Tag Archives: Bob Dylan

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Song of the Day #727: ‘Diamond Joe’ – Bob Dylan

The album that immediately followed Under the Red Sky wasn’t new material but the first three volumes of The Bootleg Series, probably the most extraordinary collection of unreleased tracks by any artist ever. The Bootleg Series is now up to its eighth volume, with each edition shedding new light on Dylan’s marvelous career.

But for now I’m limiting these Dylan Weekends to releases of new material, so I’ll skip ahead to 1992’s Good As I Been to You. This was Dylan’s first album that didn’t contain a single original song (even his self-titled debut contained two of his own tracks among a collection of covers). It was also his first album since he went electric to include only acoustic instruments.

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Song of the Day #721: ‘Born in Time’ – Bob Dylan

Under the Red Sky is notable for its extensive use of big-name backing musicians. Dylan had played with his share of notables in the past but the lineup on this album looked sort of like a benefit concert.

Contributors included Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bruce Hornsby, David Crosby, George Harrison, Slash and Elton John. But for all that star power, you’d never guess this wasn’t a typical Dylan backing band. Hornsby and John don’t launch into piano solos that betray their signature sounds… Slash doesn’t start shredding in the middle of ‘Wiggle Wiggle.’ They just play, and they must have had a hell of a time doing it.

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Song of the Day #720: ‘God Knows’ – Bob Dylan

In 1990, a year after Oh Mercy, Bob Dylan ushered in a new decade with an odd collection of simple songs seemingly patterned after nursery rhymes. Under the Red Sky was met with shrugs from critics and fans alike… it certainly wasn’t what people expected after his powerful return to form just a year earlier.

I shared in that reaction, not quite sure what to make of the album. At the time, my knowledge of Dylan’s catalog was limited to his undisputed classics from the 60s and 70s, plus Oh Mercy, so the concept of a Dylan album that was more of a lark was new to me. As a result I gave it a few listens and filed it away.

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Song of the Day #714: ‘Man in the Long Black Coat’ – Bob Dylan

Oh Mercy was the first Bob Dylan album I heard as a new release. I had spent my 15th year soaking up all of his early material — the 60s albums — but I hadn’t really been aware of the new releases he was putting out at that time. Good thing, considering what they were.

But in my junior year of high school I suddenly became aware of a new Bob Dylan album that was receiving strong critical praise. My memory is a bit fuzzy on this matter now but I believe I might have received Oh Mercy as a gift from my older sister, in college at the time.

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Song of the Day #713: ‘Ring Them Bells’ – Bob Dylan

A year after his worst critical drubbing, for back-to-back stinkers Knocked Out Loaded and Down in the Groove (not to mention the throwaway live album Dylan & The Dead), Bob Dylan made a strong comeback with 1989’s Oh Mercy.

The 80s had been rough for Dylan — the decade certainly goes down as his most uneven and uninspired. Apart from Infidels and Empire Burlesque (two albums that themselves are far from unanimously praised), he released arguably his four weakest albums and threw in two lackluster live albums to boot.

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