ramblin' outta the wild west ...

a friend pointed me in the direction of a playlist david byrne is streaming on his website, composed entirely of dylan songs. i admire his selection of "brownsville girl" and his appreciation of new morning (along w/ planet waves, the most underrated album in his canon). in honor of the release of chronicles in paperback, and the airing of no direction home tomorrow night, i decided to make my own. like byrne, i selected 41 tracks, dylan originals and cover versions; unlike byrne, i limited myself to only one version of each song (otherwise, i might just have a list of takes on "girl from the north country" and "it's all over now, baby blue). if you've been putting off dylan, there doesn't seem to be a better time than right now to immerse yourself, and i humbly offer these selections as a starting point, from a former dylan agnostic, swayed by the combined might of "tangled up in blue" and "visions of johanna."

bob dylan, "talkin' new york" 1962
the byrds, "mr. tambourine man" 1965
dion, "baby, i'm in the mood for you" 1965
bob dylan, "boots of spanish leather" 1965
bob dylan, "highway 61 revisited" 1965
bob dylan, "like a rolling stone" 1965
bob dylan, "positively 4th street" 1965
bob dylan, "she belongs to me" 1965
bob dylan, "subterranean homesick blues" 1965
cher, "all i really want to do" 1965
the wonder who?, "don't think twice, it's all right" 1965
bob dylan, "lay lady lay" 1966
bob dylan, "she's your lover now" 1966
bob dylan, "visions of johanna" 1966
elvis presley, "tomorrow is a long time" 1966
them, "it's all over now, baby blue" 1966
the byrds, "my back pages" 1967
joan baez, "love is just a four-letter word" 1968
the band, "tears of rage" 1968
jimi hendrix, "all along the watchtower" 1968
joe cocker, "i shall be released" 1969
fairport convention, "i'll keep it with mine" 1969
the byrds, "this wheel's on fire" 1970
bob dylan, "the man in me" 1970
bob dylan, "sign on the window" 1970
bobby darin, "i'll be your baby tonight" 1971
rod stewart, "mama, you been on my mind" 1972
howard tate, "girl from the north country" 1972
bob dylan, "dirge" 1974
bob dylan, "wedding song" 1974
bob dylan, "idiot wind" 1975
bob dylan, "if you see her, say hello" 1975
bob dylan, "tangled up in blue" 1975
bob dylan, "isis" 1976
bob dylan, "saving grace" 1980
bob dylan, "every grain of sand" 1981
bob dylan, "brownsville girl" 1986
bob dylan, "most of the time" 1989
scott walker, "i threw it all away" 1996
bob dylan, "not dark yet" 1997
bob dylan, "sugar baby" 2001