Needles & Grooves

That’s a difficult one, there is so much! I’m going to suggest 5 albums. My favourite, and starting point actually, was Blood on the Tracks which I consider to be a perfect album. For early folk Dylan my take would be that The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is where to go.

I think you can’t recommend Dylan without mentioning the great trio of “electric Dylan” albums Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde.

Fantastic, thanks buddy! That will set me up for a while!

Next tier down I love Desire, John Wesley Harding has All Along The Watchtower on it and Nashville Skyline Rising is a bit country for me but has a few absolute gems on it.

There are so many more too though, I could easily recommend double figures lol!

With Jimi Hendrix

EDIT: I’m just joking, hence my jokey face. My first experience with that song was the Hendrix version on Battlestar Galactica

Thats the thing @supahypeag, I have heard the Jimi Hendrix version countless times but never realized it was originally Dylan that wrote/performed it.

If you end up digging a lot of his early stuff, I can’t recommend the Dylan Mono box set enough, especially if it’s still at the $140 Amazon price. Album quality is amazing.

Start with the first album and end with the last, then go with the bootleg serie. See you in 3 years!

I started with Highway 61, and then I think I worked outward in both directions.

You say that @Skalap but im verrry close to finishing streaming Miles Davis' complete works (including 32 comps), and Bruce Springsteen's works. Last year I streamed the complete works of The National, Oasis, John Coltrane, The White Stripes (etc), Alice Coltrane, Matthew Halsall, Daniel Norgren, Ill Considered, Makaya McCraven, plus 14 which had less than 5 albums. Its how I get through work

Definitely start with Freewheelin’ imo. So accessible, so comfortable. I was stuck on that one for weeks before I could let go.

Freewheelin' is definitely the highlight of the first four all-acoustic records. Incredible album.

Also highly recommend the mono box if you can get a hold of it, like @Murfocakes said.
Edit: by Murfocakes I definitely mean @MikeH

Agree on the monos for everything up to and including John Wesley Harding. If you’re feeling flush the mofi mono 45s are well special...

@Joe Mac lol, this dude just heard 'All Along the Watchtower' and you're already hinting at buying the MOFIs. I love you, man. XD

@BjorgenFjorgen at the moment, I'd rank them: The Times..., Bringing it All Back Home, Freewheelin', Another Side

@Ponman2003 i know @Selaws will like them, he likes Tom Waits too much to not like Dylan. Plus those mofis are magic.

Also Bringing It All Back Home isn’t one of the first 4 accoustic, it’s 5th and the first electric one . I’d rank the first 4: Freewheelin’; Another Side; Times; s/t.

I could easily sing along (not that I would want to ) to a load of Dylan songs, but other than the few albums I have picked up on a whim I have never just sat there and fully absorbed a Dylan album. I love the whole troubadour/beat-verse/folk style, and like @Joe Mac mentioned, I have a particular love for Tom Waits. Im excited to dig into Dylan's work, should be something I will soon fall for.

Yeah I absolutely love beat style lyrics Dylan. Subterranean Homesick Blues is an epic song! That said my favourite Dylan is storytime with Bob. For someone who doesn’t normally like long songs I love 10+ minute Bob Dylan story songs! Tangled Up In Blue