bob dylan - self portrait

I mean how can you not love the piss-take on "Like A Rolling Stone"? Self-portrait!

I mean why in the heck put it on the record then?

A friend of mine sent me the CD last year. I liked the couldn't-give-a-shit sound of it at first, it's so sloppy and his voice is so weird. But I fell asleep halfway through. There are some really weak songs on it. The three Fritz and Andrew mentioned are outstanding, though.

Self Portrait is v. interesting in relation to New Morning, which might be read as a response to the "singer-songwriter" idea which was so ballyhooed at the time and which Dylan himself helped to foster. I mean, New Morning can be understood both as an advance (in the level of seriousness and engagement) and a retreat (from the genre-based stylings of the last two records)--a more committed record and ... possibly ... a "sop" to the audience? I dunno. I rather like the record, though not as much as Planet Waves.

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go.to/stevek

I've always enjoyed Self Portrait for its relaxed, non-confrontational approach. It's definitely in my (Dylan) top 10.

I don't think the story is as prosaic as Mark asserts. Self-Portrait stands as something of an abberation in his career. There's also the fact of its title and that it's a double record. I think contempt for the record company breathing down his neck, and probably just some free-floating perversity, enters into it.

just a point about the thin line between love & hate and all that. no need to get mad.

That pains my heart.

He did cut most of Self Portrait in Nashville--but he cut much of Blonde on Blonde there as well.

I'm conflicted about BD. I know he's a great songwriter--really I do--and when someone plays me his '70s/'80s stuff or even his last few things, I go, oh yeah, hmm, I almost like it, but then I just get dragged by the backing. I just like all the things that everyone else likes pre-motorcycle wreck, and I do like the basement tapes an awful lot. It's one of those things, I have a few artists I know I should like more I guess, like Van Morrison, but there's something so boring about them, to me...

Plus he's like the Beatles--I'm sick of people telling me he's great. To me Faron Young or Booker T. and the MGs are great, I don't really care one way or the other about Bob Dylan. That's just me--as I say, I recognize his achievement.

I like Nashville Skyline because it seems, musically at least, like a real engagement with country music. The arrangements are taut and well-thought-out, though of course the overall affect is fairly lazy.

Best suspension ever in a pop song: The Bailey Brothers' "Rattlesnake Daddy." You'll think your record is skipping!

1 track is offairly rough sound quality, the rest are Dylan of less intensity, but nothing is 'really bad' to my ears.

But nothing beats the "La la la la's" on Sarah Jane...a classic example of "so bad it's good."

nashville skyline is kind of all filler. in a good way.

― tylerw, Monday, May 6, 2013 2:38 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i see what you're getting at but no. "i threw it all away" is nobody's idea of filler. it's one of his very best songs IMO.

but the whole album can be read as a "tribute" to those country music LPs of the era (say, by roger miller) that are like 26 minutes long and include a few instruments and "trad arr." tunes to save money on royalties. just completely unpretentious but (at their best) still committed to quality.

so good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLwhDb7J7TY

Yep. New Morning is where tries to transcend that style.

also you have to wonder if the back cover of a very mundane even glum looking nashville cityscape is bob being a little tongue in cheek

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2629/4013250338_30c76ed815_z.jpg

also the playing on this record

bonerville, population: me

http://www.bobdylan.com/us/node/31036

:D

wait so the self-portrait reissue is only gonna be in the deeeluxe version?

yup. :(

No

http://www.amazon.com/Self-Portrait-1969-1971-Bootleg-Series/dp/B00DW5IM9Q/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1373992643&sr=8-2

The Standard Version contains 35 tracks on 2 CD's, and soft cover perfect bound booklet
The Deluxe Version contains 4 CD s and two hardcover books housed in a hardcover slip case
Book # 1 contains 4 CD's and liner notes
Book # 2 contains the photos from John Cohen and Al Clayton.
The 2 bonus CD's will contain the newly remastered version of Self Portrait and the complete 17 song recording of Dylan & The Band performing live at the Isle Of Wight in 1969
The vinyl version contains 35 tracks on 3 LPs (and 2 CDs) plus a 12" x 12" booklet that includes the liner notes written by Greil Marcus, the essay from Michael Simmons, and the photographs from John Cohen and Al Clayton, and pictures of the original tape boxes and cue sheets.

It would be great if Greil Marcus's liner notes were just, "what is this shit?".
Or has he come around?

