This was a pleasure to read. S/P is easily the most under/rated, misunderstood recording in Dylan’s in Dylan’s body of work. To listgen to it today- after a decade of over/rated, wretched vocals is an almost shocking pleasure. There is something about BOB’s output that causes it to be either unfairly dismissed or mysteriously over/valued. S/P, an album filled with sublime moments, tops the misunderstood list. Marcus is, as usual, too hip for the room.

WIGWAM

Always thought it was something Mr Dylan wanted to do that was different, and show another side of himself and a gift for those with the ears to hear it as such, even if you payed something towards it production. and from what he later put into the radio show they should how broad was his taste which some of us knew it had to be.

Lets put it this way. Its not one of his top 10 LP s but not the orst LP. Its a bit boring. Its in the same league was Together through life. But Street Legal is better and so is Bob Dylan s first LP wish also included a lot of other peoples songs. Nashvile Skyline was a great and so was New Morning. Self Portait was a trnasition LP

“Self Portrait” has always been underrated. And Greil Marcus has always been overrated. His writings are rambling, pseudo-intellectual gibberish. I had the “what is this shit?” reaction when I read his coma-inducing snoozefest “Invisible Republic.”

It’s a better album than its reputation, but it is still bloated and unfocused. I’m always surprised when something from it pops up on my iPod’s shuffle, because taken individually the songs are mostly sort off pleasing. They sound fresh because they are fresh– none of them are over-played or over familiar. Back then a double album was an expensive indulgence, and a double album that wasn’t great was always going to feel like a rip-off. Also, the live cuts are terrible– poorly recorded, and sloppily performed.

This album was a rosetta stone for me. Listening to this I felt I finally “got” Dylan. That he is about the music, song, the tradition. Plus, Let it be me — ! that was a revelation to hear his voice put to service of that melody and sentiment. That, together with World Gone Wrong, put the man on the front burner, and there he stays.

It’s not Dylan’s greatest album but I love it. It’s one of his most underrated. I hope Sony will remaster it so we can hear it in full glory.

It’s nice to know that I am not alone in loving this album. Certainly not his best, but not even close to his worst either. If you haven’t done it recently (or even if you have) it deserves a listen.

“All the tired horses in the sun, how am I supposed to get any riding (writing?) done.” There has never been a better opening line to an album. What a great way to describe the lost dreams of the 1960s. I love Dylan’s version of Mr. Bojangles on “Dylan.” There I finally said it.

I don’t love it. The whole concept was dylan’s F-you to those who were buying the bootlegs at the time – he basically talked about this in his interview with SPIN in the mid 1980′s; he constructed it the same way GWW was constructed; “outtake” versions of songs, live recordings, covers, bizarre oddities, basement tape songs, etc. All wrapped up into one bizarre package, called “Self-Portait” as a goof.

I think Ray Hunter is on the right track, ‘ Self Portrait’ is an ancient precursor to Theme Time Radio Hour. It IS overblown and very patchy, but there are terrific moments in it. Originally, it was intended to be a showcase for Dylan and the Byrds to be recorded in NYC, but the dates got messed up and the band had fled. Bob has since written that he was wilfully dismantling his image doing the album in the way it turned out. He sometimes sounds insincere here, which is completely out of ‘artistic’ character for him. Tired, fed up, lacking inspiration and confused, I think is the best way to put it. SP is probably a top 30 pick: his Christmas album is much more focused, and generally better played and sung by one and all. Love Wigwam though …

I listen to this album a fair amount and agree that there is a handful of great moments – “I Forgot More….” and “Copper Kettle” among them – but I think it’s overstating the case to claim that it’s a “great” album. Fans who have over-listened to his major recordings will come to this one and find some undiscovered treasure but it doesn’t have the all-or-nothing spark of Highway… or Blonde…; the slacker/stoner glee of the Basement Tapes; the focus of Blood…; the mystery of Street Legal; the holy fire of Saved; the quickness of Love & Theft, etc. To include it in a top-ten list would be to exclude far better LPs… but I guess it’s all a matter of personal taste! We all have our left-field favourites – mine would be Shot of Love!

About the critics: This album was also issued just at the time when rock music critics were beginning to feel that they themselves were more important than the musicians themselves. Jazz critics had already acted that way for years, but now rock critics seemed to believe that the critic is more important than the artist. To justify themselves, they needed an artist to blast and Dylan was the most obvious target. Then each new young critic felt he had to parrot the “official line” about an artist and his work. It was not until 1997 that the official line about Dylan became positive. All of a sudden, young critics were pushing each other aside to praise Dylan. The cycles of cultural criticism come and go. Meanwhile, the true artists ignore them and keep creating.

I think it is a good album too, and Bob was doing both Simon and Garfunkel voices in ‘The Boxer.’ Very funny!

Thank you Mr. Friedman. I haven’t listened to “Self Portrait” in a long a time and wouldn’t be listening to it now if it wasn’t for you. I’m enjoying the hell out of it. Sometimes I need to be reminded.

I always found it distracting that hé used both his country voice and the one

I always had a problem with the two voices on one album. Instead i compiled this, which i listen to quite a lot: 1. Watching the river flow, 2. George jackson, 3. Wallflower, 4. Gotta travel on, 5. Spanish…, 6. Tomorow is a long time, 7. Working on a guru, 8. Ballad of ira hayes, 9. Alberta, 10. Days of 49, 11. Copper kettle, 12. When i paint my masterpiece. This works for me.

Some time last year I tentatively posted elsewhere that I had always liked Self Portrait and to my surprise there was a chorus of agreement — as there generally seems to be here. I played it a lot when it came out, with great enjoyment; not the awe I felt at Blonde on Blonde etc., but real pleasure. Turns out that’s one of Dylan’s achievements too, from time to time, but of course Serious Cultural Critics usually undervalue play. It might indeed be in my Bob Top Ten for number of listenings lifetime; but then it has a multi-decade start over TooM, L&T, MT and TTS, to name but four relatively recent ones I think are “better” (whatever that means).

Love Bob, but always ask myself, did he get corrupted along the way? Well maybe I did too.

I’m so glad someone wrote this. I thought I was the only one who thought this. To me it’s Bob’s tribute to Elvis. The later Elvis, the SOUND. Like “Momma Loved the Roses,” or In the Ghetto.” With more Americana.

Too many of Dylan’s albums get underrated if you ask me. I love Self Portrait, and I also know many other people who do. The minute the critics trash an album everyone else does, it doesn’t stand a chance. They all trashed Tarantula, and that book is, in my opinion, one of the greatest books of poetry I have ever had the privilege to read. Anyway, if Bob wants to do something, he will do it, what does it matter what anyone else says?

Definitely a worthy album. I spent many an hour entranced with it. I read a couple of articles in which Dylan himself put the album down, but I’d have to beg to differ with the man himself. Ok, a couple of the tunes are out of whack, but there are others that – and I haven’t listened to the album for forty years – I can still hear in my mind. I think they call that unforgettable.