Bob Egan Archives - chimesfreedom

Blonde on Blonde

I have been enjoying listening to the new Bob Dylan release, The Cutting Edge 1965–1966: The Bootleg Series Vol.12 (2015). The new package in the Bootleg series — which is available as a 2-CD, 6-CD, or 18-CD set — features outtakes, rehearsal tracks, and alternate versions of songs from the sessions for Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965), and Blonde On Blonde (1966). So, while thinking about those classic albums, it is a good time to revisit the album cover for Blonde on Blonde.

In this video, Bob Egan from PopSpots interviews Jerry Schatzberg, the photographer who took the classic photo of Dylan that appeared on the cover of Blonde on Blonde. Together, the two men travel the streets of New York City to tell the story of how the album cover photo came to be. Check it out.

You may check out a similar video about the story behind the photograph on the cover of Highway 61 Revisited.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

The Story Behind the Album Cover: Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited”

They’re Selling Postcards of the Hanging: The Real Lynching in Dylan’s “Desolation Row”

Bob Dylan and the Fine Line Between Love and Hate

Sheila Atim Peforming “Tight Connection to My Heart” (Great Bob Dylan Covers)

Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Cover of Bob Dylan’s “Brownsville Girl”

Vampire Weekend Saluting a Font By Covering Bob Dylan’s “Jokerman”

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

In advance of the release of Bob Dylan’s The Best Of The Cutting Edge 1965 – 1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12, rock scholar Bob Egan of PopSpots has been telling the stories behind the covers of the Bob Dylan albums of that mid-1960s era. In the latest mini-documentary, Egan explains how the cover of Highway 61 Revisited (1965) came to be.

In the video below, Egan walks the path taken by Dylan and photographer Daniel Kramer before they ended up outside an apartment owned by Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman. Egan also explains how Dylan’s friend Bob Neuwirth ended up standing behind Dylan in the photo. For the most part, it seems, there was little planning that went into the iconic album cover photo. Check out the story behind the cover of Highway 61 Revisited.

The Best Of The Cutting Edge 1965 – 1966: The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 will be released on November 6, 2015 in three different versions. The new album focuses on the period when Dylan first went electric, featuring outtakes from the albums Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965), and Blonde on Blonde (1966).

What is your favorite Bob Dylan album cover? Leave your two cents in the comments.

The Story Behind the Album Cover: Dylan’s “Blonde on Blonde”