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Blood on the Tracks is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in January 1975. The album marked Dylan's return to Columbia Records after a two-album stint with Asylum Records. Dylan commenced recording the album in New York City in September 1974. In December, shortly before Columbia was due to release the record, Dylan abruptly re-recorded much of the material in a studio in Minneapolis. The final album contained five tracks from New York and five tracks from Minneapolis.

Blood on the Tracks was initially received with mixed reviews, but has subsequently been acclaimed as one of Dylan's greatest albums by critics and fans. The songs have been linked to tensions in Dylan's personal life, including estrangement from his then-wife Sara, and one of their children, Jakob Dylan, has described the songs as "my parents talking". The album has been viewed as an outstanding example of the confessional singer-songwriter's craft, and it has been called "the truest, most honest account of a love affair from tip to stern ever put down on magnetic tape". In interviews, Dylan has denied that the songs on the album are autobiographical. In 2003, the album was ranked number 16 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and in 2004, it was placed at number 5 on Pitchfork Media's list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s.

The album reached #1 on the Billboard 200 charts and #4 on the UK Albums Chart. The single "Tangled Up in Blue" peaked at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The album remains one of Dylan's best-selling studio releases, with a double-platinum US certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Recording

Pre-production

At the conclusion of his 1974 tour with The Band, Dylan began a relationship with a Columbia Records employee, Ellen Bernstein, which Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin has described as the beginning of the end of Dylan's marriage to his wife Sara. In spring 1974, Dylan was in New York for several weeks while he attended art classes with the painter Norman Raeben. Dylan subsequently gave Raeben credit in interviews for transforming his understanding of time, and during the summer of 1974 Dylan began to write a series of songs in a red notebook which utilised his new knowledge:

taught me how to see in a way that allowed me to do consciously what I unconsciously felt... When I started doing it, it the first album I made was Blood on the Tracks. Everybody agrees that was pretty different, and what's different about it is there's a code in the lyrics, and also there's no sense of time.

Dylan subsequently spent time with Bernstein on his farm in Minnesota and there he completed the 17 songs from which Blood on the Tracks was formed—songs which Heylin has described as "perhaps the finest collection of love songs of the twentieth century, songs filled with the full spectrum of emotions a marriage on the rocks can engender".

Prior to recording, Dylan previewed the songs that would constitute Blood on the Tracks for a number of friends in the music world, including David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills, Tim Drummond, and Peter Rowan. Nash recalled that Stills disliked Dylan's private performance of his new songs; immediately after Dylan left the room, Stills remarked to Nash, "He's a good songwriter ... but he's no musician."

Initially, Dylan considered recording Blood on the Tracks with an electric backing group, and contacted Mike Bloomfield who had played lead guitar on Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited album. When the two met, Dylan ran through the songs he was planning to record, but he played them too quickly for Bloomfield to learn. Bloomfield later recalled the experience: "They all began to sound the same to me; they were all in the same key; they were all long. It was one of the strangest experiences of my life. He was sort of pissed off that I didn't pick it up." In the end, Dylan rejected the idea of recording the album with a band, and instead substituted stripped-down acoustic arrangements for all of his songs. On August 2, 1974, Dylan signed a contract with Columbia Records. After releasing his two previous albums, Planet Waves and Before the Flood, on Asylum Records, Dylan decided his new album would benefit from the commercial muscle of the record label that had made him famous, and his new contract gave him increased control over his own masters.

Recording sessions

Dylan commenced recording at A&R Recording Studios in New York City on September 16, 1974. Bernstein has stated "the theme of returning ran through the sessions", so "it made a lot of sense to do it at A&R". A&R Studios was the former Columbia Records "Studio A", where Dylan had recorded six albums in the 1960s. The musicians quickly realized that Dylan was taking a "spontaneous" approach to recording. The session engineer, Phil Ramone, later said that Dylan transitioned from one song to another as if they were part of a medley. Ramone noted:

Sometimes he will have several bars, and in the next version, he will change his mind about how many bars there should be in between a verse. Or eliminate a verse. Or add a chorus when you don't expect.

