Dylan appears to have based his version of the song on Tommy McClennan's New Highway No. 51 which was recorded in 1940., which in turn was probably based on Curtis Jones's Highway 51 Blues recorded in 1938. There are are also other songs about this highway, such as John Lee Hooker's Going Down Highway 51 recorded in 1948 or 1949. This Highway is a major N-that runs from Louisiana to Wisconsin, and skirts the eastern side of the Mississippi delta region. It appears that Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited as an allusion to this delta blues homage- as 61 is the other N-S artery running along the western side of the delta region.
Dylan appears to have based his version of the song on Tommy McClennan's New Highway No. 51 which was recorded in 1940., which in turn was probably based on Curtis Jones's Highway 51 Blues recorded in 1938. There are are also other songs about this highway, such as John Lee Hooker's Going Down Highway 51 recorded in 1948 or 1949. This Highway is a major N-that runs from Louisiana to Wisconsin, and skirts the eastern side of the Mississippi delta region. It appears that Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited as an allusion to this delta blues homage- as 61 is the other N-S artery running along the western side of the delta region.