‘Dylan’s Circle’ Album Collects Seminal Folk, Rock & Blues: Review
by Jeff Burger
Jac Holzman Presents Dylan’s Circle features folk, rock and blues performances compiled by Elektra Records founder Holzman and Ted Olson, who previously produced such notable albums as Tell It to Me: Revisiting the Johnson City Sessions and On Top of Old Smoky: New Old-Time Smoky Mountain Music.
As Olson writes in the booklet that accompanies the new CD, it offers “recordings from 1954-1971 [and] celebrates a musical community that was bound together by mutual respect for the cultural roots of American music and a shared belief in the power of music to change the world.” Bob Dylan, adds Olson, “may be at the center of this album’s collaborative circle…but the catalyst for forming this circle was not Dylan—it was Jac Holzman.”
Among the standouts in the 20-song set, released July 18, 2025, are Jean Ritchie’s “Nottamun Town” (with a melody that Dylan appears to have borrowed for “Masters of War”), Fred Neil’s “Bleecker and MacDougal,” Paul Siebel’s “Louise, and Judy Collins’ cover of Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is a Long Time.”
Also excellent are Dylan’s performances of his own “Maggie’s Farm” and North Country Blues,” both from Newport Folk Festival appearances. In addition, the set embraces two powerful numbers related to the Civil Rights struggle, Phil Ochs’ “Here’s to the State of Mississippi” and Tom Paxton’s “Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney.”
One quibble: the rationale for including a few of this anthology’s selections seems questionable. Dylan, for example, was never signed to Elektra, so it’s a stretch to say that his own recordings are a significant element in its story. As for the “Dylan’s circle” theme, this set includes “Bummer in the Summer,” from Love’s classic Forever Changes, but that California group was not part of the Greenwich Village musical community where Dylan’s career got started.
That said, there’s not a bad track on the album, which isn’t surprising given how consistently Holzman’s fabled label issued superlative music in its heyday. If this compendium whets your appetite, check out the five-CD Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra Records 1963-1973, which includes more from many of the artists featured here, plus such other acts as Tim Buckley, the Incredible String Band and the Doors.
Jac Holzman Presents Dylan’s Circle is available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.
Burger wrote one of the first interview-based profiles of Bruce Springsteen to be published in a national magazine. He has interviewed many other music-world luminaries as well, including Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tom Waits, Foreigner’s Mick Jones, Billy Joel, Steve Forbert, Tommy James, the Righteous Brothers, Gordon Lightfoot, Deep Purple’s Tommy Bolin, and members of Steely Dan and the Marshall Tucker Band. He has also interviewed many other public figures, such as Suze Orman, Daymond John, James Carville, Donald Trump, Sir Richard Branson, F. Lee Bailey, and Cliff Robertson.
His books include Dylan on Dylan: Interviews and Encounters, Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon, Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters, and Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters, all of which are published in the U.S. and Canada by Chicago Review Press. The books have been republished in numerous other countries.
Burger has been the editor of several periodicals, including Business Jet Traveler, from which he retired in 2024. During his 20 years at that
publication, it received more than 120 major editorial awards, including multiple wins for the world’s Best Consumer Travel Magazine in the annual Folio:Eddie competition.
Burger lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey. His wife, Madeleine Beresford, is a puppeteer and former preschool director and teacher. The couple have two grown children.
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