Self-Portrait
Kyle Vaughn
for Dylan. But last week I was doing a special tribute to Dylan on my classic
rock radio show here in Waco on 107.1 FM, so I decided to break down and buy it.
I was really amazed to find myself actually liking alot of the songs and
wondering what all the commotion was about. Granted, comparing it to all the
other masterpieces he has created makes it look bad, but it doesn't deserve the
ridicule it has gotten. I was more than happy to include several of the songs on
my Dylan special. The album consists of Dylan doing mainly covers of songs like
Simon & Garf's "the Boxer" and older-type songs-the stuff that Dylan probably
heard when he was a kid. His voice in these songs is his Nash Sky voice (which
I love ) - the only bad thing is that in about over half of these songs the
backup singers sound like crap and are a bit ridiculous. The live tracks
recorded from some festival (Isle of Wright if I'm not mistaken) are very good.
For instance the versions of Like a R.Stone and Mighty Quinn (both with the
Band, I believe were excellent. I just thought I'd pass along my views and see
what others thought of this album. Don't get my wrong, though it is one of my
least favorite Dylan albums, but I just thought it didn't deserve to be trashed
so heavily...............Kyle_Vaughn@baylor.edu
Mark Troyer
Kyle Vaughn <Kyle_...@BAYLOR.EDU> says:
{much deleted}
>The live tracks recorded from some festival (Isle of Wright if I'm not
>mistaken) are very good. For instance the versions of Like a R.Stone
>and Mighty Quinn (both with the Band, I believe were excellent.
I must respectfully disagree with your assesment of this version of LARS.
A true story: last May (at which time my collection of Bob albums was
still fairly meager) I was in a record store going through the discount
bins when I noticed several Dylan albums. I had already decided to buy
one album, so I was choosing among (70's and 80's) Dylan efforts. Sadly,
at that time my knowledge of Bob was as sparse as my record collection.
I still shudder thinking about what I passed over to purchase Self
Portrait (Oh Mercy, Shot of Love, Infidels, Street Legal, Planet Waves,
New Morning. . .).
I thought, "Hmmmm. It's got a lot of songs on it. It's got 'The Boxer,'
a song which I enjoy. Apparently some live tracks thrown in for good
measure. Looks like a good value!"
Of course, the closest encounter I had had with the "Nashville" voice was
the two songs on GHII. Needless to say, I was pretty surprised when I
hit play. "What is this sh*t?" indeed. Some of the songs were O.K.,
some really made me scratch my head, and then: LARS. I couldn't believe
my ears. I found it one of the worst "covers" on the disk, positively
*loathed* what had been done to it and (quite unfairly) blamed the Band.
So because of Self Portrait, my perception of the Band as a backing group
for Bob was quite distorted for several months. (I didn't know then about
the '66 and '74 tours, Planet Waves, and so on.)
By the way, I do enjoy the album more now that I've learned more about
Bob's career and Self Portrait's place in it. And "The Boxer," which I
had so eagerly anticipated hearing, makes more sense since I've read
Heylin's bio. (I'd thought it was another duet with Happy Traum!)
--Mark
Mark Troyer
(Mark Troyer) says:
>my ears. I found it one of the worst "covers" on the disk, positively
>*loathed* what had been done to it and (quite unfairly) blamed the Band.
Perhaps I should clarify: by "cover" I meant that Bob's performance of LARS
as recorded on Self Portrait "sounds like" an uninspired cover. I am quite
aware that it was Bob Dylan who wrote LARS.
Also, please let me add a hearty "IMHO". . . .
--Mark