NEW MORNING

Now yesterday saw the release of Dylan's 'New Morning' back in 1970 and I got lost with Bob prior to this though curiously not from 'Self Portrait' which I enjoyed (I was going through a very weird phase it must be said) but earlier on I was busy listening elsewhere I guess . . .I stayed stuck listening to 'John Wesley Harding' ['67?] which was and remains a favourite album with it's totally unique voice and story telling tone that I adore and with it's weirder than weird cover which I was playing for the next few years at least. I think it surpasses all of the next few albums output and is streets ahead of them all still and technically the stuff on 'New Morning' was rehashed and earlier than Self Portrait but hey go figure it wasn't really then until 'Blood on The Tracks' (1975?) of course, that I sat up and took notice again. . . . .You might be forgiven for thinking I stuck with His Bobness all the way through but the late 70's breakdown into god bothering really troubled me and spoke to other folks and not me ( I don't gotta serve nobody sorry, Bob) but this album had some great songs on it. Not least 'If Not For You' a favourite love song and the title track of course but also 'The Man In Me' which remains an extraordinary song still covered in his set list from time to time. So no I didn't buy this when it came out and got it several years later . . . . . .really the triumvirate of mid eighties albums 'Infidels', 'Empire Burlesque' and 'Knocked Out....'  all of which I still love and bought when they came out . . . . . was when I returned to really paying attention to his output and don't think I have wavered again since

On this day in music history: October 21, 1970 - “New Morning”, the twelfth studio album by Bob Dylan is released. Produced by Bob Johnston, it is recorded at Columbia Recording Studios, Studio B & Studio E in New York City from June - August 1970. Issued just four months after the controversial and poorly received “Self Portrait”, Dylan emerges with a much more coherent and tightly produced album, attracting raves from both critics and fans. Some speculate that the album is rushed out in response to the negative backlash that Dylan receives following the release of “Self Portrait”. Though most of “New Morning” had been recorded prior to the release of “Portrait”. It produces the classic “If Not For You” which is also covered by George Harrison on his solo debut “All Things Must Pass”, and a version by Olivia Newton-John is her first US hit in 1971. The majority of “Morning is recording during June and July of 1970, with "If Not For You” and “Time Passes Slowly” being re-recorded. “Day Of The Locusts” which was not finished earlier on is completed and recorded during the same session on August 12, 1970. Dylan also records cover versions of “Ballad Of Ira Hayes” and “Mr. Bojangles”, but are not included in the final track listing. Prior to the completion of the album, Dylan parts ways with his long time manager Albert Grossman, gaining full control over management of his career and music publishing. Grossman continues to maintain a financial stake in Dylan’s earlier work until his death in 1986. The album cover artwork features a portrait of a bearded Dylan on the front, without any artist name or title graphics. The back cover features a black and white photo of the musician, with blues singer Victoria Spivey. The photo is taken during a recording session where Bob had played harmonica and sang backing vocals, on an album by Spivey and Big Joe Williams. Spivey had met Dylan in 1961, while he had been playing the coffee house circuit in Greenwich Village. Becoming fast friends, she is one of his earliest supporters prior to him signing with Columbia Records. Originally released on CD in the late 80’s, the album is remastered and reissued in 2009. It is reissued on vinyl by Sony Music in 2001, with a 180 gram LP pressing released by Music On Vinyl in 2009. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab also remasters and reissues the classic title as a limited edition hybrid SACD and 180 gram vinyl LP in 2014. “New Morning” peaks at number seven on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.