Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited

Another contender for his best album ever

I saw Dylan play live during a tour of the UK in 1978. It was around the time of Street Legal, not his best, but certainly not his worst album. Close to where I lived, he headlined a one day festival at Blackbush Aerodrome. Second billing was Eric Clapton who, after his set, returned to jam with Dylan. I can’t remember much of the detail of that day, only that Dylan played superbly. Although he has a reputation of mashing up his songs when he plays them live to the point of losing any recognition, I don’t remember this being the case on that day.

One detail that I remember very clearly is Dylan singing Like a Rolling Stone. Of course, it was a song I’d heard many times before but I never really got what all the fuss was about. Sure, it was a pretty decent song but nothing more. Until I heard him play it — ‘fucking loud’ — on that day at Blackbush. When his amplified snarl filled the air, with the swirling keyboards and guitars rising to a crescendo -

How does its feel? How does it feel?

To be on your own, with no direction home,

Like a rolling stone.

I suddenly got it, on a deep emotional level. I stopped thinking and responded to it…