New Morning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| New Morning | ||
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| Studio album by Bob Dylan | ||
| Released | October 19, 1970 | |
| Recorded | June to August 1970 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 35:56 | |
| Label | Columbia | |
| Producer(s) | Bob Johnston | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bob Dylan chronology | ||
| Self Portrait (1970) |
New Morning (1970) |
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II (1971) |
New Morning was an album by Bob Dylan released in October 1970, only four months after the controversial Self Portrait. The album was initially very well-received, but in retrospect is generally viewed as one of the lesser successes in his catalog.
Considered to be a "return to form", New Morning was marked by the return of his more familiar vocal style (after the country heard on Nashville Skyline and Self Portrait). He played much of the album on piano rather than guitar.
Dylan discusses the recording of New Morning at length in one chapter of his autobiography, Chronicles, Vol. 1. Several alternate, preliminary forms of the album have been documented, including tracks which later appeared on the 1973 Dylan. He has played only four of the album's twelve songs in concert; one, "If Dogs Run Free," made its live debut on October 1, 2000, within days of the 30th anniversary of the album's original release.
New Morning reached #7 in the US, quickly going gold, and gave Bob Dylan his 6th UK #1 album. The album's most successful song from a commercial perspective is probably "If Not For You," which was covered by George Harrison and was also an international hit for Olivia Newton-John in 1971.
Contents |
[edit] Recording sessions
Issued four months after Self Portrait, there was some speculation that New Morning was quickly recorded and rushed out as an immediate response to the scathing criticism surrounding Self Portrait. In fact, much of New Morning was already complete when Self Portrait was officially released.
"I didn't say, 'Oh my God, they don't like this, let me do another one,'" Dylan said in 1975. "It wasn't like that. It just happened coincidentally that one came out and then the other one did as soon as it did. The Self Portrait LP laid around for I think a year. We were working on New Morning when the Self Portrait album got put together."
During the March sessions that yielded most of Self Portrait, Dylan recorded three songs that he later used for New Morning: "Went To See The Gypsy" (featuring an electric piano), "Time Passes Slowly," and "If Not For You." A number of performances were recorded, but none to his satisfaction.
After work on Self Portrait was virtually completed, Dylan held more sessions at Columbia's recording studios in New York, beginning May 1st, 1970. Held in Studio B, the first session was accompanied by George Harrison, bassist Charlie Daniels, and drummer Russ Kunkel. A large number of covers and old compositions were recorded in addition to several new compositions. The master take for "Went To See The Gypsy" was recorded at this session and eventually included on New Morning, but most of the results were rejected.
Sometime in the spring of 1970, Dylan became involved with a new play by poet Archibald MacLeish. A musical version of The Devil and Daniel Webster, it was titled Scratch. "New Morning," "Time Passes Slowly," and "Father Of Night" were all written for the production. Though Dylan enjoyed talking with MacLeish, he was never confident about writing songs for Scratch. "Archie's play was so heavy, so full of midnight murder, there was no way I could make its purpose mine," he would later write.
Eventually, a conflict with the producer over "Father Of Night" prompted Dylan to leave the production, withdrawing his songs in the process. Al Kooper, who's credited as co-producer of New Morning, would later say that these three songs were "pretty much the fulcrum for [New Morning]... That got him writing a little more."
The next session for New Morning would not be held until June 1st. By this time, Dylan had written several new songs, including "Three Angels," "If Dogs Run Free," "Winterlude," and "The Man In Me."
Dylan vacated Studio B and moved into Studio E, where he stayed for the remaining sessions. For five straight days, ending on June 5th, Dylan recorded most of New Morning; he even recorded a number of covers with the intention of including a few on New Morning. The June 1st session was devoted entirely to covers, but Peter La Farge's "Ballad Of Ira Hayes" was the only one given any serious consideration for inclusion. The June 2nd session produced a solo piano rendition of "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue"; Al Kooper felt it was a strong candidate for New Morning, but it was ultimately set aside. Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles" and the traditional "Mary Ann" were also recorded on June 2nd, with "Mr. Bojangles" receiving serious consideration for inclusion.
