On This Day in 1961: Bob Dylan Recorded 6 Songs for His Debut Self-Titled Album

Bob Dylan’s entry into the ’60s New York Greenwich Village folk scene was cataclysmically groundbreaking. At the ripe age of 20-years-old, Dylan, the ambitious hustler, was not only able to get a record deal with Columbia Records but was also able to create a generational standard still being met to this day. However, those things are known and often noted. What is far less known and recorded is the day when Robert Zimmerman truly became Bob Dylan.

Dylan’s debut album recording session transpired over two days in November of 1961 at Columbia Records in New York City. Produced by John Hammond, he described him as “The most unusual new talent in American folk music” and “An uncommonly skillful guitar player and harmonica player.” To this day it seems Dylan is still getting similar compliments, and it wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for Hammond and those two sessions at Columbia Records.

Bob Dylan’s Session on November 22, 1961

The first recording session of Dylan’s debut album transpired on November 20. In the first session, he recorded the songs “You’re No Good” “Song To Woody,” and numerous other tunes for his grand introduction. Although, it was not until the second day, November 22, that Dylan would finally complete the album.

“Pretty Peggy-O,” “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean,” “Gospel Plow,” “Highway 51 Blues,” and “Freight Train Blues,” were the final songs Dylan recorded for the album, Bob Dylan. It is unclear exactly what happened in the room between Hammond and Dylan. However, whatever it was, worked and worked in a way the two surely could never fathom. Following the recording, Hammond stated, “Excitement has been running high since the young man with a guitar ambled into a Columbia recording studio for two sessions in November 1961.”

The Aftermath and Uproar

Dylan’s debut album saw little commercial success. But, that did not stop intellectuals, critics, and adolescent rebels from singing his praises. Matter of fact, the album did not chart until a year after its release in 1963. Nonetheless, he was the talk of the town. Before Dylan even recorded his first album, New York Times critic, Robert Shelton, called him, “The most distinctive stylists to play in a Manhattan cabaret” and “A bright new face in folk music.”

The release of this album may have not moved mountains. However, what it did do was allow Dylan to record and release his sophomore album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. And, well, for us devout Dylan fans, we all know how that story goes…

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