I just heard Dylan's version of ''Early Morning Rain'' for the first time, and i LOVE it.

I think i like it as much as the Gordon Lightfoot original and Elvis's studio version, an amazing song. Had no idea Dylan ever covered it, i've been avoiding ''Self Portrait'' like the plague, but now i can't wait to hear the whole damn thing.

audioBoom / Bob Dylan - Early Morning Rain »

 

You might want to include a listen to the ANOTHER SELF PORTRAIT bootleg series release -- that might be more pleasing to you than the proper Self Portrait album release...

 

I find it refreshing, considering that Dylan has been around forever, that he finds Gordon Lightfoot a bit of a hero. Back around 2009 Bob said in an interview that he really enjoyed Gordon and his songs and when he was pushed to name a few, this one was the first that he mentioned ...

 

I always loved Self Portrait. It may not be his best album, but it's certainly his most eclectic with its mixed bag of originals, covers (including country, pop, and old standards like "Blue Moon", foreshadowing the direction he has taken with his most recent albums), folk songs, instrumentals, live recordings, and the first time we ever heard orchestral arrangements on a Dylan album. As for his covers of "Early Morning Rain" and Paul Simon's "The Boxer", he was paying tribute to 2 of his contemporaries who were influenced by him. I remember a review of the album making reference to him covering songs by "lesser talents" like Simon and Lightfoot. They both may have been profoundly influenced by Dylan (as were the Beatles and almost everyone else to some degree), but they are hardly "lesser talents." As lyricists, they are often Dylan's equals, and as tunesmiths, often superior.

 

As you'll discover, Self Portrait is something of a mixed bag, but there are several gems in the bag. I strongly second mikeja75's recommendation of Another Self Portrait (Bootleg Series 10), which includes more material recorded during the same March 1970 sessions that brought you that version of "Early Morning Rain." There are also a few versions of tunes from SP without overdubs, plus material from the New Morning sessions and a few other odds and ends.

L.