Sign on the Window isn't the Bob Dylan podcast you need, but it's definitely the one that you want! Each week we select a Dylan song at random, live with the song for a week (or two) and then get together to discuss. This week we celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, by lucky accident tbh, 1970's infamous Self Portrait.
We talk context (3:00), baggage or lack thereof with this record (8:00), what makes a bad album segueing directly into the record (17:00). For song beats, see below. We recommend Terminator, Teebs and Ken Burns' Country Music (1:09:00) and pick our next episode (1:16:00).
All the Tired Horses (25:00)
Alberta #1 and #2 (29:30)
I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know (30:30)
Days of '49 (33:00)
Early Mornin' Rain (34:00)
Little Sadie/In Search of Little Sadie (34:20)
Let It Be Me (35:35)
Woogie Boogie (36:00)
Belle Isle (37:15)
Living the Blues (39:15)
Isle of Wight cuts: Rolling Stone, Quinn, Minstrel Boy, She Belongs to Me (40:00)
Copper Kettle (43:00)
Gotta Travel On (45:30)
Blue Moon (46:30)
The Boxer (49:30)
Take Me As I Am & Take a Message to Mary (54:10)
It Hurts Me Too (57:40)
Wigwam (59:00)
Next episode: Can't you reach?
Context (3:00)
We celebrate 50 years of Self Portrait today. That's right: Celebrate.
Self Portrait was recorded over the course of many sessions beginning in April 1969 and finishing as New Morning began in April 1970. The amount of musicians who worked on this is staggering.
Baggage or lack thereof (8:00)
We couldn't talk about the album without our respective baggage. Daniel has badmouthed Self Portrait for most of his life, as any good American is brought up to do. (Daniel's dunking on Self Portrait has led to Kelly have a general negative opinion as well.) But like the rest of our societal structures, perhaps we're wrong about this one! Boy, is it good to be wrong.
Self Portrait (17:30)
We start our journey with Self Portrait talking about what Dylan has said about the album, the mythology of him making this album purely as some kind of "fuck you" to his fans, and it being the template for future albums like Good As I Been to You, World Gone Wrong, Shadows in the Night, Fallen Angels and Triplicate.
We also talk about all-time "worst" albums, which include Lou Reed, Elvis, Duran Duran, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica. Opening up to Self Portrait, at least, allows me to open up with these albums and question the difference between "bad/worst" and "failed." Self Portrait may fail in a lot of regards, but it is not objectively bad.
All the Tired Horses (25:00)
Alberta #1 and #2 and #3 (29:30)
I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know (30:30)
"Days of '49" (33:00)
Our previous episode 10.
Early Mornin' Rain (34:00)
Little Sadie/In Search of Little Sadie (34:20)
Let It Be Me (35:35)
"Woogie Boogie" (36:00)
Belle Isle (37:15)
Marc Bolan, of T. Rex, here who said in Melody Maker in 1970:
I've just listended 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.
Living the Blues (39:15)
Isle of Wight cuts: Rolling Stone, Quinn, Minstrel Boy, She Belongs to Me (40:00)
We covered Isle of Wight during the 50th anniversary in the summer of 2019. The inclusion on Self Portrait makes sense from 1970 as these were rare and sound great. Now, they feel like clear filler.
Copper Kettle (43:00)
The most animated discussion of the episode.
Gotta Travel On (45:30)
Blue Moon (46:30)
We talk Paul Simon and if there was a beef with him and Dylan.
The Boxer (49:30)
Take Me As I Am & Take a Message to Mary (54:10)
We talk Felice and Boudleaux Bryant.
It Hurts Me Too (57:40)
Wigwam (59:00)
Kelly's favorite from the record.
DOES IT WORK IN 2020?
Dissent magazine in 2014, when TBLS Vol. 10: Another Self Portrait came out, wrote about Dylan leaving the attention economy, in our parlance: "He decided to become an oversharer."
It'll keep working because that tension still exists between pop stardom and art. For Dylan in 1970, there'd be no more curated masterpieces, but the nitty-gritty, the work it takes, the weird choices, the multiple versions of songs as if you couldn't decide which expression fits your brand best — old Dylan put it aside, new Dylan puts them all in.
The album has, like the Basement Tapes that preceded this, become short-hand for the period when an artist returns to the music that formed them. After 1970, every covers record can be discussed in *Self Portrait-*like terms, alluding to its own popular failure while acknowledging that, in some ways, it's not meant for the public but for the artist or band. You've been invited to come listen, but don't take it too seriously.
THE EPISODE’S BOOKLET & PLAYLIST
RECOMMENDATIONS (1:09:00)
Kelly recommends Terminator: Dark Fate and Teebs.
Daniel recommends Ken Burns' latest documentary, Country Music.
ENDINGS (1:16:00)
398 songs remain. Kelly guessed #122, which would've given us the lovely "Tell Me That It Isn't True" from Nashville Skyline. Instead, #365 gets us the masterful "She's Your Lover Now" (one of Daniel's favorites).
REFERENCES IN EPISODE
Davis Sisters: I Forgot More (Than You'll Ever Know About Him)
The Voice of a Generation Yawns | Dissent Magazine
What Makes Bob Dylan's Weirdest Album 'Self Portrait' Great
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