A timeline of how Bob Dylan created ‘Bringing It All Back Home’, ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ and ‘Blonde on Blonde’ in 65 weeks

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A timeline of how Bob Dylan created ‘Bringing It All Back Home’, ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ and ‘Blonde on Blonde’ in 65 weeks

Far Out · 19 minutes ago

This article traces the remarkable 65-week stretch between January 1965 and 1966 in which Bob Dylan wrote and recorded three landmark albums, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, marking his transition from acoustic folk troubadour to electrified rock innovator. The shift proved divisive at the time, alienating some fans while others hailed it as evidence of Dylan's restless artistic evolution, and the period is now widely regarded as one of the most creatively fertile in popular music history.

The timeline begins with sessions for Bringing It All Back Home in January 1965 at Columbia's Studio A, where Dylan discarded early acoustic takes in favour of a full electric band, producing songs including "Mr Tambourine Man" and "Maggie's Farm" ahead of the album's April release. Exhausted after touring the UK, Dylan nearly quit performing before channelling his frustration into "Like a Rolling Stone", which anchored Highway 61 Revisited alongside his controversial electric set at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1965; he then assembled backing band The Hawks and, working with producer Bob Johnston from October 1965, began the sessions that would become Blonde on Blonde.

  • Dylan made three classic albums in just 65 weeks during 1965–66.
  • His shift to electric rock initially divided fans and critics.
  • "Like a Rolling Stone" emerged from Dylan's post-tour exhaustion and doubt.

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