John Wesley Harding

After the Beatles released SPLHCB and the rest of the musical community was knee-deep in psychedelia Dylan took the polar opposite approach to John Wesley Harding. Clearly by sound alone you can hear the simple American traditionalism it's rooted in, written and recorded in Nashville, Tennessee. But in addition to that, while The Beatles, Byrds and Jefferson Airplane were dealing with the very esoteric aspects of existence and reaching out as far as they could with their thoughts and music, Dylan reared back and examined things in their bare nature from the start. John Wesley Harding which is the first track and title of the album groups things together as well as Dylan's previous 'album-starters'. Clearly reminiscent of Woody Guthrie's Pretty Boy Floyd, John Wesley Harding is a glorified outlaw whose sins are forgotten and virtues extolled. In this sense it is stylistically and musically a tribute to folk Americana. However history would note that John Wesley Harding is a fictal character while John Wesley Hardin was a real man. Is this misspelling intentional? Also history would note that the JWH initials are comprable to the Hebrew moniker for Jehovah. Could this also be intentional? Throughout the album Dylan draws on numerous Biblical references dealing with traditional Christian themes. It only makes sense that the album title and first song would serve to encompass this.