| Self Portrait | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 8, 1970 (1970-06-08) | |||
| Recorded | April 24, 1969 – March 30, 1970 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 73:15 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Bob Johnston | |||
| Bob Dylan chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Self Portrait | ||||
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Self Portrait is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriterBob Dylan. It was released on June 8, 1970, throughColumbia Records. The album was produced byBob Johnston and was Dylan's second double album, afterBlonde on Blonde (1966). The record is compiled of cover songs, live recordings, and new originals, while the arrangements and vocal performances continue in thecountry vein of the precedingNashville Skyline (1969).
Self Portrait was released to negative reviews and confusion from critics and fans alike. Criticism was directed at the album's production, performances, and the lack of new material. Dylan himself has since referred to the album as having been released with the purpose of confounding the public's expectations of him, and to counter the "spokesman of a generation" tag which had been placed on him throughout the 1960s.
Despite the critical reception, the album was a commercial success, reaching number four in the US and topping the chart in the UK. In 2013, Dylan releasedThe Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971), which resulted in further positive critical revaluation.
The motives behindSelf Portrait have been subject to wild speculation and great debate.
CriticRobert Shelton was under the impression thatSelf Portrait was intended as a serious release. "I told Dylan thatSelf Portrait confused me," Shelton wrote in 1986. "Why had he recorded 'Blue Moon'? He wouldn't be drawn out, although obviously he had been stung by the criticism. 'It was an expression,' he said. He indicated that if the album had come fromPresley orthe Everly Brothers, who veered toward the middle of the road, it wouldn't have shocked so many."[1]
However, in aRolling Stone interview, in 1984, Dylan gave a different reason for the album's release:
At the time, I was inWoodstock, and I was getting a great degree of notoriety for doing nothing. Then I had that motorcycle accident [in 1966], which put me outta commission. Then, when I woke up and caught my senses, I realized that I was just workin' for all these leeches. And I didn't wanna do that. Plus, I had a family, and I just wanted to see my kids. I'd also seen that I was representing all these things that I didn't know anything about.
[. . .]
This was just about the time of thatWoodstock festival, which was the sum total of all this bullshit. And it seemed to have something to do with me, thisWoodstock Nation, and everything it represented. So we couldn't breathe. I couldn't get any space for myself and my family, and there was no help, nowhere. I got very resentful about the whole thing, and we got outta there. We moved toNew York.
[. . . ] There'd be crowds outside my house. And I said, “Well, fuck it. I wish these people would just forget about me. I wanna do something they can't possibly like, they can't relate to. They'll see it, and they'll listen, and they'll say, 'Well, let's go on to the next person. He ain't sayin' it no more. He ain't givin' us what we want,' you know? They'll go on to somebody else,"
But the whole idea backfired Because [sic] the album went out there, and the people said, "This ain't what we want," and they got more resentful. And then I did this portrait for the cover. I mean, there was no title for that album. I knew somebody who had some paints and a square canvas, and I did the cover up in about five minutes. And I said, "Well, I'm gonna call this albumSelf Portrait."
[Rolling Stone:] Which was duly interpreted by the press as: This is what he is...
Yeah, exactly. And to me, it was a joke.
As to why he chose to release a double album, Dylan replied, "Well, it wouldn't have held up as a single album–then it really would've been bad, you know. I mean, if you're gonna put a lot of crap on it, you might as well load it up!"[2]
Later,Cameron Crowe interviewed Dylan for his liner notes to 1985'sBiograph, a boxed-set retrospective of Dylan's career. When asked aboutSelf Portrait, Dylan added more details to the story:
Self Portrait was a bunch of tracks that we'd done all the time I'd gone toNashville. We did that stuff to get a [studio] sound. To open up we'd do two or three songs, just to get things right and then we'd go on and do what we were going to do. And then there was a lot of other stuff that was just on the shelf. But I was being bootlegged at the time and a lot of stuff that was worse was appearing onbootleg records. So I just figured I'd put all this stuff together and put it out, my own bootleg record, so to speak. You know, if it actually had been a bootleg record, people probably would have sneaked around to buy it and played it for each other secretly. Also, I wasn't going to be anybody's puppet and I figured this record would put an end to that...I was just so fed up with all that 'who people thought I was' nonsense.
