Bob Dylan 1962
The Freewheelin” Bob Dylan 1963
The Times They Are a-Changin” 1964
Another Side of Bob Dylan 1964
Bringing It All Back Home 1965
Highway 61 Revisited 1965
Blonde on Blonde 1966
John Wesley Harding 1968
Nashville Skyline 1969
Self Portrait 1970
New Morning 1970
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid 1973
Planet Waves 1974
Blood on the Tracks 1975
The Basement Tapes 1990
Desire 1976
Street Legal 1978
Slow Train Coming 1979
Saved 1980
Shot of Love 1981
Infidels 1983
Biograph 1985
Empire Burlesque 1985
Knocked Out Loaded 1986
Down in the Groove 1990
Oh Mercy 1989
Under the Red Sky 1990
Good as I Been to You
World Gone Wrong 1993
Time out of Mind 1997
“Love and Theft” 2001
Modern Times 2006
Together Through Life 2009
Christmas in the Heart 2009
Tempest 2012
Bootleg series
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert [Live]
Live 1975 – The Rolling Thunder Revue (Bootleg Series Vol. 5)
The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Live 1964
No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (The Bootleg Series, Vol. 7)
Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos 1962-1964
Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
Live albums
The Concert for Bangla Desh
Before the Flood [Live With The Band, 1974] by Bob Dylan and The Band
Hard Rain 1990
Bob Dylan at Budokan
Real Live
Dylan & The Dead 1989
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
MTV Unplugged
Live at The Gaslight 1962
Live at Carnegie Hall 1963
Live 1966 – The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert
Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits: Vols. 1-3
By Ken Douglas (The Coast) – See all my reviews
Bob Dylan”s Greatest Hits came out after Bob Dylan”s motorcycle accident. Colombia was undoubtedly trying to capitalize on Dylan”s growing fame. They didn”t have the man himself to make a new record, so they put this out and a fine job they did. Back then, somebody at Colombia really cared about how Dylan was presented to the public. From Roland Scherman”s gorgeous cover photo to the inclusion of Milton Glasier”s psychedelic poster of Dylan, this package is first rate and the material is first rate too. All of the songs were recognized by Dylan”s fans as important and most were radio hits. However, the stunning “Positively 4th Street” which was recorded during the Highway 61 sessions was new and Dylan”s fans loved it, probably because it sounded so much like “Like a Rolling Stone” and that”s probably why it was left off of the record. Anyway, it was out now and helped make this one of Bob Dylan”s all time best selling records.
Bob Dylan didn”t release a new record in 1971, but instead issued several unreleased songs on his second Greatest Hits record. “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” is a beautiful song recorded during Dylan”s 1963 Town Hall Concert. This concert was released on the Trade Mark of Quality bootleg “While the Establishment Burns” and the show is brilliant. I”m guessing, wishing, hoping that one day Bob Dylan and CBS/Sony will release the show as part of the official Bootleg Series.
“Watching the River Flow” and “When I Paint My Masterpiece” were produced by Leon Russell and are both outstanding. “Watching the River Flow” was kind of a hit single and is really a rocker. “Masterpiece” makes its first appearance here. “The three songs recorded with Happy Traum are really beautiful and I would have loved to see a whole album done this way, what a joy that would have been. Still, we take what we can get from Mr. Dylan and are thankful for all he”s given us. Like his first Greatest Hits record, this album was huge, going five times platinum which makes the first two Hits records his all time best sellers.
Dylan”s third Greatest Hits compilation is a fine stand alone record. It opens with “Tangled Up in Blue” as does [[ASIN: B00026WU7I Blood on the Tracks]], but just as you”re thinking you”re going to be hearing “Simple Twist of Fate” which you naturally expect to follow that opener, “Tangled” seques into “Changing of the Guard,” which is a great song from [[ASIN: B00026WUAU Street Legal]] and from there we get the excellent rocker from Shot of Love, “The Groom is Still Waiting at the Alter.” This is the best song on “Shot” and is well placed here.
It”s also nice to be able to listen to “Brownsville Girl” from Knocked Out Loaded without having to listen to the rest of that record. It”s the best song from the record and the only reason to own it in my opinion, with this record, you can pass on Loaded. Also the title song on Under the Red Sky is the only reason to own that record and you can get that here as well.
But the real gems here are “Dignity” and “Series of Dreams” which both seem like they are leftovers from Oh Mercy. They are great songs and until now unreleased. It”s nice the way you get some new stuff with Dylan”s Hit”s or Best of Records. And it nice to get the haunting “Knockin” on Heaven”s Door” on this record, a great way to end it. Every time I hear it, I”m put right in the movie.
