Bob Dylan - General Appreciation Thread

Ive spent more time with the Another Self Portrait (ASP) than the Cutting Edge (18 disc set). I keep coming back to ASP over and over for listening pleasure whereas I get into study mode when I listen to Cutting Edge. I have a two-disc of the Cutting Edge too and that is okay but not even close to the 2 disc ASP. Strongly advise getting the deluxe set for Another Self Portrait. The live show is pretty amazing in quality and the Self Portrait remaster is interesting to hear in the context of ASP.

Ive seen ASP in the classifieds go for about 50-60 which is a pretty damn good deal and worth every penny.

 

I don't have the Deluxe Edition of either, but the DE of Cutting Edge surely wins over the DE of ASP. For me, the two-CD version of ASP did a fine job of being better than the original (and I like it for more reasons than that). I have not bought any Cutting Edge edition yet, but I would love the DE or even the now sold out monster DE. The run of BIABH, HWY61R, and BOB is for the ages stuff. The more the better. Get as much as you can afford.

 

Get the six CD version of Cutting Edge. Though having said that it's not as essential as the six CD Basement Tapes - but then what could be?

The problem with the condensed version of these things is that whoever makes the song selections generally makes some really strange choices. I know it's a matter of opinion but they missed some really brilliant stuff from the six CD Cutting Edge and put some really average stuff on the two CD version. Not everything Bob left on the cutting room floor was indispensable so the 18CD behemoth was never a consideration for me at all. And I'm a Dylan junkie.

I got Another Self Portrait with the Isle of Wight gig - the gig is patchy but well worth a listen. Off message - I'm still listening to Another Self Portrait and The Basement Tapes, but I've been through The Cutting Edge now. Whilst it's an essential release, the other two are more revealing and enjoyable listens for me.

 

Agreed.

While I will agree that they missed a few brilliant tracks, I think they did an impressive job compiling the 6CD Cutting Edge set.

 

Aaaah I agree. I meant that a few of the brilliant songs from the 6CD didn't make it to the condensed version - whilst some of the less enchanting material did.

 

For about the third time this month I'm listening to 1973's "Dylan," the Blu-Spec CD2 version. First off the new mastering and the Blu-Spec CD2 version in particular, sounds fantastic. And I used to dismiss this album. . . but there is so much here. Dylan is singing like an old soul, and the arrangements are so rich and traditional sounding, the best of this sort of music at the time. I certainly no longer dismiss this album as a flaccid disc of rejects!

 

I love the DYLAN album.

 

Completely under-rated Bob album, along with Self-Portrait. Ok, there's some unintentional comedy in there but he sings real good. My copy is on battered vinyl and I still like it.

 

I read this excellent article on Dylan's place in history, linking to it from expecting rain:
Why Bob Dylan is the greatest artist alive »

 

Bob Dylan is extremely important to my (music) life.
Really my life in general... He has been there at different levels since I first heard Rolling Stone on the radio as kid
in CA..
It has only grown into the beast that it is today. I am not only a huge fan, but caught the vinyl collector bug way back. Past 6-7 years it's all about original acetates and test pressings, some owned/used by BD himself.
BEATLES and DYLAN... is there anything better. NO there is not!
Just got a couple of Front Row tickets for a couple of days for the new fall tour.
God has blessed many of us to have Dylan and Paul & Ringo still in active service!

 

Was great to see Bob a couple months ago. He sings so much better live now that he's doing the same set, compared to around 2009. And Mavis Staples whole opening set was amazing. When Mavis sang Wade in the Water, it gave me chills. But when the song was over, she began to testify for a few minutes, and blew us all away. It transported a casino auditorium into a southern baptist church. It was beyond moving. She was on fire.

When Bob ended with Autumn Leaves, before he came back for his usual 2 song encore, very few people clapped. He was great, but it was a lame response. It would have been understandable if he didn't come back out. But he did. And the version of Love Sick that he closed with, was spooky as hell. Sent me off with a different kind of chills.

 

No one toils more under the burden of expectation(s) than Dylan and, by the same token, no one more defiantly confronts them than he does...Potential ticket buyers to his shows should be required to quote a couplet or two separate lines from any one his songs to qualify for the purchase...

 

Anything besides this obscene disgusting PASSWORD Code.... BS!!
They used to list them on BD.com... now it is all blowing in the wind.
Also, they have really raised the VIP front row ticks this year : (
I still got em for two nights... what'cha going to do

 

I was there, but didn't get it.

I mean I was a kid when Peter Paul and Mary had that hit, and I loved Like A Rolling Stone, Rainy Day Women, etc but didn't get into the few of his albums I might have had way back in those days.

I bought Biograph when cds became the dominant format, just to be 'respectable'.

But I've started reading some of the books (Invisible Republic is annoying me a bit) that have been referred to in this thread and this has driven me to buy the Mono cd box set from a year or so ago, and although it hasn't been opened yet, I am looking forward to getting more into this character ('chameleon Corinthian and caricature' or trickster).

However, if I read upthread he has done 53 albums, I may get stalled by Father Time ...

 

My advice: spend $15 on the two CD version of Tell Tale Signs and listen to that first - it is astonishingly good and will give you a flavor for his latter period quality.
Have fun with it. Dylan listening is an amazing and beautiful journey.

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

I say start with what you got, the mono box, and listen to it chronologically.

 

I'll definitely start there.

 

from: BOB DYLAN, Chronicles Volume One:
"Of all the versions of my recorded songs, the Johnny Rivers one was my favorite. It was obvious that we were from the same side of town, had been read the same citations, came from the same musical family and were cut from the same cloth. When I listened to Johnny's version of 'Positively 4th Street,' I liked his version better than mine. I listened to it over and over again. Most of the cover versions of my songs seemed to take them out into left field somewhere, but Rivers' version had the mandate down - the attitude and melodic sense to complete and surpass even the feeling that I had put into it. It shouldn't have surprised me though. He had done the same thing with 'Maybellene' and 'Memphis,' two Chuck Berry songs. When I heard Johnny sing my song, it was obvious that life had the same external grip on him as it did on me."

 

I've been revisiting the whole catalog thanks to the Columbia box. "Blonde on Blonde" is Bob's Pet Sounds. To me, it just barely inches up above all the rest. But I'm struggling to get with Side 3 and 4. Knowing me, I'll probably finally get it 5-10 years from now.

 

The trick is not to try. Just let it wash over you because it's loaded with atmosphere.

 

Well said.

 

Yes absolutely. On this particular journey through his catalog I've been trying to do more of that exact thing. But sometimes you can't help but want to dig and put two and two together and figure it out. But you're right the songs on these sides are loaded with atmosphere and emotion and that should be enough!

 

Dreamy summer nights. Sheer curtains blowing gently with a little breeze. Late and deep in thought and dreams. And that album to keep you company. Yeah that's enough.

 

What I don't get is Bob's "mercury sound" that he labels on the production on Blonde on Blonde. I just can't put my head around what exactly he means. The production on BOB is definitely a bit more eloquent (for lack of a better word) compared to a "Highway 61 Revisited" but it's hard to connect why images of gold and mercury are conjured up in Dylan's mind in regards to this album. Anyone else see/hear it?