Later interviews only echoed the sentiments expressed to Crowe.[citation needed]
Certain tracks have drawn praise over the years. One of them is written by Alfred Frank Beddoe (who was "discovered" byPete Seeger after applying for work at People's Songs, Inc. in 1946), "Copper Kettle" captures an idyllic backwoods existence, wheremoonshine is equated not only with pleasure but with tax resistance.Appalachian farmers who struggled to make their living off the land would routinely siphon off a percentage of their corn in order to distillwhiskey. Everything produced would then be hidden from the government in order to avoid thewhiskey tax of 1791.
Clinton Heylin writes, "'Copper Kettle'...strike[s] all the right chords...being one of the most affecting performances in Dylan's entire official canon."[3] Music criticTim Riley called it "an ingeniousAppalachianzygote for rock attitudes, the hidden source ofJohn Wesley Harding's shadows."[4]
"Copper Kettle" was popularised byJoan Baez and appeared on her best-selling 1962 LPJoan Baez in Concert.
Among the original songs written for the album, the instrumental "Wigwam" later achieved recognition for its use in the 2001Wes Anderson filmThe Royal Tenenbaums. "Living the Blues" was later covered byLeon Redbone. "Living the Blues" was also covered by theJamie Saft Trio withAnohni on the albumTrouble: The Jamie Saft Trio Plays Bob Dylan, in 2006. "All the Tired Horses" only features two lines, and is sung by Hilda Harris, Albertine Robinson, and Maeretha Stewart. The song featured in the 2001 filmBlow.
One of the live songs on the album is the party-friendly romp "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)", originally recorded at the 1967Basement Tapes sessions and covered to great success byManfred Mann in 1968. For live venues,the Grateful Dead andPhish made the song an iconic favorite. The version onSelf Portrait, however, is a soundboard-sourced live performance from Dylan and the Band'sIsle of Wight Festival concert (as are three other tracks on the album).
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [6] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C−[7] |
| MusicHound Rock | 2/5[8] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [9] |
| Tom Hull | C[10] |
| The Village Voice | C+[11] |
Self Portrait received negative reviews by critics and consumers alike. Critical disdain seemed universal. At best, a number of journalists, includingRobert Christgau, felt there was a concept behindSelf Portrait that had some merit.
"Conceptually, this is a brilliant album," wrote Christgau, "which is organized, I think, by two central ideas. First, that 'self' is most accurately defined (and depicted) in terms of the artifacts—in this case, pop tunes and folk songs claimed as personal property and semispontaneous renderings of past creations frozen for posterity on a piece of tape and (perhaps) even a couple of songs one has written oneself—to which one responds. Second, that the people's music is the music people like,Mantovani strings and all."[12]
However, few critics expressed any interest in the music itself. "[I]n order for a concept to work it has to be supported musically—that is, you have to listen," Christgau admitted. "I don't know anyone, even vociferous supporters of this album, who plays more than one side at a time. I don't listen to it at all. The singing is not consistently good, though it has its moments, and the production—for which I blameBob Johnston, though Dylan has to be listed as a coconspirator—ranges from indifferent to awful. It is possible to use strings and soprano choruses well, but Johnston has never demonstrated the knack. Other points: it's overpriced, the cover art is lousy, and it sounds good onWMCA."[12]
In hisRolling Stone review (with its memorably vitriolic opening line, "What is this shit?"),Greil Marcus warned, "Unless [Dylan] returns to the marketplace, with a sense of vocation and the ambition to keep up with his own gifts, the music of [the mid-sixties] will continue to dominate his records, whether he releases them or not."[13] He also commented, "I once said I'd buy an album of Dylan breathing heavily. I still would. But not an album of Dylan breathing softly."[14] In a 1971telephone interview with journalist A.J. Weberman, Dylan can be heard responding angrily to the Marcus review, while attempting to defend larger accusations of perceived non-committal politics.
A rare dissenting positive voice about the album wasMarc Bolan, soon to become a star as lead singer/guitarist of Englishglam rock bandT. Rex, at this point in its earlier incarnation ashippy acoustic duo Tyrannosaurus Rex. Appalled at the negative reviews directed at the album, Bolan wrote a letter in its defence to the 11 July 1970 edition ofMelody Maker:
I've just listened to Dylan's new album, and in particular "Belle Isle", and I feel deeply moved that such a man is making music in my time.
Dylan's songs are now mainly love ballads, the writing of which is one of the most poetic art forms since the dawn of man.
"Belle Isle" brought to my memory all the moments of tenderness I've ever felt for another human being, and that, within the superficial landscape of pop music, is a great thing indeed.