You Ain”t Goin” Nowhere – released on greatest hits album
I heard this sone on KINK and looked it up on their playlist archive, and it is published on ”Bob Dylan”s Greatest Hits Vol. 2.” This surprised me, as I had not heard the song, and typically I avoid greatest hits albums, figuring the songs are on other albums.
But according to the below entry in Wikipedia, this song was published for the first time on that greatest hits album, though it had been in a different form on the ”basement tapes” album which I do not own, despite my feverish attempt to buy all Bob Dylan albums.
“Bob Dylan”s Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971), also known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits, was the second compilation album released by Bob Dylan. With Dylan not expected to release any new material for an extended period of time, CBS Records president Clive Davis proposed issuing a double LP compilation of older material. Dylan agreed, suggesting that the package include a full side of unreleased tracks from his archives. After submitting a set of excerpts from the Basement Tapes, which Davis found unsatisfactory, Dylan returned to the studio in September 1971 to recut several Basement songs, with Happy Traum providing backup.
“The final package included one previously uncollected single, “Watching The River Flow,” (which became an instant cult classic and is still performed live today); an outtake from the same sessions, “When I Paint My Masterpiece;” one song from Dylan”s April 12, 1963 Town Hall concert, “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” and three songs from the September sessions, “I Shall Be Released,” “You Ain”t Goin” Nowhere,” and “Down in the Flood.” The remaining tracks were drawn from existing releases.
“The album package was designed to capitalize on the publicity surrounding George Harrison”s Concert for Bangladesh, about to be released on film and LP. The photo on the album cover was taken during Dylan”s performance at the concert by the film”s still photographer, Barry Feinstein[1], and is a look-alike of Rowland Scherman”s 1965 photo used for the cover of the previous volume, Bob Dylan”s Greatest Hits. Reaching #14 the US and #12 in the UK, Bob Dylan”s Greatest Hits Vol. II is now certified six times platinum in the US, making it one of Dylan”s best selling albums.
“In 2003, this album was released along with Dylan”s two other Greatest Hits compilations in one four-disc set, as Greatest Hits Volumes I-III.”
Concert for Bangladesh, by the way, was a great movie. Around that time George Harrison had released his first solo album which had 3 LPs in it.
Regarding the Basement Tapes:
Starting in late 1967, Bob Dylan”s legendary Basement Tapes were the underground source of many new songs for hungry fans and fellow artists alike. Columbia Records, owning all of Dylan”s recordings, sent labelmates The Byrds some demos from the sessions, including this song and “Nothing Was Delivered”. They recorded both in Nashville in March 1968 for their seminal Sweetheart of the Rodeo LP, released late-August.
Dylan rerecorded it in 1971, as included on his album Greatest Hits Vol. II, with lyrics that differed significantly from the Basement Tapes version, and also played upon a mistaken lyric in the Byrds” cover. Dylan”s original Basement Tapes demo had the lyric “Pick up your money, pack up your tent”, which was mistakenly altered by the Byrds to “pack up your money / pick up your tent”. Dylan further modifies the error on the 1971 version, singing “Pack up your money, put up your tent, McGuinn,” referring to Byrds singer/guitarist Roger McGuinn, who was presumably responsible for the accidental lyric change. McGuinn replied on the 1989 release of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band”s Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two, adding “Dylan” after the same “pack up your money / pick up your tent” lyric.
McGuinn”s version, which featured Chris Hillman, was also released a single, peaking at #6 on Hot Country Singles in 1989.
New Morning is the 11th studio album by Bob Dylan, released by Columbia Records in 1970.
Coming only four months after the controversial Self Portrait, the more concise and immediate New Morning won a much warmer reception from fans and critics. Most welcome was the return of Dylan”s more familiar, nasally singing voice, which had not appeared on record since John Wesley Harding in 1967 (he had taken on an affected country croon since then.) In retrospect, the album has come to be viewed as one of the artist”s lesser successes, especially following the release of Blood on the Tracks in 1975, often seen as a more full return-to-form.
It reached #7 in the U.S., quickly going gold, and gave Bob Dylan his 6th UK #1 album. The album”s most successful song from a commercial perspective is probably “If Not For You,” which was covered by George Harrison, who had played guitar on a version of the song not released until 1991”s Bootleg Series Volume 2, and was also an international hit for Olivia Newton-John in 1971. The song was also included in Dylanesque from Bryan Ferry
Details
Dylan discusses the recording of New Morning at length in one chapter of his autobiography, Chronicles, Vol. 1. Several alternate, preliminary forms of the album have been documented, including tracks which later appeared on the 1973 Dylan. He has played only four of the album”s twelve songs in concert; one, “If Dogs Run Free,” made its live debut on October 1, 2000, within days of the 30th anniversary of the album”s original release.
