DYLAN Makes a Detour to the Country Side

Original Released on LP - 1969, April 9
US - Columbia KCS 9825; UK - CBS 63601

Album com grandes influências da música country (a participação de Johnny Cash no tema de abertura é sintomática) atingiria contudo o 1º lugar na Grã-Bretanha e o 3º nos EUA. "I Threw It All Away" chegaria ao #30 na GB e ao #85 nos EUA; "Lay Lady Lay" (um tema extremamente sensual, que tinha sido escrito de propósito para o filme "Midnigt Cowboy" e posteriormente recusado) seria a faixa de maior êxito do album, conseguindo o #5 na GB e o #7 nos EUA. Finalmente, o 3º tema a entrar nas tabelas de vendas é "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You", que em Novembro chega ao #50 nos EUA.

One of Bob's sweetest, lightest albums and at about 28 mins his shortest too. Dylan turned his back on the counterculture and instead showed his longing to be a nashville crooner. His "country" voice sounds pretty good to me. Dylan had always had an appreciation of country music in particular Hank Williams and Jimmie Rogers. Hed hinted at approaching the music in places on "Blonde on Blonde" but here he surrenders to it utterly. It's the best of Dylan's post accident records before "Planet Waves" its seems domestic bliss had made a more relaxed Dylan prepared to make more laid back, less demanding music. Thats not to say the record is artless or without appeal , the songs all have a warmth and funkiness to them that was missing on "John Wesley Harding" - heck it's Dylan's sexiest record "to be alone with you", "tonight ill be staying here" and "lay lady lay" all create a warm romantic vibe; "country pie" is a whole heap of fun too; "I threw it all away" is a country classic, Dylan's wise lyric warns those who succumb to temptation of the consequences but the tune is just gorgeous. "Nashville Skyline" pissed off a lot of people at the time but Dylan never conforms to what people expect him to be , and he seems to take as much pleasure in dissapointing people as pleasuring them. This album sees Bob wandering off the highway to take in the air, to take in the sights. He'd be back on the highway again but not for a while and only when it suited him. Everyone likes to take a detour now and again. (in RateYourMusic)

"John Wesley Harding" suggested country with its textures and structures, but "Nashville Skyline" was a full-fledged country album, complete with steel guitars and brief, direct songs. It's a warm, friendly album, particularly since Bob Dylan is singing in a previously unheard gentle croon - the sound of his voice is so different it may be disarming upon first listen, but it suits the songs. While there are a handful of lightweight numbers on the record, at its core are several excellent songs - "Lay Lady Lay," "To Be Alone With You," "I Threw It All Away," "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You," as well as a duet with Johnny Cash on "Girl From the North Country" - that have become country-rock standards. And there's no discounting that "Nashville Skyline", arriving in the spring of 1969, established country-rock as a vital force in pop music, as well as a commercially viable genre. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)