Comments on: If I listen to Dylan, what else would I enjoy?

Question: If I listen to Dylan, what else would I enjoy?

Groovytimes — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 19:59:59 -0800

I really enjoy listening to Bob Dylan's older music (pre 1970) and Im wondering are there any other artists (past or present) that would be of any interest to me? Im looking more towards folk than rock, more acoustical than electric but any recommendations would be great! Thanks!

By: notsnot

notsnot — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:11:25 -0800

Much darker than Dylan, but for pure folk awesomeness, Townes Van Zandt.

By: cccorlew

cccorlew — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:11:34 -0800

Richard Shindell.

By: rhizome

rhizome — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:17:03 -0800

Tim Hardin

By: Rangeboy

Rangeboy — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:17:32 -0800

Dave van Ronk

By: PhoBWanKenobi

PhoBWanKenobi — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:17:45 -0800

Dan Bern. Download "Jerusalem" and you'll see what I mean.

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:23:44 -0800

A bit off-tangent but Springsteen's Nevada is awesome.

By: megatherium

megatherium — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:24:09 -0800

John Prine is perhaps the obvious choice.

By: timsteil

timsteil — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:27:49 -0800

If acoustic sort of protest stuff rolls your socks up and down, Phil Ochs might shake your groove thing.

By: richg

richg — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:29:10 -0800

Leonard Cohen, Richard Thompson, Karla Bonoff

By: tremspeed

tremspeed — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:38:29 -0800

Springsteen's Nevada album is an all time fave of mine as well.

But seriously, check out the second Bill Fay album, Time of the Last Persecution.

I second the Tim Hardin recommendation.

Check out this Peter Laughner song. Something of an obvious Dylan swipe but I dig it.

By: Raichle

Raichle — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:39:06 -0800

Seconding John Prine, it doesn't get much better. You might want to check out Elliot Smith, David Gray, and Damien Rice.

By: bunglin jones

bunglin jones — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:45:53 -0800

Nick Drake, Tim Hardin, Karen Dalton.
I'm pretty sure the Spingsteen album everyone's recommending is actually called Nebraska, and I'm absolutely sure that it's great.

By: Dee Xtrovert

Dee Xtrovert — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:45:54 -0800

David Blue had the mid-60s Dylan sound down cold. Derivative but cool.

Fred Neil and Karen Dalton were early influences on Dylan and perhaps too ahead of their time - they're both "folk," but darker and more real than what would have been cool before Dylan. Fred Neil wrote "Everybody's Talkin'" and "The Dolphins," and you've got to hear Karen Dalton's version of "Katie Cruel."

By: Joleta

Joleta — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:49:29 -0800

Donovan

By: mattoxic

mattoxic — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:54:49 -0800

Joni Mitchell?

By: rocket88

rocket88 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:58:37 -0800

Richie Havens.

By: Groovytimes

Groovytimes — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:07:00 -0800

Wow thanks everyone!

By: drjimmy11

drjimmy11 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:23:58 -0800

I think that Springsteen's Nebraska, but yeah good stuff. Townes van Zandt is one of the greatest songwriters who ever lived.

As far as wordiness and country/folkishness, check out Bright Eyes. Don't let the emo label scare you off, it's almost completely inaccurate at this point. Start with "I'm Wide Awake, it's Morning" or "Lifted..."

sample lyric to what may be the greatest breakup song ever written.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:24:23 -0800

Van Morrison "Astral Weeks"
Van Morrison "St Dominic's Preview"

The songs and the albums.

By: thenuts

thenuts — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:37:00 -0800

The Felice Brothers

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:08:41 -0800

I think that Springsteen's Nebraska...

:-$

By: btkuhn

btkuhn — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:10:43 -0800

Wow, I'm amazed that nobody's mentioned Woody Guthrie. Dylan spent the first decade of his career trying to BE Woody Guthrie. You might also want to check out Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Pete Seeger. These are all older artists, though - I don't know if that's a turn-off...

By: Neiltupper

Neiltupper — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:43:39 -0800

philip-random: Van Morrison "Astral Weeks"

Al landmark Album. Requires a read of the amazing Lester Bangs review

By: dreamyshade

dreamyshade — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:15:26 -0800

Like btkhun said, go back to Dylan's influences, including Blind Willie McTell and Mississippi John Hurt. No Direction Home can give you some more ideas.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:43:29 -0800

I second pretty much everything mentioned but also bring Will Oldham to the table. His I See a Darkness album is phenomenal. A lot of his other stuff is great too, but that album is the living bomb. Here are the title track and Knockturne from the album.

By: ilike

ilike — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:24:05 -0800

Seconding Donovan. Should be completely up your alley.

By: McGuillicuddy

McGuillicuddy — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:44:07 -0800

If you like early Dylan, you would probably like most of what he has put out since the early 90s. Good As I Been to You, World Gone Wrong, and Time Out of Mind, particularly.

And now, a list of more recent artists:

Lucinda Williams (the Live @ The Fillmore album is fantastic, preview Lost It)
Bill Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue Volume I & II (all songs based on Woody Guthrie lyrics)
Ben Harper (the Live from Mars album is fantastic, preview Pleasure and Pain)
Jack Johnson

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:18:28 -0800

Yet another vote for the incredible Townes van Zandt. You could also take a look at other "Outlaw Country" artists.

