Bob Dylan Essentials

There’s no understating the multigenerational influence of Bob Dylan, ever since the Minnesotan raconteur born Robert Zimmerman crashed the New York folk scene with his freewheeling yet symbol-laden compositions. Of his widely covered early tracks, 1963’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” quite literally poses more questions than it answers and 1964’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’” is a ready-made anthem for social upheaval. Even when Dylan famously went electric in 1965, the resulting “Like a Rolling Stone” shone even more brightly in the cultural firmament (both then and now). From there he moved fast, reeling off rumpled larks (1966’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”), nightmare visions (1968’s “All Along the Watchtower”), affectionate country tourism (1969’s “Lay, Lady, Lay”), sincere love songs (1972’s “If Not for You”), and soulful ballads (1973’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”). By the mid-’70s, Dylan already seemed to have lived multiple lives as a songwriter and reluctant public figure. But he was only getting started, whether it meant plumbing real-life heartbreak (1975’s “Tangled Up in Blue”) or rallying for overdue justice (the eight-minute marathon “Hurricane”). If he was neglected for most of the 1980s and ’90s, he reminded the world of his writerly powers with 1997’s Time Out of Mind and 2000’s Oscar-winning “Things Have Changed.” Even as Dylan has remained determined to stay on the road for his self-proclaimed endless tour, his songbook has continued to expand, confound, and inspire in equal measure.