It sure did.
The first side is just Dylan solo, which was simply transcendent. There were only seven songs, but they were all killer picks. The real revelation is listening to the audience during the electric second side. I don't think I appreciated just how vitriolic his folk fans were. Such a melodramatic sense of betrayal and dismay at the fact Dylan was playing with a full band and sporting an electric guitar. When that guy yells out "Judas!" it's a validation of the myth. It almost feels just like an urban legend, until you realise that it actually happened. The response of the then-25-year-old Dylan is quite jarring too, as he is clearly taken aback: "I don't believe you! You're a liar!" The musicality is great though, and all the songs have that ramshackle bounce you'd expect of that era. I hope that the promise of a second Dylan box set comprising of all the Official Bootleg albums comes off. I'd really like to dive through them once I'm done with all the actual records. But, I digress!
Let's just jump right in here...
8. JOHN WESLEY HARDING (1967) - 20/8
This was my first listen of this album, and I had only heard two of the songs before. After the galloping rock of Highway 61 Revisited and majesty of Blonde On Blonde, this is quite a mellow affair. It was released nearly a year and half after BOB, as Dylan had injured himself in a motorcycle accident during July 1966. While convalescing, he recorded a lot of songs with members of The Hawks (who would go on to become The Band) at his house in Woodstock, New York. These sessions would be extensively bootlegged until 1975, when a selection were officially released as The Basement Tapes. None of those recordings would make it onto JWH, but Dylan arrived in Nashville to put down some tracks of a similar pithy vein. This album is mostly acoustic, and probably one of the earliest releases of the burgeoning country rock genre that would be taken to the next level by The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers. All Along The Watchtower and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight are the songs that everybody knows, but I was just as enamoured with tracks like I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine and As I Went Out One Morning. I don't really get the story, but The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest was another big highlight for me. This album pleasantly surprised me, as I liked it much more than I expected to.
9. NASHVILLE SKYLINE (1968) - 23/8
Apologies to fans of Johnny Cash, but I think this album's opening track is a bit horrendous. I don't know what possessed Dylan to re-record Girl From The North Country with Cash, but it strikes me as hugely unnecessary, and more of a vanity project. It also seems to go on for longer than it needs to. Ugh, give me the original from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan any day. The next track is an instrumental, Nashville Skyline Rag, which is okay. At this point, I was a little worried about what the rest of the album might entail, but happily, it all turned around from there. Singing in what some call his "country croon", Dylan continued where he left off with JWH, but added a little more bounce. Songs like To Be Alone With You and the excellent closer Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You are so breezy and fun that you almost forget that you're listening to Dylan; particularly when he's using THAT voice. Home to the classic track, Lay, Lady, Lay as well, I really enjoyed this album, for the most part.
10. SELF PORTRAIT (1970) - 5/9
Unfairly branded as being one of the worst albums in rock history, Dylan's second double album is a mix of folk & contemporary covers, live tunes and instrumentals. There are also a handful of original tracks on offer. It must have baffled fans on its release, particular after a stellar run of records. Even forty five years later, it is still a little puzzling, but by no means unpleasant. According to some interviews I've read, Dylan's intention was to well and truly shake the "spokesmen for a generation" label that he'd been stuck with. He was hoping to put out an album that would disappoint those who were waiting for his next big statement, figuring that they'd just get bored with him and move on. The backlash he got was fierce, and many music critics piled on the scorn. Rolling Stone magazine's Griel Marcus famously started his review with "What is this shit?". I think if he had whittled it down, there would be a really good album here. The live versions seem unnecessary as well, but they add to that "aural scrapbook" kind of vibe. Bits of pieces of what he was doing or feeling, perhaps? The covers were probably meant to reveal his influences, but I don't know why he picked Paul Simon's The Boxer. The way he harmonises with himself seems like he's making fun of Simon & Garfunkel's intertwining voices. There are some great cuts here though, my highlights being Copper Kettle, Days of '49, Early Morning Rain and the strangely haunting instrumental Wigwam, which is one of the few original songs. 11. NEW MORNING (1970) - 10/9
Released only a few months after Self Portrait, this short and laidback album makes for pleasant listening. It's perfect for a Sunday morning. The songs are all Dylan originals this time around, and it's very similar in production and feel as his three previous offerings. The most famous song in here is probably the lovely ballad If Not For You, which has been covered by George Harrison and Olivia Newton-John, among others. If you're a big fan of The Big Lebowksi (a Coen brothers movie), like I am, then you'll probably also know the excellent deep cut The Man In Me. Other highlights for me included the title track, If Dogs Run Free and Time Passes Slowly.
When I pick this up again, I'll be looking at Dylan's first (and only? - I'm unsure) soundtrack.
When I pick this up again, I'll be looking at Dylan's first (and only? - I'm unsure) soundtrack.
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