Eric Weissberg and his band, Deliverance, originally recruited as session men, were rejected after two days of recording because they could not keep up with Dylan's pace. Dylan retained bassist Tony Brown from the band, and soon added organist Paul Griffin (who had also worked on Highway 61 Revisited) and steel guitarist Buddy Cage. After ten days and four sessions with the current lineup, Dylan had finished recording and mixing, and, by November, had cut a test pressing on the album. Columbia began to prepare to release the album before Christmas.

Dylan played the test pressing for his brother David, who persuaded Dylan the album would not sell because the overall sound was too stark. At his brother's urging, Dylan agreed to re-record five of the album's songs in Sound 80 in Minneapolis, with backing musicians recruited by David. The new takes were accomplished in two days at the end of December 1974. Blood on the Tracks was released into stores on January 20, 1975.

Autobiographical interpretation of Blood on the Tracks

The songs that constitute Blood on the Tracks have been described by many Dylan critics as stemming from his personal turmoil at the time, particularly his estrangement from his then-wife Sara Dylan. One of Bob and Sara Dylan's children, Jakob Dylan, has said, "When I'm listening to Blood On The Tracks, that's about my parents."

Dylan has denied this autobiographical interpretation, stating in a 1985 interview with Bill Flanagan, "A lot of people thought that album pertained to me. It didn't pertain to me... I'm not going to make an album and lean on a marriage relationship." Informed of the album's popularity, Dylan told Mary Travers in a radio interview in April 1975: "A lot of people tell me they enjoy that album. It's hard for me to relate to that. I mean... people enjoying that type of pain, you know?" Addressing whether the album described his own personal pain, Dylan replied that he didn't write "confessional songs".

In his 2004 memoir, Chronicles, Vol. 1, Dylan stated that the songs have nothing to do with his own personal life, and that they were inspired by the short stories of Anton Chekhov.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Q
AllMusic
Rolling Stone	(positive)
Robert Christgau	A
Pop Matters	(favorable)
BBC Music	(favorable)

Released in early 1975, Blood on the Tracks received mixed reviews. In the NME, Nick Kent described "the accompaniments often so trashy they sound like mere practice takes." In Rolling Stone, reviewer Jon Landau wrote that "the record has been made with typical shoddiness."

An influential review of the album was written by Dylan critic Michael Gray for the magazine Let It Rock. Gray argued that this album transformed our perception of Dylan, that he was no longer defined as "the major artist of the sixties. Instead, Dylan has legitimized his claim to a creative prowess as vital now as then—a power not bounded by the one decade he so affected." This view was amplified by Clinton Heylin, who wrote: "Ten years after he turned the rock & roll brand of pop into rock... renewed its legitimacy as a form capable of containing the work of a mature artist." In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote, "On the whole this is the man's most mature and assured record."

Over the years critics have come to see the album as one of Dylan's greatest achievements. In Salon.com, Bill Wyman wrote: "Blood on the Tracks is his only flawless album and his best produced; the songs, each of them, are constructed in disciplined fashion. It is his kindest album and most dismayed, and seems in hindsight to have achieved a sublime balance between the logorrhea-plagued excesses of his mid-1960s output and the self-consciously simple compositions of his post-accident years." Novelist Rick Moody called it "the truest, most honest account of a love affair from tip to stern ever put down on magnetic tape."

The acclaim surrounding Blood on the Tracks has meant that critics wishing to praise one of Dylan's subsequent albums, have often described it as "his best since Blood on the Tracks."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Bob Dylan

Outtakes

All but one of the five New York recordings that were subsequently dropped have been officially released: "You're a Big Girl Now", released on 1985's Biograph. Alternate takes of "Tangled Up in Blue", "Idiot Wind", and "If You See Her, Say Hello" from those same sessions were released on The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1–3. This collection also includes "Call Letter Blues", an outtake. "Up to Me", another outtake from these sessions, was released on Biograph. "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is the only song from the New York sessions which has not been officially released.

