Blood on the Tracks

Infobox Album
Name = Blood on the Tracks
Type = studio
Artist = Bob Dylan


Released = January 17, 1975
Recorded = September and December 1974
Genre = Folk rock
Length = 51:42
Label = Columbia
Producer = Bob Dylan
Reviews =
*Allmusic rating|5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Ahq6gtr79kl3x link]
*Robert Christgau (A) [http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=169&name=Bob+Dylan link]
*"Rolling Stone" (Mixed) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bobdylan/albums/album/284048/review/6211560/blood_on_the_tracks link] (Jon Landau)
*"Rolling Stone" (Positive) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bobdylan/albums/album/284048/review/18842125/blood_on_the_tracks link] (Jonathan Cott)
*"Q" rating|5|5 December 1993
* [http://www.warr.org/ Warr.org] rating|5|5 [http://www.warr.org/dylan.html#Blood link]
Last album = "Before the Flood"
(1974)
This album = "Blood on the Tracks"
(1975)
Next album = "The Basement Tapes"
(1975)

"Blood on the Tracks" is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 15th studio album, released in 1975 by Columbia Records, which marked Dylan's return to Columbia after a two-album stint with Asylum Records.

The album, which followed several years of lukewarm reception for Dylan's work, was greeted respectably by fans and critics. In the years following its release, it has come to be regarded as one of his very best albums — making it quite common for subsequent records to be labeled his "best since "Blood on the Tracks"." [cite news
first = Jody
last = Rosen
title = Bob Dylan's Make-Out Album
url = http://www.slate.com/id/2148563/
publisher = Slate
date = August 30, 2006
accessdate = 2007-03-22 ] [cite news
first = Robert
last = Christgau
title = Not Dead Yet
url = http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/dylan-spi.php
publisher = Spin
date = March 1998
accessdate = 2007-03-22 ] [cite web
url = http://www.popmatters.com/music/columns/lankford/030327.shtml
title = Tangled Up in Contentment: Bob Dylan in Love
accessdate = 2007-03-22
last = Lankford
first = Ronnie D.
date = March 27, 2003
publisher = PopMatters.com] [cite news
first = Christopher
last = Connelly
authorlink = Chris Connelly (reporter)
title = Bob Dylan: Infidels - Album Review
url = http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/bobdylan/albums/album/93598/review/6068207/infidels
publisher = Rolling Stone
date = November 24, 1983
accessdate = 2007-03-22 ] It is also commonly seen as a standard for confessional singer-songwriter albums; though Dylan has denied that the songs are autobiographical, his son Jakob Dylan has stated: "The songs are my parents talking." Sounes, Howard. "Down the Higway The Life Of Bob Dylan" Doubleday 2001. ISBN 0-552-99929-6 p333] Most of the lyrics on the album revolve around heartache, anger, and loneliness. RS500|16

The album reached #1 on the Billboard U.S. pop charts and #4 in the UK. The single "Tangled Up in Blue" peaked at #31 on the Pop singles chart. The album remains one of Dylan's all-time best-selling studio releases, with a double-platinum US certification to date. [cite web
url = http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6597661/16_blood_on_the_tracks
title = The "Rolling Stone" 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
accessdate = 2007-03-22
date = November 1, 2003
publisher = "Rolling Stone"]

Notes

The songs are largely seen as inspired by Dylan's personal turmoil at the time, particularly his separation from his then wife Sara Dylan.

All ten songs on the album were originally recorded at New York City sessions produced by Phil Ramone. With Columbia set to release the LP, Dylan pulled back at the last minute, and at year's end re-recorded five of the ten songs in Minneapolis with a crew of area session musicians assembled by his brother, David Zimmerman.

Dylan's fans theorize endlessly about his reasons for revamping the album, with one unconfirmed view being that the musical feel of the album had been monotonous, with too many songs in the same key and the same languid rhythm. It has also been said that, just two weeks before the release of " Blood on the Tracks", Dylan played an acetate of the record for his brother, his ensuing comments leading Dylan to re-cut the album. [ [http://www.salon.com/sept97/sharps/sharps2970919.html Salon | Sharps and Flats] ]

Told of the album's lasting popularity, Dylan was later to say (in a radio interview by Mary Travers): "A lot of people tell me they enjoy that album. It's hard for me to relate to that. I mean, it, you know, people enjoying the type of pain, you know?"

In Dylan's 2004 memoir, "Chronicles, Vol. 1", he claims that although one album of his songs was entirely inspired by short stories by Anton Chekhov, many of his fans and critics treat it as autobiographical. This passage is often cited as a reference to "Blood on the Tracks".

The song "Up to Me", which plays like a companion of "Shelter from the Storm" (and perhaps a bookend to the record), was not released on this record but appeared on Biograph.

In "Shakey: Neil Young's Biography", Jimmy McDonough relates how, prior to releasing Blood on the Tracks, Dylan visited Young in his home in Florida to showcase the songs on the album and seek out Young's opinion of them. [ [http://www.randomhouse.com/anchor/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780679750963 "Shakey: Neil Young's Biography" by Jimmy McDonough] ]

Track listing

All songs written by Bob Dylan.

ide one

#"Tangled Up in Blue" – 5:42 (Minneapolis)
#"Simple Twist of Fate" – 4:19 (NYC, Sept 1974)
#"You're a Big Girl Now" – 4:36 (Minneapolis)
#"Idiot Wind" – 7:48 (Minneapolis)
#"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" – 2:55 (NYC, Sept 1974)

ide two

#"Meet Me in the Morning" – 4:22 (NYC, Sept 1974)
#"Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" – 8:51 (Minneapolis)
#"If You See Her, Say Hello" – 4:49 (Minneapolis)
#"Shelter from the Storm" – 5:02 (NYC, Sept 1974)
#"Buckets of Rain" – 3:22 (NYC, Sept 1974)

Chart positions

Personnel

*Bob Dylan – Vocals, Guitars, Harmonica, Organ, Mandolin
*Bill Peterson – Bass
*Eric Weissberg – Banjo, Guitar (NYC Sessions)
*Tony Brown – Bass (NYC Sessions)
*Charles Brown, III – Guitar (NYC Sessions)
*Bill Berg – Drums
*Buddy Cage – Steel guitar
*Barry Kornfeld – Guitar (NYC Sessions)
*Richard Crooks – Drums (NYC Sessions)
*Billy Preston - Organ, Keyboards
*Paul Griffin – Organ, Keyboards
*Gregg Inhofer – Keyboards
*Thomas McFaul – Keyboards (NYC Sessions)
*Chris Weber – Guitar, 12 String Guitar
*Kevin Odegard – Guitar
*Phil Ramone – Engineer
*Pete Hamill – Liner Notes
*Ron Coro – Art Direction

ee also

* Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

References