Please, all the people who write bitterly of a lost star, remember that with maturity comes change, as surely as death follows life.[15]
Rock critics Jimmy Guterman and Owen O'Donnell, in their 1991 bookThe Worst Rock and Roll Records of All Time, listedSelf-Portrait as the third worst rock album ever, with onlyLou Reed's experimentalMetal Machine Music andElvis Presley's concert byplay albumHaving Fun with Elvis on Stage faring worse. "The breakup of theBeatles shortly before this album's release," they wrote, "signaled the end of the sixties;Self-Portrait suggested the end of Bob Dylan."
In 1973, Knopf published Dylan's song lyrics, sketches, and album notes asWritings and Drawings, with updated versions calledLyrics appearing in 1985 and 2000. In all three editions, the original lyrics fromSelf Portrait are never acknowledged, suggesting Dylan's disavowal of the whole album to that time. However, the lyrics to "Living the Blues" and "Minstrel Boy" are included, listed as extra songs from theNashville Skyline sessions; the 2004 edition includes them under their own entry[16] and Dylan's current website includes the release together with lyrics and download links.[17]
Dylan revisitedSelf Portrait onThe Bootleg Series Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait (1969–1971) in 2013.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded[18][19] | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "All the Tired Horses" | Bob Dylan | March 5, 1970 March 11, 17 & 30, 1970 (overdubs) | 3:12 |
| 2. | "Alberta #1" | Traditional | March 5, 1970 March 11 & April 3, 1970 (overdubs) | 2:57 |
| 3. | "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know" | Cecil A. Null | April 26, 1969 | 2:23 |
| 4. | "Days of '49" | Alan Lomax,John Lomax,Frank Warner | March 4, 1970 March 11, 1970 (overdubs) | 5:27 |
| 5. | "Early Mornin' Rain" | Gordon Lightfoot | March 4, 1970 March 13 & 17, 1970 (overdubs) | 3:34 |
| 6. | "In Search of Little Sadie" | Traditional | March 3, 1970 March 11 & April 2, 1970 (overdubs) | 2:28 |
| Total length: | 20:01 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let It Be Me" | Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis,Pierre Delanoë | April 26, 1969 | 3:00 |
| 2. | "Little Sadie" | Traditional | March 3, 1970 March 11 & April 2, 1970 (overdubs) | 2:00 |
| 3. | "Woogie Boogie" | Dylan | March 3, 1970 March 13 & 17, 1970 (overdubs) | 2:06 |
| 4. | "Belle Isle" | Traditional | March 3, 1970 March 12, 17 & 30, 1970 (overdubs) | 2:30 |
| 5. | "Living the Blues" | Dylan | April 24, 1969 | 2:42 |
| 6. | "Like a Rolling Stone" | Dylan | August 31, 1969[a] | 5:18 |
| Total length: | 17:36 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Copper Kettle" | Albert Frank Beddoe | March 3, 1970 March 13, 17 & 30, 1970 (overdubs) | 3:34 |
| 2. | "Gotta Travel On" | Paul Clayton, Larry Ehrlich, David Lazar, Tom Six | March 5, 1970 March 13, 1970 (overdubs) | 3:08 |
| 3. | "Blue Moon" | Lorenz Hart,Richard Rodgers | May 3, 1969 | 2:29 |
| 4. | "The Boxer" | Paul Simon | March 3, 1970 March 12 & April 2, 1970 (overdubs) | 2:48 |
| 5. | "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)" | Dylan | August 31, 1969[a] | 2:48 |
| 6. | "Take Me as I Am (Or Let Me Go)" | Boudleaux Bryant | April 26, 1969 | 3:03 |
| Total length: | 17:50 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recorded | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Take a Message to Mary" | Felice Bryant,Boudleaux Bryant | May 3, 1969 | 2:46 |
| 2. | "It Hurts Me Too" | Traditional | March 3, 1970 | 3:15 |
| 3. | "Minstrel Boy" | Dylan | August 31, 1969[a] | 3:33 |
| 4. | "She Belongs to Me" | Dylan | August 31, 1969[a] | 2:44 |
| 5. | "Wigwam" | Dylan | March 4, 1970 March 17, 1970 (overdubs) | 3:09 |
| 6. | "Alberta #2" | Traditional | March 5, 1970 March 11 & April 3, 1970 (overdubs) | 3:12 |
| Total length: | 18:39 | |||
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Billboard 200 | 4 |
| 1970 | Record World Album Chart | 1 |
| 1970 | Cash Box Album Chart | 1 |
| 1970 | Spanish Albums Chart[28] | 3 |
| 1970 | UK Top 75[29] | 1 |
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | "Wigwam" | Billboard Hot 100 | 41[citation needed] |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[30] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
