Bob Dylan All the Songs
Page 72
“Something’s Burning, Baby” was recorded at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood on December 14 and was used as a base rhythm track. Another take was done on February 12, 1985, and again on February 23 at the Power Station. Al Kooper is mentioned as a guitarist on February 23rd, but in all likelihood this version was not used for the album.
Dark Eyes
Bob Dylan / 5:06
Musician: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica / Recording Studio: The Power Station / Studio B, New York: March 3, 1985 / Producer: Bob Dylan / Sound Engineer: Josh Abbey Remix: Arthur Baker (?)
Genesis and Production
In a 1985 interview with Denise Worrell for Time magazine, Dylan revealed why he composed “Dark Eyes”: “This last record I just did, Empire Burlesque, there were nine songs I knew belonged on it, and I needed a tenth. I had about four songs, and one of those was going to be the tenth song. I finally figured out that the tenth song needed to be acoustic, so I just wrote it, because none of the other songs fit that slot, that certain place.”
The inspiration came to him one night at the Plaza Hotel on Fifty-Ninth Street in New York City. As he stepped out of the elevator a call girl was coming toward him in the hallway. He writes in Chronicles, “She had blue circles around her eyes, black eyeliner, dark eyes. She looked like she had been beaten up and was afraid that she’d get beat up again.” He continues, “Later that night I sat at a window overlooking Central Park and wrote the song ‘Dark Eyes.’ I recorded it the next day with only an acoustic guitar and it was the right thing to do.” The mood of the song is sordid, like a film noir.
As if he wanted to return to his roots, Dylan ends this album with a tenth song, entirely acoustic, worthy of his first albums and musically very different from the other songs on the record. “Dark Eyes” was recorded on March 3, 1985, in six attempts. Playing alone on acoustic guitar (Martin D-28?) and harmonica (in G), he gives an intimate interpretation. He sang the tune for the first time live in concert on February 25, 1986, at the Sydney Entertainment Center, in Australia.
IN YOUR HEADPHONES
Clinton Heylin reports, “[Dylan] repeatedly hit the wrong strings accidentally in the studio. With only three strings necessary for what is actually a rather trite melody, the other three strings were taped down, at which point Dylan finally got the song on tape.” Listen at 1:22, where it sounds as if Dylan is not playing on a six-string guitar.
Knocked Out
Loaded
You Wanna Ramble
They Killed Him
Driftin’ Too Far From Shore
Precious Memories
Maybe Someday
Brownsville Girl
Got My Mind Made Up
Under Your Spell
THE OUTTAKES
You’ll Never Walk Alone
The Beautiful Life
Without Love
Unchain My Heart
Lonely Avenue
Too Late She’s Gone
Come Back Baby (One More Time)
Wild & Wicked World
So Good
I Need Your Lovin’
SINGLE
Band Of The Hand (It’s Hell Time Man!)
DATE OF RELEASE
July 14, 1986
on Columbia Records
(REFERENCE COLUMBIA OC 40439)
Knocked Out Loaded:
A Weak Production
The Album
In January 1986, Tony Creswell interviewed Bob Dylan during the recording of Knocked Out Loaded. Dylan claimed to be pleased with the result: “I think the next record is going to sound even better [than Empire Burlesque].”20 His collaboration with British musician Dave A. Stewart, best known for his work with the Eurythmics, gave him confidence. “[T]he stuff we’re doing has been happening a lot easier, quicker, so I think it’s going to sound a lot more together than the last record.”20 Nevertheless, Knocked Out Loaded occupies a special place in Dylan’s discography. This is not a “concept” record, one might say, but rather a collection of songs recorded over several months in a number of different studios with different teams of musicians from very different backgrounds. In addition, many of these songs are adaptations, not original compositions (“You Wanna Ramble,” They Killed Him,” “Precious Memories”), while others resulted from collaborations with Sam Shepard (“Brownsville Girl”), Tom Petty (“Got My Mind Made Up”), and Carole Bayer Sager (“Under Your Spell”).
