On Sunday, Inside Llewyn Davis, the latest film from the Oscar-winning Coen brothers, won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. The film centers on a young folk guitarist who tries to make it big during the Folk boom of the early 1960s, based in Greenwich Village. While the character is fictional, it’s hard not to imagine that the Coen brothers were partly inspired by the story of Bob Dylan and CBS Films even used a song by the singer in the trailer. It shows that Dylan can still influence all facets of entertainment, from music to movies and books.

However, had The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan not exploded on the scene in 1963 - 50 years ago today - all that might not have been possible. Freewheelin’ was the announcement of a major new talent in American music - a man who could write and sing his own material. He didn’t shy away from controversial subjects but could also pen gentler love songs. The album’s 13 songs - 11 of which were written by Dylan alone - covered so many subjects that it’s hard to believe that he was only 22 at the time.

The album kicks off with “Blowin’ In The Wind,” a song Dylan will always be associated with. But the very next track, “Girl from the North Country,” is a major tonal shift, and one of the best love songs he ever wrote. My all-time favorite Dylan song is also here - “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” which again, is an amazing love song.

While some of the protest songs on Dylan’s following release, The Times The Are A-Changin’, haven’t aged so well, Dylan kept the songs on Freewheelin’ timeless. To this day, it’s amazing (and scary) how fresh “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and “Masters of War” remain today.

Of course, another key part of the album was Dylan’s humor, which he relied on in those early days. There are lines in “I Shall Be Free” and “Talkin’ World War III Blues” that are still hilarious.

Freewheelin’’s only cover song is a version of “Corrina, Corrina,” which could be one of the most beautiful things he ever committed to tape. It’s a moving version of the folk classic and hardly a throwaway on the album.

Freewheelin’ was Dylan’s second album and it really announced him as a major force in American music. He remains one today and it is thanks to the success of this album. It was among the first recordings the Library of Congress decided to preserve forever and if you’ve never heard the whole album, you have to hear what people have been talking about for 50 years.

image: Amazon