Bob Dylan: Love and Theft (2001)

The Grammy-winning album which pushed his whisky-cured, tobacco-smoked vocals to the fore in songs sometimes more popstructured than folk or rhythm and blues/rock. He went back to the country rock of the 1950s (Summer Days), swinging Bing Crosby given an idiosyncratic makeover (Bye and Bye), edgy rock’n’roll blues (Lonesome Day Blues) and deep banjo-enhanced blues (High Water). It would be five years before another album of originals (Modern Times) but there was enough on this to fill the gap and keep Dylanologists busy.

Next: Bob Dylan, Planet Waves, Modern Times and Shadow Kingdom

at