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A Contrarian's View of Dylan

Scot P. Livingston | Denver, CO United States | 11/06/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Although an album of outtakes from Self-Portrait (all covers) was certainly considered by most to be the worst idea imaginable, it didn't anger die-hard Dylan fans as much as Self-Portrait simply because, they knew Bob wasn't to blame for this. Dylan was in fact released apparently by Columbia without Bob's permission as a form of revenge for (temporarily) signing with David Geffen's Asylum label. There wasn't that question of "what was Bob thinking?" hanging over this album, making it much more forgivable and much less interesting. In fact, since this is the only album in the oeuvre that Bob hasn't officially released on CD (although it's still available on cassette), it's often considered fairly apocryphal to the official canon. However it clearly wasn't enough of a thorn in Dylan's side to keep him from returning to Columbia, where he remains to this day. It is also, despite sounding very similar in tone and (non-) authorship, most of these track are not from the Self-Portrait sessions. Just compare the la-la-la's on "The Man In Me" and it's impossible to deny that these songs were recorded during New Morning. While Dylan has denied that the all-original New Morning was recorded as a response to the critical hammering that Self-Portrait took (and the fact that he recorded most of New Morning before Self-Portrait's release does bear this out), the fact that he pulled all of the covers songs that were going to make up a large portion of that album may have been an indication that he was listening to what his fans wanted instead of trusting his own instinct. Because Dylan isn't bad. It's not great. It's not even as good as Self-Portrait, but it's pretty good. It takes a lot of guts to cover not one but two Elvis songs ("A Fool Such As I" and "Can't Help Falling In Love") - especially if one isn't known as a vocalist and interpreter of other people's material. It is kind of odd that he chose to re-write the one line from which Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" in which the title actually appears. He had no problem singing from or even writing from the woman's point of view before ("House Of The Rising Sun", "North Country Blues"). I guess singing that you had an "old man" doesn't necessarily mean one is female. The version of "Spanish Is the Loving Tongue" is often derided for being cheesy and lounge-like. Its worst crime seems to be failing to be the solo piano version that appeared as the B-side to "Watching The River Flow". Personally, while it may not be as intimate, it's far more cohesive, interesting and fun to listen here. Overall, it's a fun weird goofy album, even if "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" drags on a bit too long. It definitely deserves to be released on CD, although it appears unlikely (at least until after Dylan croaks)."

I Love it!

Alex Pozzy | Portland, Maine USA | 08/27/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've never been much of a Dylan fan, but when I came across this tape about 10 years ago, I just loved it. To this day it's the only Dylan album I could listen to straight through. Unfortunately, I've been searching everywhere for the CD, and only now have realized that it's not available, and probably never will be. Too bad, it's got some great, rough stuff on it. Big Yellow Taxi is a hoot, and I personally love the female backing vocals on it. Mr. Bojangles is probably my favorite tune on it. If you're looking for slick, produced music, this won't be your cup of tea. But if you want to hear Dylan doing some oddball cover tunes in a very loose, natural fashion, give it a shot!"

It's Not So Bad...

Alex Pozzy | 07/10/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This album has the worst reputation of any Dylan album released. But since Dylan wasn't involved in the creation of this album it's disqualified as a 'Dylan album'. Truth is, this stuff (notably the last two tracks, "Fool Such As I" and "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue") would have worked on "Nashville Skyline" (in fact, they came from those sessions) or "New Morning" where a few of the tracks came from. A few are from the "Self Portrait" sessions. This material is very un-Dylan, although it can prove to be an almost hilarious listening experiece if you aren't familiar with his sense of humor. I mean, Bob Dylan covering Elvis? Or Jerry Jeff Walker? Or even Joni Mitchell? Yes, Bob is ashamed of this album, especially since his label used it only as a cash-in (he was working on "Planet Waves" for Asylum at the time) on his fame and because he had left them. It went out of print then, and was briefly on CD in Europe and Japan some time ago (under the title "A Fool Such As I") but was ordered to be withdrawn. Yes, this has stirred up interest, and, depending on what you're expecting from this album, you could either be surprised or sickened by what you hear. It will never be available on CD, but strangely it appears on tape. This cassette is a 1996 reissue."