Dylan is the thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on November 19, 1973 by Columbia Records. Compiled and issued by the label with no input from Dylan himself, it contains no original Dylan songs, the material consisting of two outtakes from Self Portrait and another seven from New Morning…
It is unusual when two iconic musical influences have a deep-rooted history. Bob Dylan revolutionized the folk industry in the early sixties. Around the same time, a group consisting of four Canadians and one U.S. Southerner were cutting their rock and roll teeth as the back-up band to Ronnie Hawkins. An epiphany for rock and roll occurred at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when Dylan went electric and outraged the folk community. A subsequent tour supported by The Hawks (later renamed The Band) became a watershed moment for modern music.
Bob Dylan's first album is a lot like the debut albums by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones – a sterling effort, outclassing most, if not all, of what came before it in the genre, but similarly eclipsed by the artist's own subsequent efforts…
The concept of a compilation of Bob Dylan's gospel songs is certainly an idea whose time has come. That this does not feature Dylan performing the original versions of these songs is yet another. Executive producer Jeffrey Gaskill assembled a wide-ranging assortment of the hottest talent in the gospel arena, both past and present, to perform the songs from Dylan's Slow Train Coming and Saved albums, and producer Joel Moss extracted phenomenal performances from Shirley Caesar, the Fairfield Four, the Sounds of Blackness, Rance Allen, the Chicago Mass Choir fronted by Regina McCrary (who sang backup for Dylan on the 1978 and 1979 tours when these recordings were originally done), the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Helen Baylor (with Billy Preston), Aaron Neville, Dottie Peoples, Lee Williams & the Spiritual QC's, Mavis Staples, and Dylan himself (performing a duet on a completely rewritten version of "Gonna Change My Way of Thinkin'").
German-only, lovingly compiled collection from the Rock/Folk legend. Pure Dylan is not just another 'best of' from the singer/songwriter but a single-disc compilation spanning almost the entirety of his career and includes many obscure tracks that don't normally make Dylan comps. Contains rare tracks like 'Trouble in Mind', the solo version of 'Spanish Is the Loving Tongue' and many others. A perfect release for the hardcore fan and the uninitiated.