June 9: Bob Dylan – Another Side Of Bob Dylan recording session in 1964

another side of Bob Dylan

“I wrote my fourth album [“Another Side of Bob Dylan”] in Greece, but that was still an American album.”
~Bob Dylan (to Robert Shelton June 1978)

“Tom Wilson, the producer, titled it that,” [Another Side of Bob Dylan] “I begged and pleaded with him not to do it. You know, I thought it was overstating the obvious. I knew I was going to have to take a lot of heat for a title like that and it was my feeling that it wasn’t a good idea coming after The Times They Are A- Changin’, it just wasn’t right. It seemed like a negation of the past which in no way was true. I know that Tom didn’t mean it that way, but that’s what I figured that people would take it to mean, but Tom meant well and he had control, so he had it his way. I guess in the long run, he might have been right to do what he did. It doesn’t matter now.”
~Bob Dylan (to Cameron Crowe Sept. 1985)

In May Dylan went to London for a concert at the Royal Festival Hall. Afterwards he and Victor Maimudes visited Paris and a small town in Greece, where Dylan worked on songs for his next album. Back in New York, June· 9, 1964, Dylan went into the recording studio with Tom Wilson, a couple of bottles of wine, and a small crowd of friends, and recorded his entire fourth album, Another Side of Bob Dylan, in a single evening.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan Performing Artist I: The Early Years 1960-1973)

Wikipedia:

With Dylan’s commercial profile on the rise, Columbia was now urging Dylan to release a steady stream of recordings. Upon Dylan’s return to New York, studio time was quickly scheduled, with Tom Wilson back as producer.

The first (and only) session was held on June 9 at Columbia’s Studio A in New York. According to Heylin, “while polishing off a couple of bottles of Beaujolais”, Dylan recorded fourteen original compositions that night, eleven of which were chosen for the final album. The three that were ultimately rejected were “Denise Denise”, “Mr. Tambourine Man”, and “Mama, You Been on My Mind”.

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott was present during part of this session, and Dylan asked him to perform on “Mr. Tambourine Man”. “He invited me to sing on it with him,” recalls Elliott, “but I didn’t know the words ‘cept for the chorus, so I just harmonized with him on the chorus.” Only one complete take was recorded, with Dylan stumbling on some of the lyrics. Though the recording was ultimately rejected, Dylan would return to the song for his next album.

By the time Dylan recorded what was ultimately the master take of “My Back Pages”, it was 1:30 in the morning. Master takes were selected, and after some minor editing, a final album was soon sequenced.

Bob Dylan 1964
@ the studio above the Café Espresso on Tinker Street, Woodstock, New York photo taken by Douglas R.Gilbert

Columbia Studios
New York City, New York
9 June 1964
The Another Side Of Bob Dylan session, produced by Tom Wilson.

  1. Denise
    Alt take released on: 50th Anniversary Collection
  2. Denise
  3. Denise
  4. Denise
  5. It Ain’t Me, Babe
  6. It Ain’t Me, Babe
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.




  7. To Ramona
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.
  8. Spanish Harlem Incident
  9. Spanish Harlem Incident
  10. Spanish Harlem Incident
    Alt take released on: 50th Anniversary Collection
  11. Spanish Harlem Incident
  12. Spanish Harlem Incident
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.
  13. Ballad In Plain D
  14. Ballad In Plain D
  15. Ballad In Plain D
  16. Ballad In Plain D
  17. Ballad In Plain D
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.
  18. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
    Alt take released on: 50th Anniversary Collection
  19. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
  20. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
  21. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
  22. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.
  23. Chimes Of Freedom
    Alt take released on: 50th Anniversary Collection
  24. Chimes Of Freedom
  25. Chimes Of Freedom
  26. Chimes Of Freedom
  27. Chimes Of Freedom
  28. Chimes Of Freedom
  29. Chimes Of Freedom
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.
  30. Motorpsycho Nitemare
  31. Motorpsycho Nitemare
  32. Motorpsycho Nitemare
  33. Motorpsycho Nitemare
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.
  34. Mr. Tambourine Man
  35. Mr. Tambourine Man
    Released on: The Bootleg Series Vol 7. No Direction Home The Soundtrack, 30 August 2005.
  36. All I Really Want To Do
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.
  37. Black Crow Blues
  38. Black Crow Blues
  39. Black Crow Blues
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.
  40. I Shall Be Free No 10
  41. I Shall Be Free No 10
    Alt take released on: 50th Anniversary Collection
  42. I Shall Be Free No 10
  43. I Shall Be Free No 10
  44. I Shall Be Free No 10
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.
  45. Mama, You Been On My Mind
    Released on: The Bootleg Series (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991, Volume 2, 26 March 1991.
  46. My Back Pages
  47. My Back Pages
    Released on: Another Side Of Bob Dylan, 8 August 1964.

Check out:

-Egil

 

5 thoughts on “June 9: Bob Dylan – Another Side Of Bob Dylan recording session in 1964”

      1. thanks for the update, egil. columbia could probably make a few bucks by rereleasing some of this!

  1. an awesome achievement, getting all of this down in one evening… it produced a lovely lively and poetic album with a lot of atmospheres blending into one… and for me it carries a lot in it that I would later encounter as the spirit of my beloved Greece strange enough, where the light makes the contours of everything sharp, yet it opens the heart to a wide heaven… melancholy and joy, tragedy and leisure go hand in hand dancing on the beach while night falls… it’s all there in this little many faceted jewel… it doesn’t contain only classics, also some lightweight but good songs… only wished Mama you’ve been on my mind would have made the cut, but what should have been deleted then? maybe the talking blues, though it is hilarious on first, second and third listening and bears nice memories thereafter… somehow I cherish this album, even if it is in lower stature than what came before and after in that early period…

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