BOB DYLAN – BLONDE ON BLONDE 2LP – EXC+ A1 UK MONO 1966 ORIG

Bob Dylan – Blonde On Blonde
(CBS Records  1966  66012  Mono)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1/C1/D1 – UK Pressing
“Stuck Inside Of Mobile With Thee” on Side 2 label

Gatefold Sleeve in Excellent+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners and a few small marks

Double Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl which do give light pops/crackles but sound quality is excellent overall)

Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American songwriter, singer, artist, and writer. He has been influential in popular music and culture for more than five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when his songs chronicled social unrest. Early songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin'” became anthems for the American civil rights and anti-war movements. Leaving behind his initial base in the American folk music revival, his six-minute single “Like a Rolling Stone”, recorded in 1965, enlarged the range of popular music.

Dylan’s lyrics incorporate a wide range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture. Initially inspired by the performances of Little Richard and the songwriting of Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams, Dylan has amplified and personalized musical genres. His recording career, spanning more than 50 years, has explored the traditions in American song—from folk, blues, and country to gospel, rock and roll, and rockabilly to English, Scottish, and Irish folk music, embracing even jazz and the Great American Songbook. Dylan performs with guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Backed by a changing lineup of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his songwriting is considered his greatest contribution.

Since 1994, Dylan has published seven books of drawings and paintings, and his work has been exhibited in major art galleries. As a musician, Dylan has sold more than 100 million records, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. He has also received numerous awards including eleven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award. Dylan has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Minnesota Music Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.” In May 2012, Dylan received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. In 2016, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.

Blonde on Blonde is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 16, 1966 on Columbia Records. Recording sessions began in New York in October 1965 with numerous backing musicians, including members of Dylan’s live backing band, The Hawks. Though sessions continued until January 1966, they yielded only one track that made it onto the final album—”One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”. At producer Bob Johnston’s suggestion, Dylan, keyboardist Al Kooper, and guitarist Robbie Robertson moved to the CBS studios in Nashville, Tennessee. These sessions, augmented by some of Nashville’s top session musicians, were more fruitful, and in February and March all the remaining songs for the album were recorded.

Blonde on Blonde completed the trilogy of rock albums that Dylan recorded in 1965 and 1966, starting with Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. Critics often rank Blonde on Blonde as one of the greatest albums of all time. Combining the expertise of Nashville session musicians with a modernist literary sensibility, the album’s songs have been described as operating on a grand scale musically, while featuring lyrics one critic called “a unique blend of the visionary and the colloquial”. It was one of the first double albums in rock music.

The album peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart in the USA, where it eventually went double-platinum, and reached No. 3 in the UK. Blonde on Blonde spawned two singles that were top twenty hits in the USA: “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” and “I Want You”. Two further songs, “Just Like a Woman” and “Visions of Johanna”, have been described as among Dylan’s greatest compositions and were featured in Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.

Track listing

All songs written by Bob Dylan.

Side one

1. “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”  – 4:36
2. “Pledging My Time”  – 3:50
3. “Visions of Johanna”  – 7:33
4. “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”  – 4:54

Side two

5. “I Want You”  – 3:07
6. “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”  – 7:05
7. “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”  – 3:58
8. “Just Like a Woman”  – 4:52

Side three

9. “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)”  – 3:30
10. “Temporary Like Achilles”  – 5:02
11. “Absolutely Sweet Marie”  – 4:57
12. “4th Time Around”  – 4:35
13. “Obviously 5 Believers”  – 3:35

Side four

14. “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”  – 11:23

Personnel

• Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano

Additional musicians

• Bill Aikins – keyboards
• Wayne Butler – trombone
• Kenneth Buttrey – drums
• Rick Danko or Bill Lee – bass guitar (New York)
• Bobby Gregg – drums (New York)
• Paul Griffin – piano (New York)
• Jerry Kennedy – guitar
• Al Kooper – organ, guitar
• Charlie McCoy – bass guitar, guitar, harmonica, trumpet
• Wayne Moss – guitar, vocals
• Hargus “Pig” Robbins – piano, keyboards
• Robbie Robertson – guitar, vocals
• Henry Strzelecki – bass guitar
• Joe South – bass guitar, guitar

Technical personnel

• Bob Johnston – production
• Jerry Schatzberg – cover photographer