On June 9th, several days after those initial June sessions, Dylan accepted an honorary doctorate in music from Princeton University. Dylan did not enjoy the experience, and it inspired him to write a new song, "Day Of The Locusts."
Weeks later, a session held on June 30th was dedicated to recording new versions of "Blowin' In The Wind," but those recordings were left on the shelf.
Bob Johnston was still credited with production, but by July he was absent and would not return. Instead, Dylan and Kooper would create the preliminary sequence for New Morning. The process was wrought with frustration, possibly the result of the negative criticism over Self Portrait. The first sequence of New Morning included a few covers as well as a new version of "Tomorrow Is A Long Time," an original composition dating back to 1962.
Meanwhile, Kooper convinced Dylan to record string overdubs for "Sign On The Window." An overdub session was held on July 13th, but Dylan would leave those overdubs out of the final mix. Kooper then convinced Dylan to record overdubs for a June 2nd recording of "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue" and the March recordings of "If Not For You" and "Went To See The Gypsy." That overdub session was held on July 23rd, but Dylan would ultimately reject these recordings.
"When I finished that album I never wanted to speak to him again," Kooper said. "I was cheesed off at how difficult [the whole thing was]...He just changed his mind every three seconds so I just ended up doing the work of three albums...We'd get a side order and we'd go in and master it and he'd say, 'No, no, no. I want to do this.' And then, 'No, let's go in and cut this.'... There was another version of 'Went to See the Gypsy' that was really good... It was the first time I went in and had an arrangement idea for it and I said, 'Let me go in and cut this track and then you can sing over it.' So I cut this track and it was really good... and he came in and pretended like he didn't understand where to sing on it."
Dylan ultimately decided to re-record "If Not For You" and "Time Passes Slowly," holding one final session on August 12th. During that session, he also recorded "Day Of The Locusts," which by now had been finished.
For the album's final sequence, the three August 12 recordings were placed at the beginning of New Morning, while covers of "Ballad Of Ira Hayes" and "Mr. Bojangles" were dropped.
[edit] Songs
The album opens with "If Not For You," which was also covered on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. A sincere, sentimental love song with modest ambitions, it was the first and only single off of New Morning.
"If Not For You" also became a hit single in 1971 for Olivia Newton-John, her first song to chart in both the United States (number 25 pop and number one Adult Contemporary) and the United Kingdom (number three). The song was also the title track of the US version of Olivia's 1971 debut album.
"Day Of The Locusts" is a cynical piece of work inspired by his June experience at Princeton University. David Crosby was present when Dylan went to the graduation ceremony:
"Sara was trying to get Bob to go to Princeton University, where he was being presented with an honorary doctorate. Bob didn't want to go. I said, 'C'mon, Bob it's an honor!' Sara and I both worked on him for a long time. Finally, he agreed. I had a car outside, a big limousine. That was the first thing he didn't like. We smoked another joint on the way and I noticed Dylan getting really quite paranoid about it. When we arrived at Princeton, they took us to a little room and Bob was asked to wear a cap and gown. He refused outright. They said, 'We won't give you the degree if you don't wear this.' Dylan said, 'Fine. I didn't ask for it in the first place.'...Finally we convinced him to wear the cap and gown."
Dylan wrote "Went To See The Gypsy" after his first meeting with Elvis Presley. Several references are made regarding Presley's career move in Las Vegas, but there's also a mention of a "little Minnesota town," a rare instance where Dylan references his own childhood.
The title track of New Morning is another one of the lighter tracks, a wry take on country life that fits in well right before "Sign On The Window."
Perhaps the most celebrated song on New Morning, "Sign On The Window" expands on the joyous sentiments found in "New Morning," applying it to domestic bliss. "Beginning hesitantly, the last verse of 'Sign On The Window' builds towards its repeated last line not as a forced projection of false hope but as simple, matter-of-fact acceptance of middle-age sentiment," writes NPR's Tim Riley. "[These words] offer a way of redefining one's values that doesn't mean copping out or giving up. The antithesis of the family man, at thirty a father of four, begins broaching homeliness without irony - and still convinces you not to hear it as strict autobiography."
