You can use a lot of adjectives to describe the albums in Bob Dylan‘s sprawling catalog. “Low-key” generally isn’t one of them. Yet that’s perhaps the best way to describe New Morning, an album Dylan released in 1970.
That might not sound like a ringing endorsement. But at the time, low-key was just what the doctor ordered for hm. Here is how Bob Dylan welcomed in a New Morning.
Morning Has Broken
The titles to Bob Dylan albums can sometimes be inscrutable, possessing significance known only to Dylan himself. But New Morning, as a title, was meaningful to anybody who was aware of what was going on in his career. Not only was it the name of a song on the record, but it also seemed to reflect on Dylan turning the page on his previous album, the most poorly received release of his career.
The album in question was Self Portrait, which featured Dylan strolling somewhat nonchalantly through a batch of mostly cover songs that were bathed in strings and other luxurious production touches. While Dylan had been slowly moving away from his turbulent, rollicking, revolutionary songs of the mid-’60s for a few albums prior to that, Self Portrait was a bridge too far for fans and critics alike.
Dylan insisted in subsequent interviews he didn’t rush out New Morning as a reaction to the bad press of Self Portrait, despite the timing of it coming out just four months after the other record. By his own admission, he was writing songs that had a bit less heft to them, in part to shake the whole “Voice of a Generation” label that constantly followed him around.
He was hoping such moves would take the pressure off him as he tried to live a quiet life with his family. The songs for New Morning weren’t attempting any grand statement. But with their focus on simpler pleasures coming from a sanguine perspective, they reflected Dylan’s headspace at the time.
Of course, this being Dylan, the recording of the album was still a somewhat chaotic process. Al Kooper, who famously played organ on “Like a Rolling Stone,” acted as an uncredited producer on the album, and he struggled to keep track of Dylan’s fickle musical whims. Nonetheless, New Morning received mostly positive press when released, helping to take the sting out of the reaction to Self Portrait.
Revisiting the Music of New Morning
It’s always difficult to judge a Dylan album fairly because we naturally have expectations based on the many masterpieces he released. If you go into New Morning willing to meet it at its level, you’re likely to enjoy it a great deal. Without a doubt, it’s one of the warmest Dylan releases, sounding like a guy at peace in his world.
The fact the songs are all under four minutes long (with half under three minutes) indicates Dylan was trading ambition for simplicity. It’s hard to find any fault with charming, romantic miniatures like “If Not for You” or “Winterlude.” “The Man in Me” rambles about benignly, while the title track is practically ebullient.
Dylan also lets his mind roam wherever it wishes on the record, without regard for any sense of thematic unity. “Day of the Locusts” recalls an ill-fated day at Princeton University with wry humor, while “If Dogs Run Free” finds Dylan doing hipster poetry over a musical backdrop that almost sounds like parody. It’s telling that when he does get serious on the bittersweet beauty “Sign on the Window,” his narrator’s malaise is caused by a longing for hearth and home.
The dozen songs on New Morning will mostly glide right by you with ease if you choose to let it happen. Or you could dig a little deeper and find Dylan was sneaking more depth than he wants to admit. In any case, it’s an album that was ultra-important to Dylan at the time, even if now it seems like something he tossed off for his amusement as much as ours.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Photo by ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Local News
Comments / 0