Accompanying Bob Dylan

Abstract

In this chapter, Bob Dylan’s very conscious decisions about the instruments, playing styles, and players with which to accompany his singing voice and harmonica receive consideration. His own picking and strumming of an acoustic guitar, his choice of piano, beginning with “Black Crow Blues” (1964), and his historic switch to electric guitar and employment of a rock band on Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited (both 1965), are all examined in terms of their impact on the sound of his recorded work and their significance for the songs he played. Backing singers first appeared on Dylan albums in 1970, and remained important for some time. The chapter concludes by examining the unique role of Scarlet Rivera’s violin on the album Desire (1976).