"Dylan" (1973): Track-By-Track Discussion

Sorry Major, I'm with John here. I like the design (although I don't think it is flawless), and feel that it's got a lot more going for it than many of his other album designs. I don't think it reflects the style of music within the sleeve well, but I always find it visually stimulating.

 

yeah that's a rough one too, bob should just stay away from elvis, but then again im going on decade old memories, maybe its aged better tha I remember, I should relisten.....I did like Mr bojangles and a few others (not to jump ahead)

 

Just a helpful comment for those who don't have a physical copy of the "Dylan" CD, I bought the Japanese "Blu-Spec" (whatever that means) version of it several years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IMKDYNK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What's neat about it is that it is a faithful reproduction of the 1973 LP version. It even has a 5"x5" reproduction of the original Columbia Records inner sleeve...



Sounds great too...

 

Thanks. Not sure where I got the notion of ‘73 overdubs from.

That’s the version I have. My most valuable (meaning expensive) single Dylan CD.

Is it just me or does it sound great? Not hi-fi...just rich, sweet and balanced. A bit of a secret pleasure this album.

Edit: Missed your final line!

 

Now we've started "Can't help falling in love with you" and Dylan's Elvis period in general, I actually admit to liking all of the covers a lot more than in the late 80s –this was when I heard the Self Portrait cuts first; I suspect in 15 years the same will be true of the Sinatra era – so I didn't want to say they deserved the criticism at all.
I recognised what you meant by Dylan's loss of reputation after these recordings were hammered by the fans / critics, but I think they deserve a second or third chance.

 

Happy to jump in here in the early stages of the thread. My memories of acquiring and listening to this album aren't exactly burned into my memory like other pivotal albums of my fandom are. For a long time my only knowledge if "Country Bob" were the few tracks scattered on Biograph and Greatest Hits 2; as I played catch-up with the catalog in the late '80s, I studiously avoided the "bottom tier" LPs like this one, Self Portrait, and New Morning. (With New Morning being the best of the three but still considered a "minor" work.) Mind you, the conventional wisdom on these albums was pretty much set in stone in the pre-internet, pre-Bootleg Series days, when reevaluation wasn't much encouraged. And besides, I "came of age" as a Dylan fan during the dark days of 1985-1987, so I definitely wanted to spend my part-time supermarket job money on Bob's most loved work!

I'm pretty sure I had Dylan before I had either if its "parent" albums; not sure why, exactly -- may have been the cover, which I do find compelling in a weird way. Honestly, I may have bought it during the great vinyl sell-off of 1989-90, perhaps as a joke after hearing how horrid the "revenge" album was. I do remember reading about "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue" being possibly the most embarrasing Dylan performance ever commited to tape, and thinking, "I gotta hear this for myself." When I heard it, I had to agree.

But there were other songs that caught my ear -- which I won't mention out of turn -- and I've developed a soft spot for the album. Understanding the provenance of the recordings (mostly New Morning outtakes) and 20+ years of loving New Morning certainly helped. I'll admit I didn't really give Self Portrait a fair shake until the run-up to BS10, and now I quite like those recordings too (although the album itself is still a mess). While I totally understand why the Dylan album was hated and maligned in 1973, a full understanding of the 1969-70 period really helps put it context and soften what still seems like a purposely terrible LP.

Now, briefly, I'll get to what RayS is patiently waiting for! I do like "Lily Of The West"; Bob's vocal is great, with that particular husky 1970 sweetness, and the performance is good. The backup singers are too loud in the mix, and I wish this song -- heck, the whole album -- had been shorn of its black sheep status and welcomed into the canon via stripped down versions on ASP. Bob's cover of "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" is competent but perfunctory. There's nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't soar like the best ASP outtakes and it doesn't have the WTF allure of something like Dylan's split-personality rendition of "The Boxer." It's just kind of there.

Looking forward to the rest of the thread -- my personal favorites lay ahead.

