Bob Dylan – The Other Side Of The Mirror (Wonder Minnow Performance Series Vol. 3 WM 1003/2)

The Other Side Of The Mirror
(Wonder Minnow Performance Series Vol. 3 WM 1003/2)

Side 1 (18:41):  Talking World War III Blues (July 26th 1963, night performance), North Country Blues (July 26th 1963, afternoon performance), With God On Our Side (With Joan Baez, edit of July 26th 1963 afternoon workshop and July 26th 1963, night performance), Blowin’ In The Wind (With The Freedom Singers, Joan Baez and Peter, Paul & Mary, July 26th 1963, night performance)

Side 2 (19:17):  Who Killed Davy Moore? (July 27th 1963, afternoon workshop), Only A Pawn In Their Game (July 26th 1963, night performance), It Ain’t Me Babe (With Joan Baez, July 24th 1964, night performance), With God On Our Side (With Joan Baez, July 26th 1964, night performance), Chimes Of Freedom (July 26th 1964, night performance)

Side 3 (19:31):  Mr. Tambourine Man (July 24th 1964, afternoon workshop), All I Really Want To Do (July 24th 1965, afternoon workshop), If You Gotta Go Go Now (July 24th 1965, afternoon workshop), Love Minus Zero/No Limit (July 24th 1965, afternoon workshop), It’s All Over Now Baby Blue (July 25th 1965, night performance)

Side 4 (18:04):  rehearsal (With his electric band, July 25th 1965, afternoon rehearsal), Maggie’s Farm (With his electric band, July 25th 1965, night performance), Like A Rolling Stone (With his electric band, July 25th, 1965, night performance), Mr. Tambourine Man (July 25th 1965, night performance)

Bob Dylan The Other Side Of The Mirror on Wonder Minnow is an audiophile 2LP release.  It documents Dylan’s historic performances at the Newport Folk Festival from 1963 to 1965.  Its title, cover design and audio content are taken from the Sony / Columbia DVD The Other Side Of The Mirror documentary film about Bob Dylan’s appearances at the Newport Folk Festival in three successive years: 1963, 1964, and 1965, directed by Murray Lerner and released in 2007.

The cultural significance of these appearances, especially 1965, cannot be overestimated.  The Newport Folk Festival was established in 1959 by George Wein as a counterpart to the Jazz Festival.  It served as a living testament to the vitality of American folk music.  Alan Lomax, who was largely responsible for documenting and defining folk music, served on the board. 

Bob Dylan’s 1963 appearance confirmed the ideal of folk music serving as grass-roots social commentary.  But by 1965, his final appearance, he absorbed, mastered, and pushed the boundaries of folk into rock much to the chagrin of many attendees of the festival.  

Director Murray Lerner commented: “Over the course of three Newport gigs, Dylan becomes more conscious of his power. His charisma is startling. With electricity and radio, he did what Yeats, Lorca, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound never achieved. He reached a mass audience with poetry.”

The Other Side Of The Mirror is issued in a limited and numbered edition of 500 copies with a handwritten number on the upper right hand gatefold cover, printed inner sleeves, sticker on front cover and pressed on colored vinyl.  Wonder Minnow is a tremendous pressing for audiophiles who want to hear these performances in hi-fidelity.