John Wesley Harding (1968)

"Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" To most of those in the '60s "on the ground" (how we love to use that phrase now), this is the first that was heard from Bob Dylan after Blonde on Blonde and the LMA (legendary motorcycle accident). In fairness, it's not easy to hear The Basement Tapes as any kind of clarifying transition between the two. Something clearly broke in between – or maybe I should be more delicate and say something zigged when we all thought it would zag. And I'm not talking about the LMA, or maybe I am. This is practically funereal by comparison to either Blonde or Basement, focused but so hushed you almost feel like you can't turn it up without defeating the purpose. (Compare Nebraska.) It took Jimi Hendrix to really tease out the power Dylan is playing with here with his cover of "All Along the Watchtower" (one of the very few Dylan covers that is actually a match for the Bob Dylan version). This one's full of weak points, absurd turns of phrase, meandering tuneless exercises, and all too easy targets, viz., "Dear Landlord." But in its best moments – aforementioned "Watchtower," above-mentioned "Frankie Lee and Judas Priest," and "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" – it ranks with his best.