I agree with Skip that Blood on the Tracks is a must, but after that, one way to go is to get either Biograph or the Bootleg Series V.1-3 box. Those will give you lots of tastes of Dylan from all phases up through '89 (Biograph through '81) and let you decide on areas to explore further. Bootleg 1-3 has a lot going for it, on top of three tracks that by themselves make it worth paying retail: the original NY studio sessions versions of "Tangled Up in Blue" and "Idiot Wind" (which I prefer to the final Blood on the Tracks versions) and "Blind Willie McTell," an Infidels outtake that will make you want to get up and slap somebody for withholding it from legit release for eight years. Don't get "Self Portrait" or "Live at Budokan" just yet. William Crump On Saturday, April 17, 2004, at 12:28 PM, Dave wrote:
ok, so years ago when my father died, i more or less inherited a batch of his old dylan vinyl and some cds. i had never remotely been a fan of dylan's, but i kept them for sentimental reasons. a few years later i got a promo of time out of mind at work and thought it was not that bad, and hung on to it. over the last year or two he's been creeping up on me (mostly through an odd effort to listen straight through to every single cd/record i have - just for this reason i guess; discovering a new like for things i have). now, i seem to be addicted! i want to know based on what i have and like, if you all could shoot some recommendations to buy and/or be wary of.