Album: Another Side of Bob Dylan
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Released: august 8 1964
Another Side of Bob Dylan was recorded in one night and thanks to some bottles of red wine (Beaujolais to be precise) the atmosphere was festive as opposed to it's predecessor which was gloomy. So during that nightly glorious session on June 9 1964 - which in fact will turn out to be the only session Dylan did for Columbia between October 64 and January 65 - 14 original songs were recorded 11 songs were chosen for the album. One of the 3 outtakes included Mr Tambourine Man. The other 2 are Denise and Mama you been on my mind. Only one session doesn't help much to record many fantastic outtakes as was the case on his previous albums. As noted by Clinton Heylin in his book "Dylan: Behind Closed Doors, The Recording Sessions 1960-1994" “a typical Dylan session flashes of sheer brilliance improvisational flair songs coming together and falling apart (in fairly equal measure) in the studio”.
If album simply means a collection of songs released in one 33 rpm without a particular concept or theme then Another Side of Bob Dylan is that. It is a collection of songs without any concept to link them together. One get the feeling that that night Dylan was trying to get free of his image of a protest singer. Chimes of Freedom was the only song that could be interpreted as such. It's my personal favorite on this album I think the lyrics are particularly powerful, The melody is rather similar to Donovan's Catch the Wind. When questioned about it Dylan said it was okay.
For me the 2 first tracks are the weakest ones: All I Really Want to Do (I don't dig the falsetto) and Black Crow Blues (I would have preferred one outtake like Denise or Mama you been on my mind instead). Not a big fan of Ballad in Plain D either (which is one of the rare songs Dylan admitted regretting writing). Apart from Chimes of Freedom there are 2 other chef d'oeuvres: To Ramona and My Back Pages (covered by the Byrds and really it's not easy to not prefer their version even though it's been slightly abridged). I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) is also a classic and I can't listen to it without thinking of the BS4 (Manchester 66) version. It Ain't Me Babe is another personal favorite which highlighted Dylan's new style very well. The remaining songs have great lyrics as far as I'm concerned. It's all good.
This is a very relaxing album. In fact it's so relaxing that sometimes it's difficult to consider it as a finished album. This certainly comes from the circumstances of it's recording. Just one word on the cover: we're far from the Freewheelin' Bob Dylan cover. Very far. Yeah I don't like it. In conclusion lyrically speaking you have a very complex album and a simple album at the guitar level. Then there is the genius. Of course.
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1. All I Really Want to Do – 4:04
2. Black Crow Blues – 3:14
3. Spanish Harlem Incident – 2:24
4. Chimes of Freedom – 7:10
5. I Shall Be Free No. 10 – 4:47
6. To Ramona – 3:52
7. Motorpsycho Nitemare – 4:33
8. My Back Pages – 4:22
9. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) – 4:22
10. Ballad in Plain D – 8:16
11. It Ain't Me Babe – 3:33
