
Desolation Row
Eleven minutes, one acoustic guitar, and Charlie McCoy improvising fills after Bob Johnston found him passing through New York.

Eleven minutes, one acoustic guitar, and Charlie McCoy improvising fills after Bob Johnston found him passing through New York.

Two short verses written for a dying sheriff in Pat Garrett, with Roger McGuinn on guitar and Jim Keltner drumming.

Dylan set out to write an anthem on purpose, borrowing the cadence of Irish and Scottish ballads, and got one.

Dylan recut it in Minneapolis with his brother producing, then spent decades rewriting a story already told out of order.

Bruce Langhorne's giant Turkish frame drum gave Dylan the image, and the Byrds' cover turned it into folk rock.

Nine questions, no answers, and the song the civil rights movement adopted whole and never gave back.

A snare crack, a sneer, and Kooper's uninvited organ swirling through the song that split rock open.