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Meanwhile, a hungry public of Dylan enthusiasts had no idea what he was up to. It was as if he had disappeared altogether. He had become somewhat mythical to a degree.
Demand for more of his material was growing.
Then, in December of ’67, he released a new album: John Wesley Harding. Recorded in Nashville, it marked a distinct shift from the heavily amplified “folk-rock” in his previous three albums- Bringing it All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde.
An interesting side note about this album is that the Beatles are shown on the album cover. However, it does take some effort to find them.
JWH’s music was simple and soft, with a country and Western flavor. Dylan once again headed in a new direction, leading the pack to yet another genre, which came to be called country rock. His next album, Nashville Skyline, cemented his shift to country rock.
However, his serious followers, who were used to hard-driving music with highly symbolic lyrics, wanted more of Dylan before he disappeared after his motorcycle accident.
Enter the Great White Wonder. Keep in mind that this was not an album released by Dylan himself. It was the first in a series of albums that launched a new industry: bootleg albums. While Dylan himself had nothing to do with this bootleg album, it was comprised of his material. However, it became the launching pad for yet another chapter in music—the bootleg industry.
To be continued…
Everything else is just history
