I've always had a little thing saying "Buy the Bob Dylan album called "Dylan""

"The biggest coup for Geffen was signing Bob Dylan to a recording contract. Dylan had become unhappy with Columbia and was shopping around for a new label. Columbia was trying to pressure Dylan to resign by threatening to issue Dylan material from the vault without his permission. When Columbia issued the dreadful album of Dylan outtakes titled "Dylan", Bob was pushed over the edge and signed with Asylum. He recorded two albums with Asylum, Planet Waves and Before the Flood with the Band as a backing group, both issued in 1974. After his short foray at Asylum, Dylan returned to the Columbia fold."

from http://www.bsnpubs.com/elektra/asylumstory.html

Briefly. "Before the flood" live album and one studio album. Both since reissued on CBS again.

So, i like it and think it's unfairly dismissed...

It not being available on CD is baffling, as if it's been buried as part of some bizarre quality-control scheme...

it was released by columbia when dylan jumped to asylum. the conventional wisdom is that it was released out of spite. (the album consists of outtakes from the self-portrait recording sessions.)

i would guess that when dylan returned to columbia, it was understood that this album would no longer be in the catalogue.

it's available in japan, i think.

http://www.bobdylan.com/albumpic/saved.jpg

vs.

http://cover09.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/090/98964.jpg

Probably the ugliest of Dylan's LP covers, at least until Saved. It's as though Columbia didn't want it to sell at all.

i just wonder how "Dylan" would be regarded if it came out around the time of "Good As I Been To You" and "World Gone Wrong" as a trilolgy of interpretations of the great American songbook...

presumably mark's listened to it by now... what do you think mark?

But this is kinda amazing: My favourite cut is "Day Of The Locusts", which chronicles Dylan receiving an honourary degree from Princeton in 1970 during the height of cicada season. Now, those little buggers are born underground, and only emerge to mate after 17 YEARS (!!), practically overnight. They're everywhere for a month or two, and then...bye bye, see you in 17 years! Anyhow, they were at their peak when Dylan accepted his degree on 9 June 70, so he wrote a song about them. 17 years later, I bought "New Morning" at a garage sale. The date of that sale? Yep...9 June 1987, 17 years TO THE DAY after Bob got his degree! I played the LP that day, and the only track that really stood out at first was "Day Of The Locust." And that night I turned on the news, and their top story was, incredibly, "The Cicadas Are Back"! (Damn - wish I'd remembered this months ago. Wonder if anything weird happened on June 9th THIS year.)

Also: "Sign on the Window."

Dylan isn't that bad. It was just so poorly received because people couldn't handle the idea of the ultimate songwriter doing covers in his weird voice.

I think I like New Morning, but I don't own it.

The LP Dylan remains a mystery to me, since I first saw it listed long ago.

I have never heard 'George Jackson' or 'Could You Please Crawl Out Your Window?'. I don't think I've even heard Dylan sing 'Positively 4th Street'. I was reminded of this by reading Chimes of Freedom.

Another good song is 'Changing Of The Guards', on that other LP. Street Legal, I think.

Could You Please Crawl Out Your Window is fun but negligable, I honestly can't remember how George Jackson goes although i'm sure i've got it somewhere.

While we're on the subject of Dylans "minor" albums- what do people think of "Shot Of Love"? i've got a real soft spot for it because it was the first of his albums i ever heard. obviously everyone rates Every Grain Of Sand, but i really enjoy the rest of it too. i don't know if my critical faculties are knocked off kilter because it was my first exposure to him (as a callow 12 year old) but it's generally regarded as being not terribly good. (oh, and Groom's Still Waiting At The Altar doesn't count- it wasn't on the album as released...)

Not yet, shall tonight.

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Umm, the whole album is fine. Nothing wrong with it at all. A liveish vibe to the whole thing, if you were in a club and this band came out and played the whole album, the place would be stunned, I'm sure. One of the tracks had pretty lousy sound quality, (my album is virtually unplayed) and the backing girlie vocal group if overegged in places, but overall its a fine set and really should get some better star rating.

OK, if Planet Waves is a five star album, "Dylan" gets three and a half.

It's coming out on CD! However, may only be part of this massive fucking box set:

http://www.bobdylan.com/us/news/bob-dylan-complete-album-collection-vol-1

ha, is that right? there is some perfectly good stuff on there. don't like his "big yellow taxi".

It's a fun little record. Unfairly maligned.

Only way I'm buying this is if it has the mono versions of the early albums so I can sell my mono box to recoup some money.

they would never make it that easy for you

Nope. There's too much dross in this set for me to seriously consider it. If someone wanted to buy it for me I wouldn't turn it down, but I've got the remasters I want and need to save for the 20 disc Complete Basement Tapes I dream about.

Yeah, the mono albums box is perfect, pick another five or so after that for the perfect set abridge.