Maps of Music

Dylan (1973)

Where the lyrics of Dylan take you, and where it was really made.

This album has no original Bob Dylan songs: all nine tracks are covers or traditional songs, and Dylan had already left Columbia when it came out.

Place unknown

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Released the same month the first news of the Bob Dylan and the Band 1974 Tour broke
That tour was Dylan's first major tour since 1966
Poorly received on release and largely considered one of his weakest albums
Lack of original material and a 'bizarre' track choice are cited as reasons for that reputation

Built from studio outtakes of the two earlier albums Self Portrait and New Morning
First seven tracks recorded in June 1970 during the New Morning sessions
Last two tracks recorded in April 1969 during the Self Portrait sessions
The Spanish Is the Loving Tongue here is a different recording from the version issued as the B-side of the 1971 single Watching the River Flow

Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota; raised in Hibbing, Minnesota.
Moved to New York City in January 1961 to pursue a music career.
Signed to Columbia Records after playing harmonica on Carolyn Hester's album; debut album Bob Dylan released in 1962.

Solo artist; backed over the years by bands including the Hawks/the Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and his touring band led by bassist Tony Garnier.

Breakthrough with The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963); protest songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements.
Went electric with Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966), provoking controversy among folk fans.
Motorcycle accident in 1966 led to nearly eight years without touring; Basement Tapes recorded with the Band.
Converted to Christianity in the late 1970s and released gospel albums; won Album of the Year Grammy for Time Out of Mind (1997).
Has toured since 1988 on the Never Ending Tour; won an Academy Award and ten Grammy Awards; awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Rolling Stone (Jon Landau): Columbia's right to release unreleased material by its former artist was acknowledged, but the label's start of a series of 'new-old' records with outtakes of Self Portrait was questioned
Dylan received very poor reviews upon release
Dylan's version of Big Yellow Taxi was criticised at release as a simple outtake from the New Morning sessions

Retrospectively, the album's Big Yellow Taxi has been praised for Dylan's vocal performance
Because of the lack of original material and the choice of tracks, it is often considered one of Dylan's weakest albums
The album is still regarded as a weak point in his catalogue

Peaked at No. 17 in the United States and No. 13 in Canada
First Bob Dylan release that failed to chart in the United Kingdom
Certified gold by the RIAA; Spanish-language reference notes sales above half a million copies in the US
Not reissued on compact disc in the North American market until the 2013 Complete Album Collection box set

Dylan is the only Columbia Dylan album that was not reissued on CD in North America until 2013, when it was included in the Complete Album Collection box set.
The album was released on CD in Japan in 1990 and in mainland Europe in 1991, under the European title Dylan (A Fool Such as I).
The version of Big Yellow Taxi here was first criticised as an outtake and later praised for Dylan's vocal.
The album contains a different recording of Spanish Is the Loving Tongue from the version issued as the B-side of the 1971 single Watching the River Flow.
It was the first Bob Dylan release that failed to chart in the United Kingdom.