Maggie's Farm

Following a mysterious motorcycle crash in late 1966, Dylan retreated almost entirely from the public eye, instead choosing to concentrate on raising a family in his Woodstock, New York home.  Tired of the accolades and weighty titles that had been heaped upon him by critics who saw him as the voice of the 60s counterculture, Dylan released albums that either directly repudiated the trendy psychedelic sound of late 60s rock (1967’s “John Wesley Harding”) or which aimed to drive away his fans altogether through sheer awfulness (1970’s “Self Portrait”).  In 1974, with his marriage beginning to crumble, Dylan teamed up with The Band to record a new album shortly after leaving behind the tranquil domestic life he had enjoyed for the previous seven years.  The resultant product, “Planet Waves,” is a pleasant, soft-sounding album that on the surface does not seem to foreshadow the drastic changes that were poised to occur in Dylan’s life.

Musically and lyrically, “Planet Waves” is no groundbreaking album, staying true to Dylan’s early 1970s pattern of simple, sparsely arranged songs that Dylan himself admitted (in his recent “Chronicles Vol. 1) “could blow away in cigar smoke.”  Apart from “Forever Young,” none of the songs have made much of an appearance in concert, either, making it one of Dylan’s least favorite albums to perform live.  The album, which is bolstered by the first-rate musicianship of The Band, is highly listenable nonetheless, and a close reading of the lyrics reveals a man split between his love for his wife and family and his restless, foot-twitching desire to keep moving on and exploring new ground in life.

The second track on the album, “Going, Going, Gone,” the title itself a play on a distinctive home run call of Yankees announcer Mel Allen, reads on the page as though it were written not in 1974, but in 1997 for that year’s album “Time Out Of Mind.”  The words here, like most of those on the later release, are simple and straightforward, clearly laying out the dilemma that Dylan faces.  In “Hazel” the singer seems to be leaning towards staying the course with his marriage, and this sentiment continues in “Something There Is About You” until the third stanza where Dylan abruptly declares that faithfulness may be too much to expect from him.  By “Dirge,” the album has descended to “Blood On The Tracks” depths of angst and self-pity, and everything looks as though it’s fallen apart.  “Wedding Song” ends the album on a final, fittingly equivocal note, as declarations of love and affection are joined to a slow and mournful melody, resulting in an experience that tugs the listener in two separate directions.  Even the lavish praise that Dylan heaps upon his wife in the song seems born of desperation and comes across as an attempt to win back the attentions of another as much as it is a simple confirmation of existing love.  Both “Tough Mama” and “Forever Young” work better as standalone songs, and are also two of the stronger vocal and instrumental performances on the album. 

After the short break required to record “Planet Waves” (some say the sessions were completed in three days!) Dylan was back out on the road continuing to tour for the first time since 1966, and would never again take such a protracted break from live performances.  “Planet Waves” would quickly come to be eclipsed by the two outstanding albums that followed, yet it succeeds on its own relatively limited terms and remains a pleasant if unchallenging listening experience 30 years later.