Blood On the Portrait

I lived in Mpls on the day that Blood On the Tracks was released.

(I have personal stories about the night that the Mpls album tracks were recorded at Sound 80...I'll save the stories for another time.)

I was at the door of record shop Electric Fetus when they opened on that day. I crawled over the glass counter and bongs and papers to get to the shipping cases that hadn't been opened yet. I ripped them open myself to get at the first available copy in the Twin Cities of this album. I was desperate after lamentable tho' oddly interesting years of Dylan odds 'n' ends that included Self Portrait.

Today I'm in the Twin Cities again when Bootleg Vol 10 Another Self Portrait is released. And 40 years later I find myself at the Electric Fetus looking to buy the new release of Dylan ephemera from that Self Portrait era. I walk into the store through theft detectors, surrender my bag to a clerk, and find my way to the shelf of new CD releases. The new Dylan is already there as expected and costs $19. A sign suggests asking at the counter about the "deluxe" version. I encounter some stiff, arrogant clerks who show me the $100 deluxe version in a big box with a book and other stuff. I politely offer my credit card and obediently walk out with my $19 purchase.