Personnel

(For personnel details, see Heylin, 1996 and Björner, 2014)

• Bob Dylan – vocals, guitar, harmonica, production

Additional musicians

• Bill Berg – drums
• Charles Brown, III – guitar
• Tony Brown – bass guitar
• Buddy Cage – steel guitar
• Richard Crooks – drums
• Paul Griffin – organ, keyboards
• Gregg Inhofer – keyboards
• Barry Kornfeld – guitar
• Thomas McFaul – keyboards
• Kevin Odegard – guitar
• Peter Ostroushko – mandolin
• Billy Peterson – bass guitar
• Chris Weber – guitar, 12-string guitar
• Eric Weissberg – banjo, guitar

Technical personnel

• Ron Coro – art direction
• Pete Hamill – liner notes
• David Oppenheim – illustrations
• Phil Ramone – engineering
• Paul Martinson – engineering
• Glenn Berger – tape operator, assistant engineer
• Paul Till – photography

Chart positions

See also

• The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Notes

Notes

• A Denotes personnel performing at the Minneapolis recording sessions.
• B Denotes personnel performing at the New York recording sessions.

Footnotes

1. Sounes 2001, p. 284
2. ^ Hedin 2004, p. 109
3. "Staff Lists: Top 100 Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork Media. June 23, 2004. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
4. "The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. November 1, 2003. Retrieved March 22, 2007. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
5. Heylin 2011, pp. 362–363
6. ^ Heylin 2011, pp. 368–369
7. Heylin 2011, p. 372
8. ^ Gill & Odegard 2005, pp. 42–44
9. ^ Williamson, Nigel (2004). The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan. London: Rough Guides. pp. 111–113. ISBN 1-84353-139-9.
10. ^ Heylin 2011, p. 378
11. Bjorner, 1974 On the Road Again: Calendar Bjorner's As the Years Passed the Door. Retrieved September 3, 2010
12. Heylin 2011, pp. 381
13. Heylin 2011, pp. 381–383
14. Gill & Odegard 2005, pp. 186–188
15. Gray 2006, p. 199
16. Flanagan 1990, pp. 96–97
17. "All Things Reconsidered: The 35th Anniversary of Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks". PopMatters. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
18. Q (magazine) review
19. Allmusic review
20. Rolling Stone review
21. Christgau, Robert (January 27, 1975). "Consumer Guide (52)". The Village Voice. New York: VV Publishing Corporation. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
22. Pop Matters review
23. BBC Music review
24. ^ Heylin 2011, p. 383
25. ^ Heylin 2011, p. 384
26. Christgau, Robert. "Blood on the Tracks". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
27. "Bob Dylan". Salon.com. May 5, 2001. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
28. Rosen, Jody (August 30, 2006). "Bob Dylan's Make-Out Album". Slate. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
29. Christgau, Robert (March 1998). "Not Dead Yet". Spin. Retrieved March 22, 2007.
30. ^ Heylin 1996, pp. 151–153
31. Björner 2014
32. "RPM Top Albums – April 05 1975". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
33. "Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks". dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
34. "Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
35. "Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks". norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
36. "1975–03–01 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive". The Official Charts Company.
37. ^ Blood on the Tracks – Bob Dylan: Awards at AllMusic. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
38. "Discography Bob Dylan". irish-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
39. "Canadian album certifications – Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks". Music Canada.
40. id MUST BE PROVIDED for UK CERTIFICATION.
41. "American album certifications – Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks". Recording Industry Association of America.

References

• Björner, Olof (2014). "1974 Blood on the Tracks Recording Sessions". Bjorner.com. Retrieved May 13, 2014. {{cite web}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Flanagan, Bill (1990). Written In My Soul: Candid interviews with rock's great songwriters. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-2224-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Gill & Odegard, Andy & Kevin (2005). A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dyland and the Making of Blood on the Tracks. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81413-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Gray, Michael (2006). The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. Continuum International. ISBN 0-8264-6933-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Hedin, Benjamin (2004). Studio A: The Bob Dylan Reader. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-05844-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Heylin, Clinton (1996). Bob Dylan: A Life In Stolen Moments: Day by Day 1941–1995. Schirmer Books. ISBN 0-7119-5669-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Heylin, Clinton (2011). Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades, 20th Anniversary Edition. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-27240-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Sounes, Howard (2001). Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan. Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-1686-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• Blood on the Tracks (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
• Reviews, superseventies.com

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• 1975 albums
• Albums produced by Bob Dylan
• Bob Dylan albums
• Columbia Records albums
• English-language albums
• Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab albums