By November 1974 Dylan had cut a test pressing of “Blood On The Tracks” based on his 4 recording sessions in New York (in September), and Columbia was aiming for a pre-christmas release.
But after “sleeping on it” & getting advice from his brother David Zimmerman, he decided to re-record several songs @ Minneapolis’ Sound 80 Studios.
Unfortunately, one of the people Dylan had played his test pressing to, his younger brother David, told him that it would never sell, presumably based on the sheer starkness of the sound, rather than the nakedness of his brother’s soul, and convinced him to rerecord half a dozen of the songs in Minneapolis, with a set of local musicians that he would assemble at a studio he knew well, Sound 8o, making himself producer..
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited)
Sound 80 Studio Minneapolis, Minnesota 27 December 1974 Produced by David Zimmerman
“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 12 March 1989 4th Oh Mercy recording session, produced by Daniel Lanois
Most Of The Time
Most Of The Time
Most Of The Time “Most of The Time” is a “big song,” a major work, the sort of listening experience that brings people back to an album again and again. ~Paul Williams (BD Performing Artist 86-90 & Beyond)
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Overdubbed: Malcolm Burns (bass) 19 April 1989
Released on: Oh Mercy – 19 September 1989
“I never wanted to write topical songs,…. Have you heard my last two records, Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61? It’s all there. That’s the real Dylan.”
~Bob Dylan (to Frances Taylor – Aug 1965)
“If you had to sum up Highway 61 Revisited in a single sentence, suffice it to say that it is the album that invented attitude and raised it to an art form. Just take a look at the cover. Nobody from Johnny Rotten to Eminem has done it better to this day.
~Nigel Williamson (The Rough Guide To Bob Dylan)
Studio A Columbia Recording Studios New York City, New York 4 August 1965 The 6th & last Highway 61 Revisited session, produced by Bob Johnston
Overdub session with Bob Dylan (guitar) and Charlie McCoy (guitar, bass).
One final session was held on August 4, again at Studio A. Most of the session was devoted to completing “Desolation Row”. Johnston has related that Nashville musician Charlie McCoy was visiting New York, and he invited McCoy to play guitar at the session. According to some sources, seven takes of “Desolation Row” were recorded, and takes six and seven were spliced together for the master recording.
Nashville sessions musician Charlie McCoy’s chance visit to New York resulted in the guitar flourishes accompanying “Desolation Row”, the last track on the album.
~Wikipedia
Songs:
Desolation Row
Desolation Row
Desolation Row
Desolation Row
Desolation Row
Desolation Row
6 and 7 edited into one track and released 30 August 1965
The result is a sound and a set of songs unlike anything Dylan or anyone else has ever done before…. The lyrics of “Sara” and “Abandoned Love” (and, for that matter, of “Isis” and “Hurricane”) could not be more perfect, but overall the triumph of Desire is musical
~Paul Williams (BD performing artist 1974-86)
Recorded in the summer lull before the first Rolling Thunder tour and released soon after it, the stand-out tracks are ‘Isis’, ‘Romance in Durango’ and ‘Black Diamond Bay’, but ‘Hurricane’, ‘One More Cup of Coffee’ and ‘Oh Sister’ are breathing down their necks.