A Musical Melting Pot
That it appeared to be a musical melting pot hardly helped the album upon its release on July 14, 1986. Knocked Out Loaded lacks clear direction, even if the name of Sundog Productions (Dylan himself?) appears in the credits of the record. The allusive poetry of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan and the searing surreal images and blues-rock sound of Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde cannot be found here. This is not a record about breakups, the dominant theme of Blood on the Tracks, nor is it a continuation of the Christian trilogy. In reality, however, this is perhaps what makes Knocked Out Loaded interesting: it is Bob Dylan’s twenty-fourth studio album, and it includes traces of all these elements.
“They Killed Him,” written by Kris Kristofferson, can be regarded as a folk song, at least in its message denouncing violence and those responsible for the deaths of Christ, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and the Kennedy brothers. “Precious Memories” evokes Dylan’s childhood in Minnesota. “Maybe Someday” borrows the accusatory tone of “Like a Rolling Stone,” while “Got My Mind Made Up” and “Under Your Spell” concern romantic disillusionment. Finally, as always with Dylan (even on his “minor” albums), there is a gem. In this case it is “Brownsville Girl,” co-written with the playwright Sam Shepard. The text is beautiful: a love story that recalls the dramaturgy of one of the great Hollywood Westerns, presumably the 1950 film The Gunfighter, directed by Henry King, or perhaps Duel in the Sun from 1946, directed by King Vidor and starring Gregory Peck.
However, the album was poorly received, and the tune “Brownsville Girl” could not by itself save Knocked Out Loaded. The album was attacked for its lack of artistic integrity—“a depressing affair,” wrote Anthony DeCurtis in Rolling Stone, while Robert Christgau called it “one of the greatest and most ridiculous of [Dylan’s] great ridiculous epics.” Few rushed to buy it, and it only reached a disappointing number 53 and 35, respectively, on the US and the UK charts. It was not ranked in the other countries.
The Album Cover
The cover of Knocked Out Loaded (front and back sleeve) is a replica of the cover of a pulp magazine, Spicy Adventure Stories, first published in 1939 in the United States. A young brunette holds a clay jug and is about to clobber a bandito who is strangling another man.
The magazine issue in question is “Daughters of Doom,” and the illustrator is Harry Lemon Pankhurst. Charles Sappington created the design for Dylan’s record. Sappington was interviewed by the Houston Chronicle in 2009: “They originally had a photographer shoot some photos of Dylan and Tom Petty. I heard Dylan took a look and threw them all in the trash. The only thing he liked from the shoot was a Polaroid test shot, which is the first thing they gave me. I fiddled with that, but they didn’t care for it, and we went in a different direction. That’s the part I can’t talk about. But on the inside there were the thank-yous…” The entire design evokes Duel in the Sun.
The Recording
The first chapter of the story of Knocked Out Loaded was written on July 26, 1984, at the Delta Recording Studio in New York City during the first session for Empire Burlesque. That day, Dylan, accompanied by Ron Wood on guitar, recorded the base rhythm track of “Driftin’ Too Far from Shore.” Dylan resumed the sessions in December, this time at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood, and “New Danville Girl,” the working title of “Brownsville Girl,” emerged. Only eleven months later, between November 20 and November 23, 1985 (November 19 to 22, according to Clinton Heylin), Dylan arrived at the famous Church Studios in London, owned by Dave A. Stewart. In the end, this collaboration only resulted in
a single song, “Under Your Spell.”
Several months passed before Dylan headed back to the studio in spring 1986, between the last concert of the True Confessions Tour in Japan (March 10, 1986) and the first concert of the tour of the United States (San Diego, June 9). Between April 28 and May 23, nearly twenty sessions were held at Topanga Skyline Studio in Topanga, California, and two additional sessions at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, on May 19 and June 19. In total, nearly thirty sessions at different studios took place between July 1984 and June 1986. This dispersion was not promising, especially since Dylan booked no less than thirty musicians, seven vocalists, and a chorus of fifteen children. Everything was digitally recorded, a new method that, at the time, did not suit the singer. Familiar musicians, such as Al Kooper, Ron Wood, Mike Campbell, T-Bone Burnett (a sideman on the Rolling Thunder Revue of 1975–1976), and Benmont Tench played on the album, but also new names like the excellent Tom Petty and, of course, Dave A. Stewart, who dominated most of the productions of the 1980s. Knocked Out Loaded, like the previous album, lacked a clear plan.