"Self Portrait" was the first (and for a long time only) Dylan record I heard. My dad had a copy of it and as a 12 yr old just getting into music it was a real "huh" record for me. Took me a long to figure out that wasn't yr normal Dylan record.

how much is the deluxe going to be?

at the mo, it's $125 on amazon to the ~20 for the other : (

damn bob that's a cold shot

bummer about the pricing but i'm really excited that this music is seeing release, especially the isle of wight stuff. i love this period.

tons of good discussion upthread. it sucks that greil marcus' review was reduced to "what is this shit" because it's actually a really long and thoughtful review, even if i disagree with some of his assessments.

http://expectingrain.com/dok/div/greilmarcusselfportrait.html

that is a wonderful review, one of his best ever imo -- love how all over the place it is.

The four questions: The four sons gazed at the painting on the museum wall. "It's a painting," said the first son. "It's art," said the second son. "It's a frame," said the third son, and he said it rather coyly. The fourth son was usually considered somewhat stupid, but he at least figured out why they'd come all the way from home to look at the thing in the first place. "It's a signature," he said.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/bob-dylans-lost-1970-gem-pretty-saro-premiere-20130807

lovin this

This is damn great!

yeah that sounds awesome.
kinda can't believe that they're not including the new morning version of "tomorrow is a long time" though. that one is great! (can't find it on youtube tho).

#bootlegnerdgripe

oh man these outtakes. "these hands" sounds like an early slow train coming demo

FYI: the super box is on sale at Popmarket for $82.99, Vinyl for $52.99 for next 20-odd hours. Still too expensive but tempting.

http://www.popmarket.com/details/28811265?feature_id=28808750

regardless of the Bootleg/Expanded Reissue version, this is a p funny record. Some great stuff, some terrible stuff, some goofy stuff. The two attempts at Little Sadie are both bad, The Boxer is so totally wtf, and the Isle of Wight performances are a mess. But Early Mornin' Rain is awesome! And a bunch of it is v pretty. It's strange that he does *all* his voices here, including the Nashville Skyline voice on "Let It Be Me". Such a hodge-podge, kind of his White Album except there's a bunch of shitty covers and not nearly enough decent song material.

yeah self portrait itself is entertaining.
the isle of wight stuff on there the most convincing argument that dylan was self-sabotaging — that "like a rolling stone" is the worst performance from the show. as a whole, it's a great set.

"Let It Be Me" is as good as anything else on Nashville Skyline and New Morning

I still don't get what's so unusual about The Boxer. Is it the fact that he's covering it at all? It sounds like bob Dylan covering The Boxer to me

I vastly overrate this album, totally love it

Re: the Boxer - it's the shitty overdubbed/doubled vocals

a side effect of getting really into self portrait is "days of '49" is stuck in my head forever

RIP Poker Bill

also another self portrait is def the best bootleg series installment i've heard

yeah, it really makes a strong case for that era

also another self portrait is def the best bootleg series installment i've heard

I was skeptical about that one, but it definitely salvaged this era for me, with enough stuff to improve both New Morning and especially Self Portrait. I think there's a total of 16 studio cuts that are genuine Self Portrait recordings - i.e. the actual master takes without the orchestral overdubs or outtakes that would have been up for consideration - and just programming those together created an album that I mostly enjoyed. Maybe not his best work, but a hell of a lot better than the album he did release.

The Isle of Wight show is fine, not one for the ages but much better than expected. The mixes released on Self Portrait sound incredibly shitty - they finally mixed it properly for the box set and it's a massive improvement. I'm not sure I'd listen to the whole thing again, but "Highway 61 Revisited" is the definite highlight. Greil Marcus's description of it is hilarious: "...[The Band] screamed “OUT ON HIGHWAY 61!” like PCP junkies hustling tourists into the worst whorehouse in Tijuana."

Nice caption on this official DylanCorp Insta post (if you can't beat 'em...).

Haha I thought this revive was gonna be about the guy who returned a 48-years-overdue copy of Self Portrait to the library

https://heightslibrary.org/better-late-than-never-san-francisco-man-returns-bob-dylan-album-48-years-late/

Chum finds Bob Dylan... then THIS happens pic.twitter.com/SXt86nzyfs

— Pawn Stars (@pawnstars) January 16, 2020

Here’s a little more background on that episode… I saw it when it first aired, it was pretty funny

ah 2010. was kinda surprised how spry BD looks. 12 years ago makes a little more sense

I like how this is obviously staged but Dylan does it so half-assed that you can almost believe they really did just randomly run into him on the street

i think all of us vinyl buyers in 2010 can remember how hard it was to buy a used copy for less than $50