Not exactly the same as Dylan, but you may also want to check out Bert Jansch, Davey Graham, John Renbourn and Martin Carthy.

By: dinger

dinger — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:00:03 -0800

Wow, so few females recommended. Check out the early Joan Baez. She did a lot of Dylan covers, but also quite a bit of folk.

By: ginagina

ginagina — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:10:07 -0800

M. Ward

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:07:24 -0800

Billy Bragg comes to mind; he also worked with Wilco recently to record a lot of old Guthrie-penned songs (the Mermaid Avenue albums). Those or Bragg's solo stuff are both worth a listen.

By: sully75

sully75 — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:57:12 -0800

Check out The Band (the band that's called The Band). They are awesomely awesome. They used to be Dylan's backup band, then went out on their own, toured, made a great movie called The Last Waltz, and then broke up, mostly to be obscure for ever and ever. Just amazing musicianship in every way. The drummer, Levon Helm, has one of the greatest voices I've ever heard. Actually they all have amazing voices.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:07:40 -0800

Philip-Random said: Van Morrison "Astral Weeks"

EmpressCallipygos said: TESTIFY!

Not EXACTLY like Dylan's work, but definitely acoustic and folk-influenced -- but also jazz and blues influenced. It has been like nothing else before or since.

Another good option is Nick Drake -- his is actually a sad story; he made only three albums and then died in what people suspect was an intentional overdose of antidepressants. But his music was ethereally lovely. You may have actually heard his song "Pink Moon" already -- it was used in a Volkswagen ad some years ago.

By: PhoBWanKenobi

PhoBWanKenobi — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:47:42 -0800

Oh, another thought: The Mountain Goats. His early stuff is almost entirely acoustic. John Darnielle has a slightly nasally voice. Lyrically, he's amazing.

By: bjgeiger

bjgeiger — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 07:54:54 -0800

My 2 cents. Buffy Sainte-Marie.

By: ludwig_van

ludwig_van — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:23:19 -0800

Seconding Leonard Cohen, Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy aka Palace Music), and Mountain Goats. I think Nick Drake is quite different, but he is excellent.

By: onlyconnect

onlyconnect — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:24:24 -0800

I too love early Dylan and went through a period of trying to find artists that reminded me of him. Here are a few suggestions.

If you can get a copy of Billy Bragg's The Peel Sessions album, try this. It's mostly acoustic, the lyrics are clever, and the vocals are heartfelt and I think very much in style with early Dylan though of course more modern. (Here's a youtube of Greetings to the New Brunette, a song on that album, though the album version is live and not from a studio session like this one and obv doesn't have the old-fashioned sounding background vocals.) The Bragg/Wilco albums are great, too, but I really do highly recommend the Peel Sessions album.

This may sound weird but early Paul Simon has, I think, quite a bit in common with early Dylan -- a man and his guitar, great lyrics, and an expressive voice. I'd suggest Negotiations and Lovesongs for a good compilation of the best of his early stuff. I especially love Still Crazy After All These Years, Hearts and Bones, and Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War.

Folks above have mentioned Dan Bern and David Gray, and I'll second these recommendations. (And although someone above offered another contender, imho David Gray's Shine is the best breakup song of all time.) Here's a youtube of Dan Bern's Jerusalem -- Bern is a singer/songwriter who is mostly acoustic and has great lyrics and a similar quirky sense of humor as early Dylan, especially his talking blues songs (from this song: "When I tell you that I love you don't test my love, accept my love, don't test my love, 'cause maybe I don't love you all that much.").

In case you are also interested in a woman's voice, I highly recommend Shawn Colvin and Martha Wainwright. Here's a link to Wainwright's BMFA, which is nsfw, supposedly written about her father Loudoun Wainwright. And here's Colvin doing a non-acoustic version of Diamond in the Rough, though the acoustic version is also lovely.

Good luck!

By: mattholomew

mattholomew — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:40:00 -0800

Seconding M. Ward. I'd also say Tom Waits, but he can be an acquired taste. Start with his album Rain Dogs. For something newer, check out The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, one of my favorite recent folkies.

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:45:55 -0800

Peter Mulvey
Guy Clark
Slaid Cleaves
Chris Smither
Dar Williams
David Francey
Eliza Gilkyzon
Lucy Kaplansky
Kris Delmhorst
Gillian Welch
Jonathan Byrd

By: history is a weapon

history is a weapon — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:07:03 -0800

Wasn't it Joni Mitchell who made the crack about not really thinking dylan would take off because he was just doing a woody guthrie impression? Listen to Guthrie if you like those albums.
I'd second Joan Baez, Phil Ochs (more political), and John Prine (his best of is just mandatory listening), and throw in Nina Simone because, frankly, everyone should listen to more Nina Simone.

By: ninebelow

ninebelow — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 05:43:04 -0800

I would definitely recommend Phil Ochs. He was a contemporary of Dylan, his some time friend, some time enemy. He was much more of a traditional protest singer than Dylan but he still wrote plenty of poetic folk of the sort Dylan is famous for. I think the A&M greatest hits The War Is Over: The Best of Phil Ochs is probably the best introduction.

And yes, Nebraska is made of awesome.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:24:48 -0800

James McMurtry