Product Description

Track listing 1. All I Really Want To Do 2. Black Crow Blues 3. Spanish Harlem Incident 4. Chimes Of Freedom 5. I Shall Be Free No 10 6. To Ramona 7. Motorpsycho Nightmare 8. My Back Pages 9. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) 10. Ballad In Plain D 11. It Ain't Me Babe

Track Listing

1. All I Really Want To Do
2. Black Crow Blues
3. Spanish Harlem Incident
4. Chimes Of Freedom
5. I Shall Be Free No. 10
6. To Ramona
7. Motorpsycho Nightmare
8. My Back Pages
9. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
10. Ballad In Plain D
11. It Ain't Me Babe

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7034 in Music
• Released on: 2004-03-29
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
This set captures a still-growing Dylan on the edge, just before he makes the jump to rock & roll, continuing to expand the notion of folk music with openhearted, unprecedented compositions and performances like "All I Really Want to Do", "Chimes of Freedom", "My Back Pages", and "It Ain't Me Babe". If Dylan's previous album The Times They Are A-Changin' was a bit too literal and focused on current events, Another Side indulges Dylan's more mythic and expansive side, making more rumour for the humour that would explode when Dylan formed a band. It's just Dylan, guitar, and harmonica here, but Another Side is a rock & roll album without that band. --Jimmy Guterman

From Amazon.com
The "another side" here is the one where Bob Dylan fights against the expectations of the pop and folk music traditions he'd previously honored and updated. He does this musically, somewhat (he swaps acoustic guitar for piano on the fine country blues "Black Crow Blues"), but mainly he's busy subverting love song formulas on the anti-romantic "It Ain't Me Babe" and replacing the typical notion of emotional growth and maturity with one of innocence that's explicitly Blakean. Most remarkable of all is "Chimes of Freedom," another protest/love song, but one that's as poetic and visionary as any written, before or since. --David Cantwell

Customer Reviews

very well balanced dylan album
This has got to be one of my favourite dylan albums. it isn't necessarily the most impressive; it isn't full of political anthems and doesn't have as many classics as other albums (though obviously it has the dylan lyrics and sense of musicality to it). i think though it's one of the best balanced dylan albums in terms of mood. there are upbeat, fun songs like 'i shall be free no10' and 'motorpsycho nitemare', and tongue-in-cheek love songs like 'to ramona', balanced against the moving 'ballad of plain d' and the unrelenting intensity of 'my back pages' and 'chimes of freedom'. for people who can find dylan a bit grim and political, try this album! the balance between the songs makes it a great listen. dylan sounds much more relaxed than normal and as if he's really enjoying himself, which is such a pleasure to listen to, and makes the songs sound very unforced and effortless. i suppose this is (whisper it) one of the most accessible albums he's made.

Love Songs and Miscellany
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about "Another Side Of Bob Dylan" is that the eleven tracks on the album, along with several that did not make it, were all recorded in one six hour session that began at seven thirty on the evening of June 9th 1964 and ended at one thirty the following morning. CBS were ready for another album from Dylan (amazing by today's standards when you consider that "Times" had only been out since February of that year) and were considering releasing a live album that would combine a concert that had been recorded at the New York Town Hall on April 12th 1963 and the Carnegie Hall concert from October 26th 1963. One reason that they were reluctant to do this was because included in that material was an eight minute poem "Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie" which they regarded as a little risky. The poem is an exceptional piece of work and quite unique in Dylan's catalogue, but the corporate decision was probably the right one for the time. Consequently, Dylan went into the studio along with several friends, hangers on and various children to record what would be his last acoustic album until the mid nineties. Red wine, the drink of choice, was also much in evidence, and this laid back attitude was not really conducive to producing a classic Bob Dylan album. Many of the songs recorded at this session were written in Europe during a short trip that Dylan took there after his London concert in May and are very different from the material on his previous album. The title, which some saw as an arrogant statement of intent would cause problems, as would the album content which was patchy and uneven, but surprisingly, apart from a few poor songs it stands up well today.

The link between "acoustic" and "electric" Dylan.
I really enjoy listening to this album because of the great songs and fantastic lyrics. It's also a really fascinating departure for Dylan. His previous album, "The Times are a-changin'" was straight no-nonsense protest and folk, including what Dylan himself didn't like ie 'finger pointing' songs. But for me, the move to this album was the real turning point. He stopped singing about the world and started singing about himself. The amount of first person songs are amazing, especially for a 'protest' singer. Of course we all know now that he was anything but and here's where it all really begins. One of the best and most complicated songs was 'Chimes of Freedom' which appears to be a straightforwward folk song but is really much more complex and requires and rewards repeated listening. The heavy stuff is really well balanced by funny and topical songs like 'Motorpsycho nitemare' and 'I Shall be Free'. It amazes me that the people who booed when he went electric were surprised at this seemingly sudden change in their hero , surely if you listen to the sarcasm in 'I don't believe you' or My Back Pages' or the apathy in 'It ain't me babe' that 'their little Woody Guthrie'(J.Baez) was going through a few changes. Anyhow, not too many albums mention Fidel Castro and his beard in the same song so sit back and enjoy the fun as little Bobby Dylan starts to turn into Dylan and he hasn't even plugged in an electric guitar yet.