Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you
You were trying to break into another world
A world I never knew
I always kind of wondered
If you ever made it through
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you
“Shooting star” was his first album closer since “Every Grain of Sand” to share that slightly somnambulant feel, a gorgeous melody, caressed vocal and an abiding conviction that there are two kinds of people, good (i.e. saved) and lost people.
~Clinton Heylin (Still on the Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan Vol. 2, . 1974-2008
)
This was the 6th “Oh Mercy” recording session, and Dylan also landed another master: “Everything Is Broken”.
The Studio
New Orleans, Louisiana
14 or 15 March 1989
6th Oh Mercy recording session, produced by Daniel Lanois
Continue reading March 14: Bob Dylan recorded “Shooting Star” in 1989 →
Most of them are stream-of-consciousness songs, the kind that come to you in the middle of the night, when you just want to go back to bed. The harder you try to do something, the more it evades you. These weren’t like that.
~Bob Dylan (to Edna Gundersen, Sept 1989)
The Studio
New Orleans, Louisiana
8 March 1989
Third Oh Mercy recording session, produced by Daniel Lanois
Continue reading March 8: Bob Dylan’s third Oh Mercy recording session in 1989 →
It’s not stand-up comedy or a stage play. Also, it breaks my concentration to have to think of things to say or to respond to the crowd. The songs themselves do the talking. My songs do, anyway.
-Bob Dylan (September 21, 1989 – Edna Gundersen interview for USA Today)
Band
The 1988 band (Smith, Parker, Aaronson) backed Dylan at the first three shows of 1989 and at the fifth through the eighth. At the fourth show, and at every show beginning with the ninth (June 10, 1989), Kenny Aaronson, who had to return to the U.S. for health reasons, was replaced on bass by Tony Garnier, who had played with G. E. Smith in one of his former bands. In late July, Aaronson tried to get his job back, but was told by Dylan, “I’m not sure if I wanna change the band right now.” In the long run, Garnier outlasted Parker and Smith, and is still playing bass in Dylan’s touring band.
-Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performance Artist 1986-1990 And Beyond)
Continue reading Bob Dylan – Never Ending Tour 1989 →
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