Hello, and welcome to HistoryPod. On 19 March 1962 American singer-songwriter
Bob Dylan released his eponymous debut album. Dylan had arrived in New York
from Minnesota the previous year, but had quickly worked his way into the coffee
houses and folk clubs of Greenwich Village. It was here that he became known to the
established folk singer Carolyn Hester who invited him to join her as a harmonica player.
While rehearsing in her apartment in September, Dylan met Columbia Records’ talent sco
ut John H.
Hammond who stated he decided to sign Dylan ‘on the spot’ although in reality the contract
wasn’t finalised until the end of October. The album was recorded in six hours
of sessions from 20 to 22 November. A popular legend claims that the album cost $402
to produce, but this figure was only stated as a joke by John Hammond – the true cost is unknown.
Although there were a couple of false starts, five of the final recordings were the first
take as Dylan refused requests to do a s
econd. Only two tracks on Dylan’s debut album
were his own compositions and it failed to hit the Billboard 100. The album sold less than 5,000 copies in its first year and earnt Dylan the
nickname ‘Hammond’s Folly’ from record executives. Despite this set-back, Dylan returned to
the studio shortly after the release of his first album to begin work on his
second. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, which consisted almost entirely of
original songs and opened with the now-classic Blowin’ in the Wind,
was
released on 27 May 1963. It was this second album that established Dylan as one of
the greatest songwriters of his generation.
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