[edit] Recording sessions
Issued four months after Self Portrait, there was some speculation that New Morning was quickly recorded and rushed out as an immediate response to the scathing criticism surrounding Self Portrait. In fact, much of New Morning was already complete when Self Portrait was officially released.
“I didn”t say, ”Oh my God, they don”t like this, let me do another one,”” Dylan said in 1975. “It wasn”t like that. It just happened coincidentally that one came out and then the other one did as soon as it did. The Self Portrait LP laid around for I think a year. We were working on New Morning when the Self Portrait album got put together.”
During the March sessions that yielded most of Self Portrait, Dylan recorded three songs that he later used for New Morning: “Went to See the Gypsy” (featuring an electric piano), “Time Passes Slowly”, and “If Not For You.” A number of performances were recorded, but none to his satisfaction.
After work on Self Portrait was virtually completed, Dylan held more sessions at Columbia”s recording studios in New York, beginning May 1, 1970. Held in Studio B, the first session was accompanied by George Harrison, bassist Charlie Daniels, and drummer Russ Kunkel. A large number of covers and old compositions were recorded in addition to several new compositions. The master take for “Went to See the Gypsy” was recorded at this session and eventually included on New Morning, but most of the results were rejected.
Sometime in the spring of 1970, Dylan became involved with a new play by poet Archibald MacLeish. A musical version of The Devil and Daniel Webster, it was titled Scratch. “New Morning,” “Time Passes Slowly,” and “Father of Night” were all written for the production. Though Dylan enjoyed talking with MacLeish, he was never confident about writing songs for Scratch. “Archie”s play was so heavy, so full of midnight murder, there was no way I could make its purpose mine,” he would later write.
Eventually, a conflict with the producer over “Father of Night” prompted Dylan to leave the production, withdrawing his songs in the process. Al Kooper, who is credited as co-producer of New Morning, would later say that these three songs were “pretty much the fulcrum for [New Morning]… That got him writing a little more.”
The next session for New Morning would not be held until June 1. By this time, Dylan had written several new songs, including “Three Angels,” “If Dogs Run Free,” “Winterlude,” and “The Man in Me.”
Dylan vacated Studio B and moved into Studio E, where he stayed for the remaining sessions. For five straight days, ending on June 5, Dylan recorded most of New Morning; he even recorded a number of covers with the intention of including a few on New Morning. The June 1 session was devoted entirely to covers, but Peter La Farge”s “Ballad of Ira Hayes” was the only one given any serious consideration for inclusion. The June 2 session produced a solo piano rendition of “Spanish Is the Loving Tongue”; Al Kooper felt it was a strong candidate for New Morning, but it was ultimately set aside. Jerry Jeff Walker”s “Mr. Bojangles” and the traditional “Mary Ann” were also recorded on June 2, with “Mr. Bojangles” receiving serious consideration for inclusion.
On June 9, several days after those initial June sessions, Dylan accepted an honorary doctorate in music from Princeton University. Dylan did not enjoy the experience, and it inspired him to write a new song, “Day of the Locusts.”
Weeks later, a session held on June 30 was dedicated to recording new versions of “Blowin” in the Wind,” but those recordings were left on the shelf.
Bob Johnston was still credited with production, but by July he was absent and would not return. Instead, Dylan and Kooper created the preliminary sequence for New Morning. The process was wrought with frustration, possibly the result of the negative criticism over Self Portrait. The first sequence of New Morning included a few covers as well as a new version of “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” an original composition dating back to 1962.
Meanwhile, Kooper convinced Dylan to record string overdubs for “Sign on the Window.” An overdub session was held on July 13, but Dylan left those overdubs out of the final mix. Kooper then convinced Dylan to record overdubs for a June 2 recording of “Spanish Is the Loving Tongue” and the March recordings of “If Not For You” and “Went to See the Gypsy.” That overdub session was held on July 23, but Dylan would ultimately reject these recordings.
