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SELF PORTRAIT is rapidly becoming my favorite Bob Dylan album. That's an honest statement, yet in the context of my life it still sort of shocks me saying it, because in my time as a student, this was the most maligned of all of Bob Dylan's albums, at least by the hipper critics of the era (most notably in Rolling Stone).
It was savaged by a lot of reviewers, mostly because it not only didn't conform to their expectations of what Dylan should have been doing (no doubt, from their point-of-view, writing the soundtrack for the revolution to come . . . .), but ran completely counter to who he seemed to be, in their eyes.
It is laid back in tone and demeanor, even the live tracks with the Band from the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, whether he's doing folk, country, pop, or blues (even some New Orleans stylings), and also features lots of covers of other people's songs, including perhaps the best rendition of "Take A Message To Mary" that I've ever heard (with all due respect to the Everly Brothers). It's taken a while, but I've even come to enjoy (especially on CD) the live rendition of "Like A Rolling Stone" from that Isle of Wight performance, which is a good showcase for the group as well.
And it's all done with a simple, beguiling joy that comes from having unambitious (but richly textured) fun, albeit fun with a purpose. For SELF PORTRAIT is all about, essentially, Dylan reclaiming his own identity, musically and in popular culture, and demystifying himself in the process -- in effect, telling the world in 1970 that this is the stuff I like, it's where I came from musically (as much as Woody Guthrie -- already represented on his earlier output -- was), and that I want to do, and I'm not interested in anyone's opinion of it. Take it or leave it.
A lot of critics (and some fans) couldn't accept that, and hated him for it, though the record did do quite well commercially at the time, charting high on both sides of the Atlantic (especially for a premium-priced double LP -- in the rock world of 1970, $15-$22 retail was a LOT of money even for a double album; and in the latter category, only the Beatles, the Cream, and the Who had really gotten away with charging that much at the time, with the "White Album," Wheels Of Fire, and Tommy, respectively -- and the Cream's management had hedged their bets in England by splitting that album into two separate volumes); and it has always been in demand as a used LP, which tells you that Dylan was correct in his estimation of how unimportant the rock critics really were, at least where his music was concerned.
But in terms of the record itself there's mostly stuff here to love in the listening, even really adore in the free-ranging nature of the sounds, from gospel to blues to pop (any album that linked Dylan's talent with that of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, via "Blue Moon," deserved points for sheer daring in 1970 -- and Lord knows what Richard Rodgers thought of the recording itself, if he ever heard it). And he was leading the way, as usual, for a lot of other icons from the 1960s -- John Lennon and Paul McCartney abandoning the ambition, perfection and bold production of the Beatles' music, each for something more basic (and, in Lennon's case, bitterly personal, which probably, ultimately helped get him killed by attracting the mentally unwrapped and unstuck), the Moody Blues giving up on being the "world's smallest symphony orchestra" or pop mystics extraordinaire and declaring themselves to be just singers in the rock 'n' roll band . . . the big post-1960s demystifying of rock music (alas, mostly into a big business, except for those who chose to stay small) starts here.
Listening to it in 2013, I suddenly realized -- the 1960s and its music (including Dylan's) liberated a lot of us. And SELF PORTRAIT was Dylan declaring his own liberation, in all of its laid back joy. I only wish they'd do a Deluxe version of this, perhaps with the outtakes that ended up on the 1973 "Dylan" album and the Isle of Wight tracks complete (or, at least, the ones here assembled together).
And I thank Bob Dylan every day for releasing this record -- as I said, it's rapidly becoming my favorite of all of Bob Dylan's albums. And it may be, if my interpretation is correct, also the first actual Bob Dylan album (other than his debut), representing who Bob Dylan REALLY was, behind the public mask.
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This was never considered one of Dylan's masterpieces. I bought the album in 1970, when it first came out, but eventually got rid of my vinyl disks in favor of far-more durable and clearer CDs, but I never got around to replacing this album until recently. Generally considered a collection of previously unrecorded odd and ends, many critics did not take “Self Portrait” very seriously, or else thought of it as a collection of "B-sides" or rejects that didn't make it onto his major albums. But consider the title, "Self-Portrait." Dylan thought of these songs as important enough to release a double album of 24 of them! In addition, in 2013 he released “The Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971),” a celebration of these songs and a few others recorded at the time. About half of the songs are by other writers, including Gordon Lightfoot, the Lomaxes, and Rogers and Hart. The recording of "Let It Be Me" (by Bécaud, Curtis, and Delanoë) is an early indication of Dylan's love of classic pop tunes. As much as I like this collection, it might make more sense to buy one of the several deluxe versions of the newer “Another Self Portrait.” Either way, I've always loved this particular album and recommend giving it a serious listen.
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