Technical Details
Out of all the studios used to record the album, three were new to Dylan. The first, the Church Studios in Crouch Hill, North London, was the home base of Dave A. Stewart. In 1984, he and the Scottish singer-songwriter Annie Lennox rented the premises. They flourished, and Stewart turned it into a renowned recording studio that quickly became a stop for many artists, such as Radiohead, Elvis Costello, Depeche Mode, and U2. The second studio was the famous Topanga Skyline Studio in Topanga Canyon, outside Los Angeles, that hosted musicians like Sting, Neil Young, and Robert Plant. Finally, recordings took place at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Elton John, Santana, Nirvana, and others worked.
Two new sound engineers worked on the album: Don Smith, who recorded the Eurythmics, U2, the Travelling Wilburys, and the Rolling Stones; and Britt Bacon, owner of Topanga Skyline Studio, where Chicago and Brian Wilson, among others, had recorded.
The Instruments
In concert, Dylan regularly plays the same guitars, usually a Fender Stratocaster, a Telecaster, a Washburn, a Yamaha, or a Martin. There are few details known about the guitars he used in the studio on this album. On Knocked Out Loaded, he did not play harmonica.
MARRIAGE #2
On June 4, 1986, Bob Dylan married Carolyn Dennis, one of his backup vocalists. This was the songwriter’s second marriage. She had given birth to a daughter, Desiree Gabrielle, in January of the same year.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
In 2013, T-Bone Burnett came back into Bob Dylan’s orbit by co-producing, with Marcus Mumford, the music for the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis.
You Wanna Ramble
Herman Parker Jr. / 3:17
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar; T-Bone Burnett: guitar; Ira Ingber: guitar (?); Ted Perlman; guitar (?); Al Kooper: keyboards; Steve Douglas: saxophone; Steve Madaio: trumpet; James Jamerson Jr.: bass; Raymond Lee Pounds: drums; Carolyn Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Muffy Hendrix, and Annette May Thomas: backup vocals / Recording Studio: Topanga Skyline Studio, Topanga, California: May 5, 1986 (Overdubs May 14, 16, 23, 1986) / Producer: Sundog Productions / Sound Engineer: Britt Bacon
Genesis and Production
“You Wanna Ramble” is an adaptation of a song by Herman Parker Jr., also known as Little Junior Parker, the king of the Memphis blues. He was a member of the Beale Streeters with B. B. King and Bobby Bland before Ike Turner discovered him in the early 1950s and signed him to Modern Records. He recorded his first record, “You’re My Angel,” on this record label. In 1953, for Sun Records, he recorded “Mystery Train,” a song covered by Elvis Presley in 1954. The tune became a rockabilly standard and inspired many members of the blues scene, from the Doors and the Band to Neil Young and the Stray Cats. With Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan recorded a version of “Mystery Train” during the Nashville Skyline sessions in 1969.
Seventeen years later, Dylan revisited “You Wanna Ramble” and included it in his repertoire. The text is no longer written in first person, but in the second person, and Dylan’s lyrics recount a more depressing story. Parker’s version is about a sleepless night spent in search of fun, while in Dylan’s version the night is dangerous. Only the line “You wanna ramble / To the break of dawn” remains.
While Dylan’s lyrics are dissimilar, the music is pretty close to Parker’s version. For this opening track, Dylan sings with an excellent rock intonation, accompanied by great musicians, namely his longtime keyboard player Al Kooper and also T-Bone Burnett, who had played guitar for the Rolling Thunder Revue. Also present is James Jamerson Jr., the son of the legendary Motown bassist, who provides a good bass groove.
However, the drum is too static and the brass instruments are barely noticeable at the end of the song (from 2:55). Although the liner notes report only two guitars, it seems that there may have been others.