 

I can not for the life of me figure out what that instrument is that's running through Lily of the West. By the way, the mixing on the original record is ace, the rhythm guitar is low and it's perfect for these tracks, Bob's voice is maybe my all time favourite, even if it did come from a cold. This was one of the first Dylan albums I bought and I didn't know what I was supposed to like or not like that that point, I love every track. Can't Help Falling In Love is perfect, what a harmonica solo! Why can't he do a solo anymore? Every time he plays harmonica now it's like he's playing a counterpoint to an invisible melody player who's not there.

 

In the case of Billy Jowell he should destroy them all!
I did not know that about Jazz recordings. Thanks.

 

I agree with you majorlance I do not see much effort at a time when even though gate-folds were slowly in decline there were still inners with stuff on them. I agree re Knocked Out, Down in a Rut and Good As I Been.

 

I hope so.

 

We shall see if it gets another vinyl release. In fairness outside of the box many of the remastered albums are not available as stand alone cds.
All of the cds in the box are available as mini sleeve blu-spec cds in Japan although some are now out of print. They are beautifully done and well worth the £20 each.

 

The Elvis version is great and I love the song. I am glad Bob did this and I like it. Glad it is still available via the remaster of this album.
I love the Bruce Springsteen live versions as well.

 

No I still live in hope we will get "Runnin" and especially "Alligator Man" one day. Apologies to Ray S re an earlier post will amend/delete it.

 

This thread inspired me to load my car system with Self Portrait, Dylan and New Morning. Listening through them on my way to and from work I must say it s a very pleasant listening experience. I always liked SP and even more so these days. When that album and Dylan were released I wasn t aware of the influences like country-music. Now since long a fan of country music from the fifties and sixties and other oldtimey music I clearly see were Dylan was goin during this era. I guess there are lot s of stuff he heard on the radio duringvhis youth.
Nowadays I can fully enjoy the female back-up singers.the steeguitat and other bits and pieces crucial to the persona and style Dylan ventured in during this era. Most of all I can enjoy some of the sweetest vocaldeliveries of Dylans caree
With that said there of course are minor and some truly bad recordings but for the most part it s fun and rewarding listening

 

Check your in-tray for my conversation with a link to the photo. I hope you enjoy 'Dylan' more than I'm going to enjoy the dreaded 'CITH'

 

Just ordered from ebay uk. Its an LP. I could not find an affordable cd. 9pounds plus 6pounds PP. Learn to love CITH

 

I only have the "Dylan" Japanese Blu-Spec and I posted about its availability from Amazon US above. Do all of the Japanese Blu-Specs have reproductions of the Columbia U.S. inner sleeves like the "Dylan" album does?

 

I think I'm with you on this. Maybe there is contemporaneous primary evidence that it was released "in revenge", or to hasten by some misplaced spitefulness Bob's return to the fold. If there is such primary or even secondary evidence, as opposed to anecdotal evidence, then I'll have learned something and I'll eat my chocolate hat in remorse. Perhaps Mark Spector will respond to my email.

Curiously, although it is clear that Bob didn't want the album released (describing the songs as "warm-ups", which is disputable given the number of takes on some of the songs), it is not so clear that he demanded that it must be deleted when he returned to Columbia as is commonly accepted. The LP was re-issued a number of times in the U.S. and around the world throughout the 1970's and 1980's, right up to up to 1991. The cassette was also available and re-issued a number of times until the late 1980's. The first CD release was in 1991 (in Europe, at least, under the banner "Dylan Originals: 30 Years on Columbia"). So, it wasn't until 1991/1992 that "Dylan" became officially unavailable. Thus, it took 18 years for Columbia/Sony to enact the "demand".

