Bob Dylan – A Different Self Portrait: Non-Album Tracks Review

A chance to sever his public image and professional persona came about on Self Portrait. To say Bob Dylan sounds different on this release is an understatement. Official and unofficial bootlegs have profiled Self Portrait and the artistic strife well enough. A Different Self Portrait: Non-Album Tracks does just as well. A slice of the now-released studio work, the non-album tracks reserved for The Bootleg Series. Self-doubt prevails in these recordings. Moments where Dylan portrays characters who no longer have a belief in themselves or the abilities which guided them for a decade or more. These are songs of restraint and fear. All those acoustic beauties hide a darker edge than the likes of opener Pretty Saro. Even something as simple as Wigwam remains a moving shot of fear in the face of perceived artistic regression. Nothing could be further from the truth.  

Such a point is profiled on this, the unofficial bootleg A Different Self Portrait: Non-Album Tracks. The smokeless gun of Little Sadie, without all those overdubs, those extra bells and whistles which allow the song to thrive in a liberated environment, are removed. Gone with those and in its wake, a punchy, thrilling piece which should strike those tones of fear. Murder ballads which on release did little. Little Sadie pairs with the reflective, callous follower, These Hands. Trying to balance the indifference of life and the love for the ones close to us, sounds intense despite the regression from Dylan into folk specifics. While they offer comfort in the disconnect, A Different Self Portrait: Non-Album Tracks is filled with a melancholy which comes from an isolated period for Dylan, whose time away from the stage begins to weigh on him.  

Wistful perspectives on Copper Kettle and the heartbreak of It Hurts Me Too are bolder signs of this creative malaise. Strangely enough, Dylan starts to recede into the vocal style we are all too familiar with. The jig is up. His desire to apply the folk and country trade is a welcome sound and works well for these non-album tracks. Soft bluegrass influences can be heard if you listen hard enough. Already stripped-back works from Self Portrait are pulled down to their absolute essentials on A Different Self Portrait: Non-Album Tracks. Alternate versions of Spanish is the Loving Tongue and Alberta is where quality is at. What strikes so suddenly about A Different Self Portrait: Non-Album Tracks is just how many songs, how many versions there are of each, from Dylan. It is impossible to accurately figure out how many times a song has seen the light of day, but bootlegs like this go a long way in profiling them.  

Best of all is the bootleg closing track, Gotta Travel On. As much a nod to this need to move on as it is a chance to reconnect with an audience all too passive when it comes to the creative process. Dylan is not explicitly telling people to travel on and move themselves to a beat elsewhere, but The Rolling Stones-like tambourine, the notes of Johnny being unable to return home, have all the flickers of Vietnam War rage. Not just the death across the seas but the sense of exploration which was bolstered by two post-war generations. Those Hell’s Angels and biker gangs may not be a suitable link for the acoustic consistencies but Dylan and the percussion backing him provide a spotlight, throwing it onto those who were affected by warfare. A Different Self Portrait: Non-Album Tracks can be pieced together from Another Self Portrait but listening to it in this order remains spectacular.