Guitarist Ron Cornelius recalls, "Dylan had a pretty bad cold that week. You can hear it on ['Sign On The Window'], y'know, that bit about 'Brighton girls are like the moon,' where his voice really cracks up. But it sure suits the song. His piano playing's weird...because his hands start at opposite ends of the keyboard and then sorta collide in the middle - he does that all the time - but the way he plays just knocks me out."
"Winterlude" verges on satirical, a humorous love song directed at a girl named Winterlude. It's immediately followed by "If Dogs Run Free," a scatting beatnik send-up, featuring Maeretha Stewart as a guest vocalist and Al Kooper on piano.
In "The Man In Me," "Dylan surrenders to the person he sees when his lover looks through him," writes Riley. "He's not trying to impress this lover, so the title hook resonates enough to carry things...'Take a woman like you to get through/To the man in me' is so direct in its expression of the unflinching cues of intimacy, you forgive him the occasional forced rhyme.". The song was later featured in the 1998 Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski.
The record closes with "Three Angels" and "Father Of Night," the former a gospel intermission that works like a clean parody, the latter a sober incantation, Dylan's interpretation of the Jewish prayer Amidah.
[edit] Outtakes
Written by Charles Badger Clark, "Spanish Is The Loving Tongue" is a mournful love song featuring Dylan alone at the piano. The master take from June 2, 1970 would be issued as the B-side to "Watching The River Flow" on June 3, 1971.
Dylan originally planned to include a few covers, and he recorded a significant amount during the sessions. Several of these covers were later issued on Dylan in December of 1973.
[edit] Aftermath
Critics were quick to praise New Morning upon its release. Ralph Gleason's Rolling Stone review reflected most sentiments, proclaiming "WE'VE GOT DYLAN BACK AGAIN." Few placed it alongside his masterworks from the 1960s, but it was considered a substantial improvement over its predecessor. It was only four months since Self Portrait, and many reviewers did not resist comparing the two.
"In case you were wondering how definitive that self-portrait was, here comes its mirror image four months later," wrote Robert Christgau, before giving it an A-. "Call it love on the rebound. This time he's writing the pop (and folk) genre experiments himself, and thus saying more about true romance than is the pop (or folk) norm."
While New Morning neared completion, Dylan and his manager, Albert Grossman, formally dissolved their business relationship on July 17, 1970. Grossman retained certain rights from previous agreements, including royalties on work produced under his management, but their publishing company, Big Sky Music, would be replaced by Ram's Horn Music before the end of 1971, putting an end to any joint ownership in publishing. Dylan would gain complete control over his personal management and his own music publishing. Another tense contract negotiation awaited in 1972, this time with CBS. Until then, there would be little musical activity as Dylan entered the quietest period of his career.
[edit] Track listing
All songs by Bob Dylan.
- "If Not for You" – 2:39
- "Day of the Locusts" – 3:57
- "Time Passes Slowly" – 2:33
- "Went to See the Gypsy" – 2:49
- "Winterlude" – 2:21
- "If Dogs Run Free" – 3:37
- "New Morning" – 3:56
- "Sign on the Window" – 3:39
- "One More Weekend" – 3:09
- "The Man in Me" – 3:07
- "Three Angels" – 2:07
- "Father of Night" – 1:27
[edit] Personnel
- Bob Dylan - Vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, organ, piano
- David Bromberg - Electric guitar, dobro
- Harvey Brooks - Bass guitar
- Ron Cornelius - Electric guitar
- Charlie Daniels - Bass guitar
- Buzzy Feiten - Electric guitar
- Al Kooper - Organ, piano, electric guitar, french horn
- Russ Kunkel - Drums
- Billy Mundi - Drums
- Hilda Harris - Backing vocals
- Albertin Robinson - Backing vocals
- Maeretha Stewart - Backing vocals on track 6
- Bob Johnston - Producer
- Len Siegler - Photographer
