Also available in a 3-pack with THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' and ANOTHER SIDE OF BOB DYLAN.

Solo performer: Bob Dylan (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica).

Engineers: Stan Tonkel, Peter Dauria, George Kneurr.

Recorded in Columbia Sound Studios, New York, New York in 1963.

Includes liner notes by Nat Hentoff.

Personnel: Bob Dylan (guitar); Howie Collins, Bruce Langhorne (guitar); Dick Wellstood (piano); Gene Ramey, Leonard Gaskin (bass instrument); George Barnes (bass guitar); Herb Lovelle (drums).

It's hard to overestimate the importance of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, the record that firmly established Dylan as an unparalleled songwriter, one of considerable skill, imagination, and vision. At the time, folk had been quite popular on college campuses and bohemian circles, making headway onto the pop charts in diluted form, and while there certainly were a number of gifted songwriters, nobody had transcended the scene as Dylan did with this record. There are a couple (very good) covers, with "Corrina Corrina" and "Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance," but they pale with the originals here. At the time, the social protests received the most attention, and deservedly so, since "Blowin' in the Wind," "Masters of War," and "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" weren't just specific in their targets; they were gracefully executed and even melodic. Although they've proven resilient throughout the years, if that's all Freewheelin' had to offer, it wouldn't have had its seismic impact, but this also revealed a songwriter who could turn out whimsy ("Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"), gorgeous love songs ("Girl From the North Country"), and cheerfully absurdist humor ("Bob Dylan's Blues," "Bob Dylan's Dream") with equal skill. This is rich, imaginative music, capturing the sound and spirit of America as much as that of Louis Armstrong, Hank Williams, or Elvis Presley. Dylan, in many ways, recorded music that equaled this, but he never topped it. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

With this album Dylan emerged from the cloak of Woody Guthrie and proclaimed his own unique talent. No longer detached--the set was originally entitled BOB DYLAN'S BLUES--he personalized his songs, famously rejecting four from the final draft in favor of others reflecting his newer muse. Protest songs were given a wider resonance--the text of "Masters Of War" remains sadly relevant decades later--while his love songs are haunting but universal statements. Dylan injected black humor into the talking blues and railed against injustice in all forms, with a perception encompassing the anger of a generation. FREEWHEELIN' is a landmark in the development of folk and pop music.

Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.118) - Ranked #97 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...On FREEWHEELIN', the poetry and articulate fury of Dylan's lyrics and his simple, compelling melodies transformed American popular songwriting..."

Q (Magazine) (p.111) - "A giant leap forward from his 1962 debut, and the point at which the world beyond Greenwich Village's folk fraternity began taking notice..."