~Michael Gray (BD Encyclopedia)
Studio E Columbia Recording Studios New York City, New York 30 July 1975 4th Desire session, produced by Don DeVito
On the night of July 30, 1975, Dylan returned to Studio E with a smaller group of musicians, including Stoner, Rivera, Harris, and drummer Howie Wyeth (a friend of Stoner’s who was hired by Dylan on Stoner’s suggestion). For the most part, this group of musicians formed the core of the Rolling Thunder Revue. The difference became apparent early on in the session, when a usable take of “Isis” was recorded on the first try. Both Dylan and Stoner were pleased with the session, and Stoner suggests that the more intimate sound was much closer to the sound of the completed album.Five of the nine songs from Desire were recorded at that session, as well as a slow version of “Isis,” the original master take of “Hurricane”, the single-only release “Rita Mae,” and a successful take of “Golden Loom” that was later released in 1991. Of the participating musicians, only Emmylou Harris was dissatisfied with the results. It would also be her last session, as she had prior commitments with her own career.~Wikipedia
Songs:
Golden Loom
Golden Loom released 26 March 1991 – The Bootleg Series (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991, Volume 3
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Golden Loom
Golden Loom
Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Isis (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Isis (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Rita May (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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Black Diamond Bay (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Mozambique (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Mozambique (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Mozambique (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Mozambique (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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Hurricane (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Rita May (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Rita May (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
Rita May (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 30 November 1976 – Single
Joey* (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
released 16 January 1976 – Desire
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Joey (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
*overdubbed 11 August: Vincent Bell (guitar & mandolin), Dom Cortese (accordion)
Recorded 8 pm – 8 am
Musicians:
Bob Dylan (guitar, vocal)
Emmylou Harris (vocal)
Scarlet Rivera (violin)
Mel Collins (tenor saxophone)
Sheena Seidenberg (tambourine & congas)
Rob Stoner (bass)
Howie Wyeth (drums)
Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton & Emmylou Harris – 28 July 1975 recording session
“I never wanted to write topical songs,…. Have you heard my last two records, Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61? It’s all there. That’s the real Dylan.”
~Bob Dylan (to Frances Taylor – Aug 1965)
“If you had to sum up Highway 61 Revisited in a single sentence, suffice it to say that it is the album that invented attitude and raised it to an art form. Just take a look at the cover. Nobody from Johnny Rotten to Eminem has done it better to this day.
~Nigel Williamson (The Rough Guide To Bob Dylan)
Studio A Columbia Recording Studios New York City, New York 29 July 1965 The 3rd Highway 61 Revisited session, produced by Bob Johnston
To create the material for Highway 61 Revisited, Dylan spent a month writing in his new home in the Byrdcliffe artists’ colony of Woodstock in upstate New York. When he returned to Studio A on July 29, he was backed by the same musicians as the previous session, but his producer had changed from Wilson to Johnston.
Their first session together was devoted to three songs. After recording several takes each of “Tombstone Blues”, “It Takes a Lot to Laugh” and “Positively 4th Street”, masters were successfully recorded. “Tombstone Blues” and “It Takes a Lot to Laugh” were included in the final album, but “Positively 4th Street” was issued as a single-only release. At the close of the July 29 session, Dylan attempted to record “Desolation Row”, accompanied by Al Kooper on electric guitar and Harvey Brooks on bass. There was no drummer, as the drummer had gone home. This electric version was eventually released in 2005, on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7. ~Wikipedia
Songs:
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
Tombstone Blues
Tombstone Blues
Tombstone Blues
Tombstone Blues
Tombstone Blues
Tombstone Blues
Tombstone Blues
Tombstone Blues
Tombstone Blues
(recorded 10 am – 1 pm)
released 30 Aug 2005 – The Bootleg Series Vol 7. No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
Tombstone Blues
Tombstone Blues (recorded 10 am – 1 pm)
released 30 Aug 1965 – Highway 61 Revisited
– If Salvador Dali or Luis Bunuel had picked up a Fender Strat to head a blues band, they might have come up with something like “Tombstone Blues.”
~Bill Janovitz (allmusic.com)
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It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (recorded 2:30 – 5:30 pm)
released 30 Aug 1965 – Highway 61 Revisited
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Positively 4th Street
Positively 4th Street
Positively 4th Street
Positively 4th Street
Positively 4th Street
Positively 4th Street
Positively 4th Street
Positively 4th Street
Positively 4th Street
Positively 4th Street (recorded 2:30 – 5:30 pm)
released 7 Sept 1965 as a single
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Musicians:
Bob Dylan (guitar, piano, harmonica, vocal)
1-14 Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Paul Griffin (piano), Bobby Gregg (drums), Joseph Machao Jr. (bass), Al Kooper (organ)
15-28 Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Frank Owens (piano), Bobby Gregg (drums), Russ Savakus (bass), Al Kooper (organ)
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