“When I finished that album I never wanted to speak to him again,” Kooper said. “I was cheesed off at how difficult [the whole thing was]…He just changed his mind every three seconds so I just ended up doing the work of three albums…We”d get a side order and we”d go in and master it and he”d say, ”No, no, no. I want to do this.” And then, ”No, let”s go in and cut this.”… There was another version of ”Went to See the Gypsy” that was really good… It was the first time I went in and had an arrangement idea for it and I said, ”Let me go in and cut this track and then you can sing over it.” So I cut this track and it was really good… and he came in and pretended like he didn”t understand where to sing on it.”
Dylan ultimately decided to re-record “If Not for You” and “Time Passes Slowly,” holding one final session on August 12. During that session, he also recorded “Day of the Locusts,” which by now had been finished.
For the album”s final sequence, the three August 12 recordings were placed at the beginning of New Morning, while covers of “Ballad of Ira Hayes” and “Mr. Bojangles” were dropped.
[edit] Songs
The album opens with “If Not For You,” which was also covered on George Harrison”s All Things Must Pass. A sincere, sentimental love song with modest ambitions, it was Dylan”s first and only single from New Morning. The artist who had the most commercial success with the song was Olivia Newton-John, who, using an arrangement similar to that of Harrison”s version, took the song to #25 pop and #1 adult-contemporary in the United States and #3 in the United Kingdom in 1971. Newton-John also made the song the title track of her American debut album that same year.
“Day Of The Locusts” is a cynical piece of work inspired by his June experience at Princeton University. David Crosby was present when Dylan went to the graduation ceremony, and later commented: “Sara was trying to get Bob to go to Princeton University, where he was being presented with an honorary doctorate. Bob did not want to go. I said, ”C”mon, Bob it”s an honor!” Sara and I both worked on him for a long time. Finally, he agreed. I had a car outside, a big limousine. That was the first thing he didn”t like. We smoked another joint on the way and I noticed Dylan getting really quite paranoid about it. When we arrived at Princeton, they took us to a little room and Bob was asked to wear a cap and gown. He refused outright. They said, ”We won”t give you the degree if you don”t wear this.” Dylan said, ”Fine. I didn”t ask for it in the first place.”…Finally we convinced him to wear the cap and gown.” The lyrics refer to the 17-yr cicada infestation covering Princeton at the time:
“Sure was glad to get out of there alive. And the locusts sang such a sweet melody. and the locusts sang with a high whinin’ trill, Yeah, the locusts sang and they was singing for me . . . ”
“Time Passes Slowly” is a rather offhand and understated rendition that belies a yearning perhaps better revealed in Judy Collins” contemporary version on Whales and Nightingales.
Dylan wrote “Went To See The Gypsy” after his first meeting with Elvis Presley. Several references are made regarding Presley”s career move in Las Vegas, but there is also a mention of a “little Minnesota town,” a rare instance where Dylan references his childhood.
“Winterlude” verges on satirical, a humorous love song directed at a girl named Winterlude. It”s immediately followed by “If Dogs Run Free,” a scatting beatnik send-up, featuring Maeretha Stewart as a guest vocalist and Al Kooper on piano.
The title track of New Morning is another one of the lighter tracks, a wry take on country life that fits in well right before “Sign On The Window.”
Perhaps the most celebrated song on New Morning,[citation needed] “Sign On The Window” expands on the joyous sentiments found in “New Morning,” applying it to domestic bliss. “Beginning hesitantly, the last verse of ”Sign On The Window” builds towards its repeated last line not as a forced projection of false hope but as simple, matter-of-fact acceptance of middle-age sentiment,” writes NPR”s Tim Riley. “[These words] offer a way of redefining one”s values that doesn”t mean copping out or giving up. The antithesis of the family man, at thirty a father of four, begins broaching homeliness without irony – and still convinces you not to hear it as strict autobiography.”
Guitarist Ron Cornelius recalls, “Dylan had a pretty bad cold that week. You can hear it on [”Sign On The Window”], y”know, that bit about ”Brighton girls are like the moon,” where his voice really cracks up. But it sure suits the song. His piano playing”s weird…because his hands start at opposite ends of the keyboard and then sorta collide in the middle – he does that all the time – but the way he plays just knocks me out.” The song was later featured in the eighth season finale episode of the television series FRIENDS, during a cliffhanger ending.
In “The Man in Me,” “Dylan surrenders to the person he sees when his lover looks through him,” writes Riley. “He”s not trying to impress this lover, so the title hook resonates enough to carry things…”Take a woman like you to get through/To the man in me” is so direct in its expression of the unflinching cues of intimacy, you forgive him the occasional forced rhyme.”. The song was later featured in the 1998 Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski.
