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Del Ray's Favorite Dylan Tunes

Celebrating the man's 70th birthday

 

Greetings, Del Ray. It's Drew Hansen, editor of Del Ray Patch. I am writing to you in the first person because, well, it just suits this sort of thing.

Today is Bob Dylan's 70th birthday. He remains one of my all-time favorite artists. I've seen him live many times and listen to his albums constantly. I even have two Dylan concert posters hanging above my desk. 

I once saw him smoking a cigarette outside a hotel in Madison, Wis. I thought about approaching him, but quickly remembered reading he doesn't like that too much.

Sure, some people feel the need to discount him for his voice (which David Bowie once sang as being "of sand and glue"), but the man has recorded dozens of groundbreaking albums and has stayed relevant in popular music for almost 50 years.

In honor of Mr. Dylan turning 70, I reached out to folks on the Del Ray Patch Twitter and Facebook feeds and asked them to pick their favorite Dylan songs.

Here are the replies we received:

On Twitter

@BJCunningham I always liked Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35, but I'll go with Oxford Town as my favorite

@jalynhenton Anything off of Blood On The Tracks. Maybe "Shelter From The Storm?"

@ownerofanubu Lay Lady Lay

@sewallis I've always loved "Hurricane" #delray

@timwindsor He finally looks his age. I vote for "Threw it all Away"

And on Facebook Maggie Rivers replied "My favorite is 'Maggie's Farm,'" which, when you think about it, makes a lot of sense.

What's your favorite Dylan song? Tell us in the comments.

Adam Gerard

6:46 am on Wednesday, May 25, 2011

It's hard to pick just one song. But I've always been blown away by the Live 1966 album from his "Bootleg Series": http://amzn.com/B00000D9TO

It was recorded during the time period when he was transitioning from solo acoustic guitar to performing with a full-on rock band and the crowd is not all that much behind him.

The first disc is just Dylan and a guitar, and even though he's performing some of his more recent music, since he's doing it acoustically he has the crowd's support. Then he comes out for the next set with an electric guitar and The Band behind him. Loud music and crowd chaos ensues.

It's a recorded moment in musical history, and it's also just an amazing album. Gives me chills every listen.

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