What was the first electric song Bob Dylan wrote?
There is no escaping the fact that Bob Dylan is one of the most influential musicians to ever take to the mic. This doesn’t just apply to the music he made, either. Yes, the songs he wrote were influential, but they expanded beyond rhythm; it was the fearlessness in his words, the tone at which he spoke and the way he phrased things. His influence can be felt throughout all of music, art and literature.
Leonard Cohen put it best. The two of them were counterparts throughout their careers, and when Cohen was asked how he felt about Dylan winning the Nobel Prize for literature, Cohen was beautifully blunt. He said awarding Dylan was “Like pinning a medal on Mount Everest for being the highest mountain.” In other words, the award doesn’t mean much; Dylan’s influence has always been there, whether you acknowledge it or not.
However, despite how influential Bob Dylan is, many fans were rightly hesitant when they heard that a new biopic starring Timothée Chalamet had been made. This is nothing against Dylan or Chalamet, but more just an understanding of what Dylan’s life was like. Sure, he was a bit of an outcast, which led to him leaving his hometown and heading to New York, but his influence speaks for itself; you don’t necessarily need to tell the story of the man behind it, as there isn’t much to tell.
“People in this town, they weren’t real receptive to him,” recalled one of Bob Dylan’s former classmates when asked about what he was like back home. “I think they were jealous of him or didn’t think he was talented enough. That’s why he didn’t come back because he was not well received.”
His alternative nature forms the basis for a story, but it only really sets up act one. Other than that, his story didn’t develop enough to warrant a movie. That is, except for the controversy that surrounded him when he switched from an acoustic guitar to an electric. When he made the jump to folk rock, despite it proving popular, there was a lot of pushback, as people hated seeing the folk singer move toward a heavier sound.
When it was announced that the basis of the movie, A Complete Unknown, would focus on this controversy, many sceptics were suddenly interested again, as there is a lot of mystery surrounding the controversy Dylan faced. There is certainly more to uncover, from the very first song that he wrote with an electric guitar to the way that people received it, there is a story.
So, what was the first song Bob Dylan wrote using an electric guitar?
The first song Bob Dylan wrote using an electric guitar, which marked the beginning of his electric moment, was ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’—the track featured on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. The song is considered a pinnacle moment in Dylan’s career, as his style of music and how he was perceived as an artist changed forever.
Dylan first played the song or any of his electric music at the Newport Festival, when he took to the stage with an electric guitar rather than an acoustic one. While it’s now viewed as an essential moment in musical history, it divided the folk world and Dylan’s fanbase as it went against what a traditional folk singer does.
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