The superiority of Bob Dylan’s original recordings of ‘Blood on the Tracks’
The case could easily be made that Bob Dylan‘s 1975 album Blood on the Tracks is the best and most mature of all his releases. While Dylan has insisted that the songs are not autobiographical in nature, perhaps the legendary folk musician is being somewhat hard to get, as his son Jakob has previously viewed the album as “my parents talking”. At the time, Dylan had become estranged from his then-wife, Sara.
Some of Dylan’s best-ever songs feature on Blood on the Tracks, including ‘Tangled Up in Blue’, ‘Simple Twist of Fate’ and ‘If You See Her, Say Hello’. These creations, amongst others, explore the nature of falling in love, allowing that love to dissipate and the forlorn longing resulting from its loss.
However, even though Blood on the Tracks is indeed Dylan’s best album, the astonishing thing is that it isn’t even necessarily the best version of the album. The truth is that the tracks that made their way onto that 1975 release were not the original recordings that Dylan had made.
The history of the album goes like this: after his tour with The Band in 1974, Dylan took to his farm in Minnesota, where he composed 17 songs from which his next album would be comprised. Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin described them as “perhaps the finest collection of love songs of the twentieth century, filled with the full spectrum of emotions a marriage on the rocks can engender.”
Dylan had considered recording the album with a full electric band. However, after consulting some of his musician friends, he decided to make the record a stripped-back acoustic effort instead. The recording sessions took place in New York City in September 1974, where he spontaneously captured the tracks, giving each of the takes a unique feel.
However, when Dylan showed the final cut of the record to his brother David Zimmerman, he suggested that Dylan re-record five of the tracks with a backing to give it more energy and commercial drive. He then went to Studio 80 in Minneapolis and re-recorded some of the songs with several somewhat anonymous Minneapolis musicians. Those recordings would make it onto the final version of Blood on the Tracks we know today.
Whilst Blood on the Tracks’ excellence is undoubted, several of the original recordings are somewhat superior, not necessarily in quality, but in tone and mood. Given the melancholic and nostalgic feel of Blood on the Tracks, several of its songs are better suited to Dylan alone and acoustic. There is more scope for him to express the lyrical content without them being overshadowed by the admittedly impressive but somewhat superfluous instrumentation of the Minnesota backing musicians.
‘Tangled Up In Blue’ is one of the most beautiful songs that Dylan has ever written, but its ultimately sad story of a profound love gone wrong is negated by the somewhat upbeat nature of the Minnesota composition. By contrast, the original New York recording retains the melancholic imperative of the song’s theme. This is a story, after all, and we are more able to focus on the actual narrative of the tale without getting distracted by, say, the unnecessary keyboards.
Interestingly, the roles are somewhat switched between the two recordings of ‘Simple Twist of Fate’. The final Minnesota version is a primarily acoustic guitar-driven track that again is one of Dylan’s best efforts, although it has a typically-Dylan harsh-sounding harmonica solo. On the original New York recording, though, Dylan lays down an ultra-sultry track with a gorgeous tremolo rhythm guitar, a simple rim-shot drumbeat and a delicious bassline. It’s akin to that “walk in the park” that Dylan sings of within the very song.
Essentially, those original recordings just feel better; the lyrics come at you with more force, hitting you where it hurts. Perhaps the only of the five re-recorded songs that are superior on the latter recorded version is ‘You’re a Big Girl Now’, which in some ways follows the mood of the New York’ Simple Twist of Fate’ – super chilled out.
Dylan released those original recordings a few years back as part of his bootleg series, More Blood, More Tracks. Amongst them were several of the tracks that did not make it onto the final 1975 release, including the amazing ‘Up To Me’. The track shows Dylan’s natural genius since he recorded a genuinely poetic tune and deemed it not good enough to find its place on his next album.
Check out More Blood, More Tracks below and figure out which version of Dylan’s best album you prefer.
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