That is an entire album of covers of old, mostly obscure blues tunes. So you’re not wrong. Probably my favorite later (post Blood on the Tracks) Dylan album, by the way.
My guess is 1971.
I can tell any song from before the 70’s is old just because of the sound quality. There’s some things you just can’t remaster.
I was just thinking about how very little we have progressed, technologically speaking, from the 80s. The only major diffence I can think of is autotune. There was nothing stopping any 80s band from do anything they’re doing now other than just not thinking about it.
And, of course, the 80s “sound” has had a major comeback, and has never really gone away since the late aughts. When I heard the Weeknd’s Blinding Lights, the only reason I didn’t think it it was actually from the 80’s is because I’m well versed in 80s pop and had never heard of it before.
It sounds like it could be 1971, but it was 2014.
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It’s true that this album was very roughly and scarcely produced for the early nineties, and the songs were indeed originally from the twenties/thirties, but of course you could hear a clear difference in the fidelity to true early blues recordings, when the equipment, especially the mics, had no comparable dynamics and range.
I know one modern example where the group went for an authentic sound also in the production, and that’s Led Zeppelin’s “Hats Off To Roy Harper” from 1971. This really sounds like some old blues guy from 1930 or so.