The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 27, 1963 by Columbia Records. Whereas his self-titled debut album "Bob Dylan" had contained only two original songs, "Freewheelin" represented the beginning of Dylan's writing contemporary words to traditional melodies. Eleven of the thirteen songs on the album are Dylan's original compositions. The album opens with "Blowin' in the Wind", which became an anthem of the 1960s, and an international hit for folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary soon after the release of "Freewheelin". The album featured several other
Blowin' in the Wind version of the song also spent five weeks atop the easy listening chart. The critic Andy Gill wrote, Dylan performed the song for the first time on television in the UK in January 1963, when he appeared in the BBC television play "Madhouse on Castle Street". He also performed the song during his first national US television appearance, filmed in March 1963, a performance made available in 2005 on the DVD release of Martin Scorsese's PBS television documentary on Dylan, "No Direction Home". An allegation that the song was written by a high-school student named Lorre Wyatt and subsequently purchased