Credit: Far Out / Steely Dan / Shockwaves Records

“No reverb”: the Bob Dylan album that inspired the sound of Steely Dan

Sun 31 March 2024 16:00, UK

Rightly dubbed ‘The Voice of a Generation’, Bob Dylan has affected culture in a myriad of ways. From his music to literature, the Duluth native’s work was a propelling force in helping the future break off from the past in the 1960s. This was due to both the immediate profundity of his words and sonics and their effect on listeners, who would recontextualise them via their own personal prisms. For instance, without him, The Beatles wouldn’t have tried weed and written Rubber Soul.

The list of significant moments Dylan brought to the fore in the decade is extensive. These include revitalising folk with his protest songs in the early years. In addition, he also conceived the idea of fusing this naturalistic essence with electric rock, which he enacted to the disdain of many with 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home, and gave The Band their break.

The daring experimentalism that Bringing It All Back Home represented is definitely significant for his career trajectory. However, its follow-up, Highway 61 Revisted, saw him refine his formula and resoundingly display the scope of his craft.

Featuring staples such as ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, ‘Desolation Row’, ‘Ballad of a Thin Man’, and the title track, it featured an ensemble cast of rock musicians such as Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield and Charlie McCoy. They helped him fuse blues and rock with his maturing poetry that delved fully into the contemporary cultural landscape, analysing the chaos while also providing solace through the majesty of the music.

In light of his humble origins and speedy evolution, the record tremendously influenced all outward-looking musicians, showing that anything was possible as the world headed into “the great unknown”. Following its release, it could be no mistake that music was now art, not just something to be played around campfires or for youths to listen to.

While their approaches might differ somewhat, despite the shared intensely cerebral nature, one group that Dylan inspired with Highway 61 Revisited was Steely Dan. Although Walter Becker and Donald Fagen coveted the sardonic, avant-garde sounds of The Fugs and Frank Zappa, the 1965 record was a significant influence on that of their own releases, which points to the manifold impact of Dylan’s work.

When speaking to Tablet in 2021, it was put to Fagen that Steely Dan’s 1972 debut Can’t Buy a Thrill was a direct pinch from Highway 61. He said: “Right. The thing is, Bob is a culture. And I don’t think we have anything to do with that. I actually wrote an article a year ago or something … you know the critic who wrote The Anxiety of Influence?” He revealed that he wrote an article with the punny title The Anxiety of Zimfluence, which argued that people who came after Dylan have a debt to him due to his all-encompassing style. Fagen explained: “You can’t escape Bob.”

It was then mentioned that all Steely Dan records have a dry sound, and according to Fagen, this came directly from the influence of Highway 61, which had “basically no reverb”, as well as early rock songs by the likes of Chuck Berry.

He said: “I think that was probably also the influence of early rock’ n’ roll too. Chuck Berry records were like that; didn’t really have too much reverb of any kind on them. And Bob Dylan records like Highway 61, there’s basically no reverb. We liked the way his voice sounded against the band. Way up front, but everything was dry, and you could also hear every instrument. Everything was obvious. There was nothing hidden. The only thing that had reverb on it was the organ.”

So, next time you’re listening to the surreal trip that is ‘Do It Again’, the boogie rock of ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number’, or indeed the glistening jazz of ‘Peg’, think that it probably wouldn’t have sounded so good if it wasn’t for the earthy sound of Bob Dylan going electric.

Listen to Highway 61 Revisited below.