''Dylan'' is the thirteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, which is made up of outtakes he recorded for earlier albums.

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

compiled it with no input from Dylan and released it on November 16, 1973. The album followed the artist's departure from Columbia for

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylu ...

, and the announcement of his first major tour since 1966. In Europe the album was re-released in January 1991 with the title ''Dylan (A Fool Such as I)''.

Composition and recording

The album is made up from studio outtakes from the previous Dylan releases ''

Self Portrait A self-portrait is a representation of an artist that is drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by that artist. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century tha ...

'' and '' New Morning''. The nine songs featured on the album consist of six cover songs and three

traditional songs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, adapted and arranged by Dylan. The first seven tracks were recorded in June 1970 during the ''New Morning'' sessions, the last two were recorded in April 1969 during the ''Self Portrait'' sessions. The album features a different recording of " Spanish Is the Loving Tongue" from the version previously issued as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of Dylan's 1971 single "

Watching the River Flow "Watching the River Flow" is a blues rock song by American singer Bob Dylan. Produced by Leon Russell, it was written and recorded during a session in March 1971 at the Blue Rock Studio in New York City. The collaboration with Russell formed i ...

". The album cover was designed by art director John Berg. The original photograph featured on the album's front was shot by photographer Al Clayton. The

serigraph Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open mesh ...

was carried out by artist Richard Kenerson.

Critical reception and reissues

Although ''Dylan'' received very poor reviews upon its release, it managed to reach in the U.S. and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. It became the first Bob Dylan album not to chart in the UK, where his albums generally charted higher than in the U.S. '' Dylan'' was the only Columbia Dylan album not to be reissued on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...

in the North American market, until 2013 when it was included in the '' Complete Album Collection'' box set.Michael Gray, 2006. ''

The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia ''The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia'' is a 2006 compendium of articles written by Michael Gray covering the life and work of Bob Dylan. It includes reviews of varying length for each album and numerous songs in Dylan's musical output, but is not just a ...

.'' London: Continuum International, p. 194.

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 1973 albums Albums produced by Bob Johnston Bob Dylan albums Bob Dylan compilation albums Columbia Records albums Covers albums Unauthorized albums