Nashville Skyline [LP] Bob Dylan Artist

{|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 Thomas Erlewine