“Bring Me A Little Water”, a traditional song, is identified as an outtake from the New Morning sessions though it’s hard to imagine how it could ever have fit onto that album.  Dylan’s lusty rendition here suggests that he might have just wanted to sing it with a good back-up ensemble.  A treasure, happily included here.

From the evidence of the alternate versions included in this collection, Dylan seems to have been perplexed about how to present the original material on New Morning.  They are for the most part simple, lyrical, heartfelt songs, but he tried in a number of instances to tart them up with overblown orchestral accompaniments.  This version of “Sign On the Window” is case in point — the sobbing strings all but drown the beautiful, emotional vocal, which is the same track used on the album but in a simpler arrangement.  Fortunately, he made the right choices in the end.  This misstep is a curiosity, at best.

“Tattle O’Day” is a nonsense song from the folk repertoire — Dylan sings it deadpan, as he sings his own nonsense songs.  A modest treasure.

“If Dogs Run Free” is an alternate version of the song on New Morning.  Dylan sings a melodic chorus here, whereas in the album version he half speaks it, as he does the rest of the lyrics.  A curiosity.

The version of “New Morning” here has been gussied up with a wildly miscalculated horn accompaniment.  Why did Dylan go for effects like this on the early versions of his New Morning songs?  Did he not trust their simplicity, his ability to infuse them with presence by means of his vocals alone?  It’s a mystery.  A curiosity.

On this version of “Went To See the Gypsy”, Dylan has progressed a ways from the demo version also included in this collection.  The lyrics have been significantly refined.  This is a slower, graver rendition than what made it onto New Morning, trying harder for an air of mystery and portentousness.  Dylan struck a better balance on the album version, letting the images in the lyrics speak for themselves, but this version is instructive as an insight into the deep meaning the song seems to have had for Dylan — whatever it was.  A treasure.

“Belle Isle”, a folk standard, was one of the more enjoyable tracks on Self Portrait — a simple song that Dylan seemed to take simple pleasure in.  It’s presented here without the album overdubs and is neither more nor less enjoyable than the album version — a curiosity.

“Time Passes Slowly #2” is a second alternate version of the song, from New Morning, on this collection.  In this arrangement Dylan tries to rock the sweet little song.  What was he thinking?  A curiosity.

“When I Paint My Masterpiece” is a demo of the song The Band covered on their album Cahoots.  It’s wonderful, with a few amusing lyrical variants from The Band’s version.  A treasure.

So . . . of the 35 tracks on Another Self Portrait, I nominate 19 as treasures and 16 as curiosities.  All of the curiosities are fascinating, but probably of more interest to hardcore Dylan fans than to casual admirers.

“If Not For You” is an alternate take of the song which appears on New Morning.  It’s softer and more emotional than the album version, and features Dylan on piano with a somewhat perfunctory but pleasant violin accompaniment.  I have to rank it as a minor treasure, just because it shows how emotionally committed to the song Dylan was.

“Wallflower” is a terrific country ballad by Dylan, and seems infused with stronger feeling, a more authentic tenderness, than he brought to the country ballads on Nashville Skyline.  Dylan did a great version of it on the album Doug Sahm and Band, but this version is almost as good.  A treasure.

“Wigwam” is a lovely Dylan melody that he didn’t put words to — he just supplies “la de da dum”s for the vocal.  An odd number, it appeared on Self Portrait with orchestral overdubs and is featured here with just guitar and piano accompaniment.  Not much is revealed in the leaner version — it’s a pleasant curiosity.

“Days Of ’49” was one of the high points of Self Portrait — a vintage song about the Gold Rush that Dylan performed with obvious gusto.  It was released on the album with overdubs, which were perfectly fine, but it’s good to engage the vocal more intimately here.  A treasure.

“Working On A Guru” is a song Dylan recorded with George Harrison, a bluesy number with an improbable chorus about a guru.  I guess it’s some sort of satire on the blues getting mixed up with psychedelia, and the lyrics are pretty funny.  George seemed to find the whole thing amusing at any rate, in addition to laying down some spirited guitar licks.  An enjoyable curiosity.

“Country Pie” is an unfinished alternate take of a song from Nashville Skyline.  It’s a throwaway number, not all that impressive on the album and no more impressive here.  A curiosity.

“I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” was one of the two straight-ahead country songs that ended the album John Wesley Harding and pointed the way to Nashville Skyline.  The version here is the live performance with The Band at the Isle Of Wight, also appearing on the CD with the whole concert included in the deluxe edition of Another Self Portrait, which I’ve already written about here.  It’s delightful, a treasure, like all the songs from that concert.

“Highway 61”, from the same concert, is a killer.  The Band helps Dylan get back closer to the song’s musical roots in Chicago blues, lending some genuine funk to Dylan’s satirical lyrics.  A true treasure.

Like “Days Of ’49”, “Copper Kettle” was one of the gems on Self Portrait. It sounds like a venerable old folk song, and may have had older precedents, but its credited author, A. F. Beddoe, said he wrote it in 1953.  It’s a paean to making bootleg whiskey, outside the reach of the law, and Dylan sings it with a mixture of enthusiasm for the enterprise and longing for a simpler life.  This is one instance when the overdubs on the released album weakened the track — it’s much more powerful with just the superb vocal backed by guitars and piano and some organ fills.  A treasure.