Review Summary: Come all without, come all within!
'What is this ***?'
And just like that, with those four words, Self Portrait's public image was set. For decades, considered the worst thing Dylan ever released, to this day Self Portrait still conjures negative reactions among Dylan fans. It is a bizarre record I will admit. It's debatable whether this was meant to be a deliberately ***ty album, recorded to free Dylan from his counter culture label or an honest attempt at a covers LP. Never the less, Self Portrait is usually considered Dylan's worst album. Is that fair? No. Let's take a look shall we?
Recorded in the midst of his country phase, Self Portrait is a noticeably slick album. Behind Dylan's usual guitar playing, there are drums, electric guitar and bass (which is fair considering he'd used these to great effect on his spectacular electric trilogy), female backing vocalists, horns and even a string section. The strings in particular drew Dylan some serious criticism given how a majority of the tracks now had a sappy feel to them. Now do all these extra instruments make this album bad? Of course not! While a bit overbearing at times, the string section adds this sweetness to the record. While admittedly it's a little tacky, the inclusion of strings on some tracks gives them this extra little boost. I should note that Self Portrait is an incredibly laid back album. Things only get heavy on the appropriately titled 'Living The Blues' and the bouncy piano led Jam 'Boogie Woogie'. A majority of the songs here are mellow country folk tracks, helped by Dylan's crooning voice he'd picked up on his previous LP 'Nashville Skyline'. It's a calming, easy record, and while definitely not a good start for people looking to get into Dylan, it's an enjoyable soft relaxing affair. There are some noticeably.... odd moments on the album. The opener, the incredibly lush and grandiose 'All The Tired Horses' doesn't even have Dylan singing on it, instead a small female choir repeats the lines "all the tired horses in the sun/how'm I supposed to get any riding done?" It's incredibly beautiful but it feels incredibly out of place. Then again maybe that was the intent, to tell people this wasn't going to be a regular Dylan LP.
Also present on the record are four live tracks recorded with The Band at the combo's 1969 Isle of Wight performance. The performances are... polarising. Dylan's voice is an odd mix of his classic hoarse nasal tone and his smooth country croon. The Band sounds ridiculously messy, almost like the group is falling apart at the seams. Even Dylan forgets some of the words to the tracks. The recording of 'Like A Rolling Stone' debatably Dylan's finest song is given this out of control almost Lo-fi workout and the results are amazingly bizarre. The track 'Minstrel Boy', a song played during the Basement Sessions is again a very mixed affair. However, Dylan's rendition of 'The Mighty Quinn', a track he originally gave to Manfred Mann, is a much better rendition, led by a series of guitar blasts and Dylan practically screaming the lyrics. The rendition of 'She Belongs To Me' is again... unique. Dylan's croon makes the words almost illegible here while the Band shambles on behind him. It's a truly surreal performance and I can't imagine seeing it first hand. The wordless jazzy singalong 'Wigwam' is another truly odd experience though the Care free and goofy nature of the track makes it hard not to love. Amongst the several covers here, there are moments of genuine beauty. The folk classic 'Copper Kettle' originally made famous by Dylan's ex lover Joan Baez is a massive standout and the melancholic 'Take A Message To Mary', an Everly Brothers classic, is another highlight. The gorgeous cover of 'Blue Moon' is another lovely gem and the two individual versions of the traditional 'Alberta' are both soothing affairs.
There are bad moments though. 'In Search Of Little Sadie' is downright horrible, and the second version that follows it a song later isn't much better. 'Woogie Boogie' is a pointless instrumental and the previously mentioned live tracks vary heavily in quality. But if you view Self Portrait as not a Dylan record but a simple country album by a Nashville artist, you get a surprisingly solid collection of songs. It's hit or miss admittedly, but it's a quaint humble album with some gorgeous moments from time to time. It may not be a portrait of Dylan's best, but its still a lovely picture.
Standout tracks:
Alberta #1 & #2
Days Of '49
Blue Moon
Quinn The Eskimo
Copper Kettle
Take A Message To Mary
Wigwam
