After shedding the demand for covers on his self-titled debut, Bob Dylan was faced with the mighty task of putting his thoughts into words worthy of song. He did it time and again, he has done it for sixty years, but at this point in his career, at the time Songwriter documents, it was different. There was something to prove not to himself as later releases have shown but to those entrusting their studio and cash to Dylan. Rarities and real specialities can be found on Songwriter: Non-Album Tracks, an unofficial bootleg which benefits from a crisp recording quality. Finding these unreleased efforts, these live occasions, in such high quality, is a miracle at work. Just a year or two on from releasing his debut and Dylan already sounded like a new artist, a fresh voice who had kicked the covers away. Yet he was still reliant on them, as evidenced here.
Opener Baby, I’m in the Mood for You is the triple bill of folk-era Dylan. A sharp harmonica, a finger-plucking skill for the acoustic guitar and a voice which darts between gruff and gold. On it continues through this compilation, with rarities like The Ballad of Donald White given a strong studio treatment. Trail songs, balladeering efforts and a sense of personable touches. The Ballad of Donald White details a horrible death which family members will never know because of their estrangement, not their lack of care. It is a brutal punch of a song, but Songwriter is filled with those moments, as are Dylan’s official releases. Blues is the prevailing effort here. A smash-up between dark tones and country folk ballads is a welcome and a tone which works well, but not inevitably so. There is an upbeat sentimentality to works like Worried Blues which are countered by travelling towards the cold and vacant pockets of the world. It is the choice of countering hope with hurt that stings most of all in these early works.
Rarities like this often offer an insight into a fundamental Dylan still holds. For Mixed-Up Confusion there is a sudden burst of instrumental tempo, an electric-like experience where he hits out with a deep voice, at those who expect to be pleased by his work. Independent as an artist yet tied to a label is where Dylan has so often found himself. Showy efforts like That’s All Right Mama feel like exciting new avenues Dylan never took. To hear them in this complete form is a genuine treat, and Songwriter flags a lot of “what if” moments. A few songs here appeared in The Bootleg Series, like the underrated No More Auction Block. There is plenty to love about this unofficial compilation, which is of a standard the official recordings often pursue.
Such is the case for fan-made efforts. There is less of a copyright restriction to those sharing these tapes for the thrill of pursuing great music. Songwriter is full of those excellent moments. Dylan as a complete artist so soon after the release of his first album is a hard concept to wrap your head around, but Songwriter makes it clear. It presents the path Dylan walked, the songs he rejected, and builds from there. An exceptional release which features at-the-time politically observant songs like Cuban Missile Crisis and shadowy fears of death on When Death Comes Creepin’. Dylan, like every artist of the time and every person in the country, was moved by a fear of immediate obliteration. That is one of the many tones flagged by this outstanding compilation.
