Self Portrait released: June 8, 1970 BUY

Self Portrait seems, at first glance, to be anything but what its title claims. It is a collection of odds and ends, songs mostly written by others, some recorded live, some in the studio, which Dylan later claimed to have been an effort to dismantle his fans’ expectations. His light, lilting “Nashville Skyline” voice croons tunes no-one would have associated with him at the time along with very unusual reworkings of “Like a Rolling Stone,” and “She Belongs To Me,” almost as if to say, “Go away – stop expecting so much of me.” This may in fact have been some of his motivation for releasing the album. In any case, this two-LP set sold very well to a public that was hungry for any new Dylan material. All the Tired Horses | listen | Alberta #1 | listen | I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know | listen | Days of 49 | listen | Early Mornin' Rain | listen | In Search of Little Sadie | listen | Let It Be Me | listen | Little Sadie | listen | Woogie Boogie | listen | Belle Isle | listen | Living the Blues | listen | Like a Rolling Stone | listen | Copper Kettle | listen | Gotta Travel On | listen | Blue Moon | listen | The Boxer | listen | Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) | listen | Take Me as I Am | listen | Take a Message to Mary | listen | It Hurts Me Too | listen | Minstrel Boy | listen | She Belongs to Me | listen | Wigwam | listen | Alberta #2 | listen |