Today in history

Ok, so this isn’t as historical as say the signing of the Magna Carta or the opening up of the Berlin Wall, but 40 years ago today Bob Dylan released Bringing it all Back Home, his first electric album. It was one of the first CDs I bought, replacing a worn out vinyl version. From its opening, the legendary Subterranean Homesick Blues to the venomously passionate It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding, the album contains some of Dylan’s best songs and you really should own it.

From this distance it is difficult to perceive just how much of an impact Dylan ‘turning electric’ had. Fans of folk music are a fiercely protective of their genre and Dylan was their hero. Folk is played acoustically and by strapping on an Strat, Dylan was betraying them and selling out to the corporate rock n roll machine. You can famously hear one disgruntled folk fan on Live 1966; The Royal Albert Hall shout “Judas” just before the start of Like a Rolling Stone. I think history has proven that gentleman wrong. Top marks for passion though.