“What is this shit?” Probably the most famous opening line for a record review, this was Greil Marcus' reaction to Dylan's Self Portrait LP. Music critics at the time treated it as an abomination, but I see it as a labor of love. We now know of his love for country, old-time folk, and crooner music — he made it evident in his long-running radio show, and even released a whole album of Sinatra covers in 2015. On that album, he opted for a smaller band; here, however, he was considerably more ambitious, covering almost all of the tracks with lush, sometimes even schmaltzy, orchestral arrangements, not unlike those Sinatra used. Back to the beginning of our story: during 1969 and 1970, in what seems like an attempt to decompress and experiment, Dylan entered the studio with a bunch of Nashville session players instead of a rock band. Rather than teaching them new songs, he looked for common ground, playing standards and contemporary hits. Some, like Paul Simon's "The Boxer", don't work at all. Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Mornin' Rain" does. He digs deep into roots music, resurrecting the Appalachian murder ballad "Little Sadie" twice, playing steamboat work songs like "Alberta" (also presented in two versions), and traditional tunes about making moonshine whiskey ("Copper Kettle") and the California gold-digging fever ("Days of '49"). "Belle Isle" is a traditional ballad of Irish origin, and "Gotta Travel On" is another old-time folk tune, initially popularized by one of Dylan's early idols, Pete Seeger. It's the kind of material Dylan tackled in his Village days, some of which he recorded for his 1961 debut. Yet he takes a completely different direction here. He used to play these songs solo, accompanying himself on guitar and harmonica. Now he's backed by some ace musicians — I especially love the piano, pedal steel and violin — and often tops it all off with intricate orchestral arrangements. The liberal use of female chorus vocals (think the Andrews Sisters) is another surprising element. It's a novel, but questionable, approach. Probably the strangest cover choice here is Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Moon". How audacious of him to tackle the Great American Songbook, songs that have been sung by some of the greatest voices in American music history! You know what, though? I like it, certainly better than Elvis' version. His singing is the smoothest we've ever heard him, without straining for notes beyond his range; the arrangement is sympathetic, and the short violin solo at the end is a bold but pleasant addition. Additionally, he treats us to professional-sounding Nashville-style renditions of the classic country songs "Take Me as I Am (Or Let Me Go)" and "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know", as well as the Everly Brothers' "Let It Be Me" and "Take a Message to Mary". Then there are a few blues tracks: the '40s standard "It Hurts Me Too", the impromptu jam "Woogie Boogie", and Dylan's original composition "Living the Blues". Until now, nothing sticks out, and nothing offends my sensibilities. And yes, I do know that plenty of people were offended — trust Dylan to do that. But these fans had a very narrow-minded view of American music, refusing to consider country and pre-rock'n'roll crooner music as having any value. Perversely scattered among the string-laden ballads and country tunes, Dylan also inserted some recent live recordings with The Band, made at the Isle of Wight festival in England — a momentous occasion. These include "Like a Rolling Stone", "Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)", "Minstrel Boy", and "She Belongs to Me". I believe this was the first time the fruits of that historic collaboration were officially released, yet people didn't pick on that. It doesn't matter that these performances don't improve on the originals; they're simply great complete reworkings of older material, with Garth Hudson's organ and Robertson's guitar at the fore. Last but not least, we have two heavily overdubbed songs, interesting and wholly un-typical of Dylan. Opener "All the Tired Horses" doesn't feature Dylan at all; it consists of two lines sung by a small female choir, repeated in a loop with lush orchestral backing. "Wigwam" has Dylan doing some wordless vocalizing backed by a mariachi-style band. It shouldn't work, but it's an infectious melody, at once nostalgic and feel-good. It was released as a single, and while it didn't crack the Top 40, it received a much better critical reception than its parent album. To summarize: yes, I get why this album received so many bad reviews at the time. It's not a masterpiece; it's overproduced, overlong, and seemingly incoherent. Importantly, it contains almost no new songs, while the public was accustomed to Dylan releasing a masterpiece of songcraft each year. But it resurrects folk classics ripe for reappraisal, features great performances by Dylan's musicians, and shows him attempting to sing in a different, more melodic manner. Removed from the zeitgeist, it makes for fine listening.
