John Bucklen tape (1958)

1958

Hey Little Richard
Buzz, Buzz, Buzz
Jenny Take A Ride
Blue Moon

So far, the earliest tape known of the young Bob Dylan. This tape appeared scattered throughout the soundtrack of the BBC TV show Tales of Rock and Roll broadcast on the BBC 2 ARENA TV show on May 8, 1993. Portions of this tape, or perhaps all of it, were originally scheduled to appear on the Highway 61 Interactive CD-ROM but those plans were scrapped at the last minute due to legal restrictions.

What appears on this tape is extremely fragmentary and features the young Dylan and boyhood pal John Bucklen fooling around with a tape recorder and trying out a few songs. There's some lively conversation, including Dylan's comments about Ricky Nelson and Little Richard, as well as Johnny Cash (not too complementary, as I recall). There doesn't seem to be any evidence of an interest in folk or traditional blues and instead the emphasis is on "hard silly rock and roll", as Bob would later come to call it. Bob plays some piano and guitar and John Bucklen only vocalizes.

Sound quality is not too bad, and it only lasts about 5 minutes, so it would make a good filler or a nice intro to an early 60's Dylan compilation tape. Otherwise, casual fans can avoid it altogether.

CDs:


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