They Killed Him
Kris Kristofferson / 4:04
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar; Jack Sherman: guitar; Al Kooper: keyboards; Steve Douglas: saxophone; Steve Madaio: trumpet; Vito San Filippo: bass; Raymond Lee Pounds: drums; Carolyn Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Muffy Hendrix, and Annette May Thomas: backup vocals; Damien Turnbough, Majason Bracey, Keysha Gwin, Crystal Pounds, Lara Firestone, Tiffany Wright, Chyna Wright, Angel Newell, Herbert Newell, Larry Mayhand, April Hendrix-Haberlan, Dewey B. Jones II, Medena Smith, Daina Smith, and Maia Smith: children’s chorus / Recording Studio: Topanga Skyline Studio, Topanga, California: May 5, 1986 (Overdubs May 7, 9, 12–14, 16, 23, 1986) / Producer: Sundog Productions / Sound Engineer: Britt Bacon
Genesis and Production
Kris Kristofferson wrote “They Killed Him” for his album Repossessed (1986). It targeted those who killed the spiritual leaders of our world, from Jesus Christ to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and, on more political grounds, the Kennedy brothers. This tribute to Kristofferson’s heroes surely touched Dylan.
The ballad surprisingly veers toward dance-hall music. The instrumental arrangements are well done. The only distinguishing characteristic lies in the children’s chorus, which reinforces the message of tolerance. The mix of the brass instruments deserved more work; it gives the impression that it comes straight from a synthesizer.
Driftin’ Too Far From Shore
Bob Dylan / 3:42
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, keyboards; Ron Wood: guitar; Jon Paris: bass; Anton Fig: drums; Peggi Blu, Carolyn Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Muffy Hendrix, and Annette May Thomas: backup vocals / Recording Studios: Delta Recording Studio, New York: July 26, 1984 / Topanga Skyline Studio, Topanga, California (Overdubs April 28–29/May 9, 16, 1986) / Producer: Sundog Productions / Sound Engineers: Judy Feltus (?) (Delta) and Britt Bacon (Skyline)
Genesis and Production
The narrator of “Driftin’ Too Far from Shore” addresses his sweetheart, acknowledging his ambiguous attitude and waning interest toward her: “I don’t like playing cat and mouse.” Throughout the verses, he criticizes her behavior, her servility, her errors. But his warning does not appear to be effective; the heroine continues to drift “too far from shore.”
“Driftin’ Too Far from Shore” is one of the five songs recorded at the Delta Recording Studio in New York City on July 26, 1984. Less than two years later, on April 28, 1986, the song was reworked at the Topanga Skyline Studio in Topanga Canyon, California. Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, who attended the July 1984 session, remembers “a really vibrant rock and roll track,” with Anton Fig demonstrating a modern way of drumming. The tune later became a kind of technopop song with different forceful drumming and backup vocals. Why such a drastic change? According to Ira Ingber, it was a song where “we put the drums on [at Skyline] ’cause they were recorded awfully [originally] at the guy’s studio.”112 Dylan seems to be poaching from the domain of the musical duo Hall & Oates, a concession to the sound of the time. This is inexplicable, especially because most of the arti
sts of this decade did not make these kinds of compromises, certainly not his longtime collaborator Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
This song took its title from a Reverend Charles E. Moody spiritual, which has been covered by many artists, including Hank Williams and Jerry Garcia.
Precious Memories
Traditional / Arrangement Bob Dylan / 3:15
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar; Al Perkins: steel guitar; Larry Meyers: mandolin; Milton Gabriel, Mike Berment, and Brian Parris: steel drums; James Jamerson Jr.: bass; Raymond Lee Pounds: drums; Queen Esther Marrow, Carolyn Dennis, Madelyn Quebec, Muffy Hendrix, and Annette May Thomas: backup vocals / Recording Studio: Topanga Skyline Studio, Topanga, California: May 6, 1986 (Overdubs May 7, 9, 12–14, 16, 22–23, 1986) / Producer: Sundog Productions / Sound Engineer: Britt Bacon
Genesis and Production