**** for Alberta #1, I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know, Days of '49, Early Mornin' Rain, Living the Blues, Like a Rolling Stone, Gotta Travel On, Blue Moon, (Quinn the Eskimo) The Mighty Quinn, Take Me as I Am (Or Let Me Go), Take a Message to Mary, She Belongs to Me, Wigwam, Alberta #2
*** for All the Tired Horses, Let It Be Me, Little Sadie, Woogie Boogie, Belle Isle, Copper Kettle, It Hurts Me Too, Minstrel Boy
** for In Search of Little Sadie, The Boxer
Another Self Portrait isn't really an alternate version of Self Portrait so much as a selection of recordings from the broader period in which Self Portrait and New Morning emerged. Some of these recordings ended up on Self Portrait, some on New Morning, while others remained unreleased until they were unearthed for The Bootleg Series. Rather than simply offering alternate performances of songs we already know, the compilers have removed many of the overdubs, allowing us to hear the songs more or less as they emerged from the studios in Nashville (1969) and New York (1970). The effect is revealing. The traditional material now sounds more like folk songs are supposed to sound: the focus shifts from the arrangements to the performance and the words. I'm reminded of the Dylan of his Village days, though with a more relaxed, less reedy vocal and the support of first-rate session musicians. The exception is "In Search of Little Sadie", which is more theatrical, with Dylan almost ironically recounting rather than singing the lyrics. "All the Tired Horses" is reduced to its vocal core, all 70 seconds of it, while "Wigwam"'s winning melody retains its charm. The latter is one of the occasions where the overdubs actually enhanced the song. The compilation also adds a wealth of outtakes from the sessions, mostly completed songs that were left off the original albums rather than rough demos. They generally sound little different from the material that made the records: the musicianship is exceptional and Dylan's vocals are unusually smooth. Among the highlights are the Appalachian ballad "Pretty Saro", a different version of "Alberta", Tom Paxton's "Annie's Going to Sing Her Song", and a beautiful piano-led version of Charles Badger Clark's "Spanish Is the Loving Tongue". There is also a further group of traditional songs that recalls Dylan's early folk recordings, with his vocal and harmonica once again to the fore but now supported by superior guitar and piano work. "Railroad Bill", "Thirsty Boots", "This Evening So Soon", "House Carpenter", and "Tattle O'Day" all show how naturally Dylan could inhabit this material when the arrangements get out of the way. Some tracks here predate Self Portrait: A ragged version of "Minstrel Boy" comes from the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions with The Band, while demos of "I Threw It All Away" and "Country Pie" from Nashville Skyline remind us that Dylan's flirtation with country musimusic didn't begin with Self Portrait. The latter album was less an isolated stylistic detour than one point in a continuing exploration of country, folk, and traditional American music. We also get two more live recordings from the 1970 Isle of Wight festival with The Band, "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" and "Highway 61 Revisited". Both differ sufficiently from the original recordings to be of interest. The deluxe version of Another Self Portrait adds a third CD containing the complete concert, which should make for a compelling standalone live album in its own right. The story doesn't end with the outtakes. Dylan went almost immediately from recording these covers to New Morning, using many of the same musicians but turning his attention back to his own compositions. The difference is striking: the grander excesses of Self Portrait are largely gone, there are no sweeping orchestral arrangements, and Dylan returns to his natural voice. Interestingly, some of the alternate versions from New Morning contain overdubs that were ultimately scrapped from the finished album. The horns on the title track push it closer to soul territory, while the orchestral backing on "Sign on the Window" is actually quite sympathetic. It seems that Dylan experimented with this approach before deciding that it wasn't for him after all. An alternate version of "If Not for You", featuring piano and gypsy violin, is particularly interesting, taking this familiar song in an entirely different direction. "Time Passes Slowly" appears in two versions, with the second fuller and better realized. Another song represented by two versions is "I Went to See the Gypsy", the song rumored to be about a meeting with Elvis. The acoustic demo already sounds great, while the second version takes on a more hypnotic, almost lounge-like quality. "If Dogs Run Free" is another oddity, with an unusually long spoken-word section. The finished version has a jazzier feel, driven by piano, whereas this one is considerably simpler. A few other songs were recorded during the New Morning sessions but left off the album altogether, including the bluesy "Working on a Guru" and "Bring Me a Little Water". From 1971 come a couple of demos recorded during the sessions for Greatest Hits Vol. II. "Only a Hobo" is a song Dylan had carried with him from his early folk years; this 1971 re-recording didn't make the cut either. "When I Paint My Masterpiece" is an early version with prominent piano and alternate lyrics, offering another glimpse of a song that would continue to evolve before reaching its familiar form. Having finished the cross-examination of the two albums, I have to conclude that it wasn't quite as good an idea as I originally thought it would be. Yes, stripping the overdubs from some of the Self Portrait songs is genuinely revelatory, allowing us to hear them in a way that changes our perception of the original album. But there simply aren't enough duplicate songs for a meaningful head-to-head comparison. Another Self Portrait is better understood as a snapshot of what was going through Dylan's mind during this period - a collection of experiments, demos, outtakes, and alternate versions that offer glimpses of the directions he was considering, rather than an alternate Self Portrait. Nevertheless, as The Bootleg Series has taught us to expect, the music is of such a high caliber that it makes for a worthy standalone collection rather than merely a deep archival dive for obsessive Dylanologists.
**** for Went to See the Gypsy, Pretty Saro, Alberta #3, Spanish Is the Loving Tongue, I Threw It All Away, Working on a Guru, House Carpenter, Thirsty Boots, This Evening So Soon, These Hands, If Not for You, Wallflower, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight, Highway 61 Revisited, Sign on the Window, Tattle O'Day, New Morning, Went to See the Gypsy, Time Passes Slowly #2
*** for Annie's Going to Sing Her Song, Time Passes Slowly #1, Only a Hobo, Railroad Bill, Country Pie, If Dogs Run Free, When I Paint My Masterpiece
** for Minstrel Boy