The record closes with “Three Angels” and “Father Of Night,” the former a gospel intermission that works like a clean parody, the latter a sober incantation, Dylan”s interpretation of the Jewish prayer Amidah.
[edit] Outtakes
Written by Charles Badger Clark, “Spanish Is The Loving Tongue” is a mournful love song featuring Dylan alone at the piano. The master take from June 2, 1970 was issued as the B-side to “Watching The River Flow” on June 3, 1971.
Dylan originally planned to include a few covers, and he recorded a significant amount during the sessions. Several of these covers were later issued on Dylan in December 1973.
Dylan recorded a large number of outtakes for New Morning. The outtakes consisted of new recordings of his older material, some original material, and a large number of reworked tunes with George Harrison accompanying him.
The following songs were recorded at the first New Morning session with George Harrison. While the majority of these songs are rerecorded versions, these sessions yielded the original song “Working on a Guru”, which is still unreleased. Notable songs from this session are the aforementioned “Guru”, “Telephone Wire”, “Song to Woody”, and a complete version of Dylan covering The Beatles” famous song “Yesterday”.
“Working on a Guru” (titled “Working On The Guhry” on the tape box)
“Song To Woody”
“Mama, You Been On My Mind”
“Don”t Think Twice, It”s All Right”
“Yesterday” (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
Just Like Tom Thumb”s Blues
Da Doo Ron Ron (Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector)
One Too Many Mornings
One Too Many Mornings
Ghost Riders In The Sky (Jones)
Cupid (Sam Cooke)
All I Have To Do Is Dream (Boudleaux Bryant)
Gates Of Eden
I Threw It All Away
I Don”t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
Matchbox (Carl Perkins)
Your True Love (Carl Perkins)
Telephone Wire (Wonder When My Swamp’s Gonna Catch On Fire?) (original song to these sessions)
Fishin” Blues (Henry Thomas)
Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance (Henry Thomas)
Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35
It Ain”t Me, Babe
There were six main recording sessions for the album, with Harrison only being present at the first. The following songs were recorded during the remaining five sessions. Multiple takes were recorded of all the songs listed here, with the sole exception of “Ahoooah”. In 1973, Columbia raided the vaults to release the album Dylan, which consisted of seven of these tracks supplemented with two outtakes from New Morning”s predecessor album, Self Portrait.
Ahoooah (Owau) (Instrumental)
Alligator Man
The Ballad of Ira Hayes (released on Dylan)
Big Yellow Taxi (Joni Mitchell) (released on Dylan)
Blowing in the Wind
Bring Me Water
Can”t Help Falling In Love (released on Dylan)
I Forgot To Remember To Forget (S. Kesler, Charlie Feathers) (the take that appears on Dylan is from the Self Portrait sessions, with the New Morning recording unreleased.
Jamaica Farewell (Burgess)
Long Black Veil (Danny Dill, Marijohn Wilkin)
Lily Of The West (trad. arr. E. Davies, J. Peterson) (released on Dylan)
Mary Anne (released on Dylan)
Mr. Bojangles (released on Dylan)
Oh Lonesome Me (Don Gibson)
Sarah Jane (released on Dylan)
Spanish in the Loving Tongue (released as a B-side in 1970, a much different recording than the version that appeared on Dylan)
Spanish is the Loving Tongue (released on Dylan)
Tomorrow Is A Long Time
[edit] Aftermath
Critics were quick to praise New Morning upon its release. Ralph Gleason”s Rolling Stone review reflected most sentiments, proclaiming “WE”VE GOT DYLAN BACK AGAIN.” Few placed it alongside his masterworks from the 1960s, but it was considered a substantial improvement over its predecessor. It was only four months since Self Portrait, and many reviewers did not resist comparing the two.
“In case you were wondering how definitive that self-portrait was, here comes its mirror image four months later,” wrote Robert Christgau, before giving it an A-. “Call it love on the rebound. This time he”s writing the pop (and folk) genre experiments himself, and thus saying more about true romance than is the pop (or folk) norm.”
While New Morning neared completion, Dylan and his manager, Albert Grossman, formally dissolved their business relationship on July 17, 1970. Grossman retained certain rights from previous agreements, including royalties on work produced under his management, but their publishing company, Big Sky Music, would be replaced by Ram”s Horn Music before the end of 1971, putting an end to any joint ownership in publishing. Dylan would gain complete control over his personal management and his own music publishing. Another tense contract negotiation awaited in 1972, this time with CBS. Until then, there would be little musical activity as Dylan entered the quietest period of his career.