, and one of Dylan's greatest, most unique albums. (And yes, contrary to what some people seem to think, you can be *so* unique. )

But some find it hard to get into, and I think it's a combination of the stripped down music and what seem to be, at first, some very weird and religion-inflected lyrics. Like, who gives a stuff about St Augustine, man?

But the determined listened will eventually realise that the stripped down nature of the album is one of its major strengths, the musicianship is sublime - as is Dylan's voice - and the precision with which it's all executed is a pleasure in itself.

As usual, Michael Gray is spot on.

The harmonica has never bothered me, but I will say that although my wife is a confirmed DYlan fan, she can't stand this album.

Although I was given my first Dylan album, Blonde on Blonde, it was John Wesley Harding that "spoke" to me and I've been hooked ever since.






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"If you ever want to reach me, you know where to look
Baby, I’ll be at the same hotel" from "Under Your Spell"

I think that this is one of Dylan's greatest albums - I simply cannot pin it down or get enough of it - and the mono version is exquisite. I didn't feel this way in my twenties or even thirties. I'm older than that now.

Same for me. Took me a long time to get into it. When I first heard 'Frankie Lee' it just seemed like aimless waffle, like one of his shaggy dog story songs but without the usual vigour. And all the religious references put me off. But what I really think did it was the deceptively simplistic lyrics - what at first seem throwaway and uninteresting gradually reveal themselves as compressed and powerful like poetry - as Dylan himself has said, there is no fat, no wasted lines, everything serves a purpose.

A beautiful, mysterious album that truly captivates me from start to finish every time.

Unfortunately I find it near impossible to listen to it during any time other than autumn and/or winter; fortunately, autumn is right around the corner in my part of the world.

At age 15 I was riding high on Desire, BoB, BOTT when I got JWH. I had trouble enjoying it. The songs seemed too serious or something. I liked the silly, stoned out songs of BoB, the heart break of BOTT, the melodic harmonies and violin parts on Desire. JWH had none of that, so after listening a few times I put it on the shelf.

It wasn't until I returned to Dylan in 2005 that I realized how great the album is. I like it more for the way Dylan sounds than the words in the songs. I don't even know what most of the songs are about. But I love the voices he used at the time and I love the sparse instrumentation . No production or overdubs, just the songs being played live by 3 guys. Bob should have done more albums like that. On the RTR tour he got a little bit of that sound back by playing acoustic guitar with his band.

You know what would have been awesome? If he had busted into a JWH song during the John Hammond tribute. He was in great voice, the sound was there, and the violin would have added a lot. Any of the songs would have been a home run.

This is my problem with the album. I love the music, but the words mostly leave me baffled, particularly "As I Walked Out One Morning", "I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine" and "Frankie Lee". They sound in form a bit like traditional ballads, i.e. stories you should be able to follow, so every time I try to listen carefully to the story and every time I'm left with my head spinning. By side two I'm mentally exhausted and stop listening to the lyrics. Maybe I'm just stoopid.

Confirmed JWH fan.

But I am here to confirm that this is a fall album.

I feel like we've had this discussion before but if not let's go...

1. Winter/Street-Legal
2. Spring/Basement
3. Summer/61
4. Fall/Harding

Just a few...

A lot of the songs have biblical origans.
Dylan was reading the bible a lot around the time, or so certain biographers say.
If you're not aquainted with the bible, then there's information out there
that can explain this much better than i can.

That's a great point.

A lot of literature relies on knowledge of the bible in order to make sense. I wish I had it. The bible was summer reading before my freshman year in college. I tripped on acid all summer and found the bible unreadable. Summer of 1981. I was trying to dig the new Dylan but it was tough.

Maybe there is. But none of it matters.



Yeah. But none of that matters. The real 'meaning' is in the whole: the ineffable admixture of form and content. As is often the case with Dylan, particularly Dylan at his best, *how* he is singing *is* what he is singing. You don't need to know, or care, what the 'meaning' is, or what the religious significance (if any) is, in a line such as "I put my fingers against the glass / And bowed my head and cried", the real meaning is in the feeling it engenders.

I agree and disagree (read my post above).

I like when Dylan says things that make you think. The vagueness of a lot of Dylan's lyrics is what opens the imagination. and I think a lot of the time even Bob didn't know what the lyrics meant. That's probably because a lot of the stuff is pretty random, not based on a set story or message. Applying meaning that wasn't originally there is a favorite pass time for Dylanologists.

The problem I have is when there was meaning from the start and don't know what it is. For example - Frankie Lee and Judas Priest. What the hell? Some guy offers ten dollar bills to his friend. Then they have a conversation that goes nowhere and the guy dies. Is this some kind of biblical thing? I wouldn't know.. it's a long, pointless 3 chord song. But I love the way his voice sounds and the way he sings the lyrics. Not so with the 1979-80 gospel stuff. Not fond of the voice or the words.

John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, Freewheelin, Blonde On Blonde, Oh Mercy, and Blood on the Tracks are all what I consider to be "Fall" albums. That might just be because the colors on the album cover though...

Not sure whether to thank you or not. The link just reminds me of all the folk who don't come here anymore.

I want Long John, precinct14, Eddie and Mr Tambourine Man back. Where did they go? Did they get lives?

I miss those days too, even if I was under another name then.

You can't repeat the past? Whaddya mean, of course you can...

I loved reading that thread again. It's odd to see a conversation you had a decade ago and can't remember; but everything comes instantly flooding back as soon as you start reading. Wonderful.

You can come back, but you can't come back all the way...

They're either dead, or here under another name.

Stan (Long John/Johnny) is very active on Facebook. And is as ascerbic and witty as he was here. Minus the NET hatred lol. Follow him on Facebook, I do.

Tambo is doing good things in the real world last I saw.

I also miss precinct’s and eddie’s wit.

JWH = enigmatic
STC = dogmatic

I know which I prefer.

Eddie is on FB as well, and contributes almost daily to a group I'm an admin for - he mentioned ER just the other day, in the context of "I haven't been there for years", which obviously I knew.... he's published several books now, and after a spell as a tour guide, and a museum gatekeeper of sorts, is currently back on the underground (subway) just to earn some money, but he's alive and very well.

He did mention Carnap, oddly enough - recalling that he had once 'wound up' Carnap so much that he accused Eddie of "Corrupting thought itself" which seemed like quite an achievement... I've searched, but I can't find the quote.

JimW is here other another name.

And he still makes no sense at all.

What's Facebook?