 

I think the main "evidence" for Dylan (1973) being a "revenge" album is how objectively bad it is. Obviously, we fans all have a certain sympathy for it -- and 45 years of perspective in the rear-view mirror -- but for Columbia to purposely pattern a "new" album after the (then) most reviled album of his career (Self Portrait) borders on corporate malpractice to me. Was this the best way to "eke out profit wherever they could"? I understand that in 1973, when five years ago might as well be 50, they may not have wanted to go back to the Freewheelin' sessions or the 1966 tour for arguably vastly superior material. But still, even if you assume that they wanted the most "current" vault material possible, BS10 has shown that there were any number of better tracks in the can they could have used. Even one of the tracks that BS10 omitted -- the 1970 "Tomorrow Is A Long Time," which still remains "unreleased" -- is arguably better than anything on Dylan (1973).

So yes, I think they were making the best of a bad situation -- happens all the time when an artist leaves a label. Normally, they would issue a "Greatest Hits" collection to overshadow whatever their prodigal son released from his new home -- but they had just released GH2 a couple of years previously. I think they knew they could make a quick buck off of ANY Dylan album they released, but they could also punish him on the way out the door, too. I hope the outreach to Mark Spector bears some fruit -- it's kind of amazing that this matter has never been fully investigated or explained.

EDIT: Out of curiosity, I checked the book that came with "The Complete Album Collection, Vol. 1" to see how the liner notes (by Clinton Heylin) describe it. This would presumably represent the most current "official party line" on the album, right? Well, Heylin says that "Dylan has long been viewed as CBS's revenge on [Dylan] for (temporarily) finding Asylum in the hills of L.A." Nothing else in the notes for the album refutes that position, so at the very least, Sony didn't object to the characterization.

 

I'm still as confused by this album as I was when it came out. Most of the songs sound like warm-ups where the he's listening to see how the different musicians sound if he might record a new album, maybe another 'Nashville Skyline' type of record. 'Can't Help Falling in Love with You' sounds like a run-thru, an 'okay, let's try this one', a song all of the musicians would know. I can see Dylan singing the song at home for his wife and family, but nothing about this song, especially the vocals, sounds like a serious attempt to record it for release.

 

I clearly remember when Dylan was released-it was as far as I can remember never described as a revengealbum -more like a way to cash in on Dylan since he left Columbia. Don t think any recordcompany would put out a "bad"album just as a revenge. They want to make money-simple as that.
Besides that I don t think Dylan is "objectively"
bad-mainly because bad or good for that matter can t be other than subjective
I have always sort of enjoyed this album and have a few hardcore Dylanogist -friends who shares that sentiment. Subjectively of course.
With that said I don t claim Dylan is a "good"album just a collection of songs I enjoy listening to.

 

I remember reading an interview with him when My Lives came out saying that he wasn't happy about that set, but couldn't stop it. John Fogerty is one who I've read erases everything.

 

It's also worth remembering that despite the critical panning it got, Self-Portrait actually sold respectably, and I believe that Dylan's best selling record up to that time (or at least his most recent best seller) had been "Lay, Lady Lay," from the also strong-selling, Nashville Skyline, so it's not that hard to see the suits at the lable thinking that a set of tracks in a similar style might sell well enough for them to make a quick buck from an artist who'd just flown the coop.

L.

 

You're right of course, and I knew I was on shaky ground with that line. I should have said "comparatively bad" -- compared to the other sets of recordings they could have released in its place. Even sticking with "contemporary" recordings and not "ancient" stuff from 1962-67, they had better performances that would reflect better on their former artist than Dylan did. And again, I say this as a fan who is capable of enjoying the album.

Good point, but did they really think this was the BEST "new" Dylan album they were capable of releasing in 1973? Self Portrait may have sold well (the numbers being goosed by being a double-LP, of course), but I would guess that its status as a pariah in Dylan's catalog was pretty secure by 1973. (Just guessing, admittedly, because I was only five years old at the time.) Even sticking with the "most recent material" theory, they could have put the solo-piano "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue" on the LP instead of the over-the-top mariachi nightmare from 1969. They could have put on "Pretty Saro" or any number of other tracks that we now know are engaging and entertaining. Heck, they could have taken the mono "Basement Tape" promo LP and released that in 1973 -- they would have trumped both Bob's songs AND the Band's performances on Planet Waves...

 

What's on the other side of the sleeve?