Together Through Life
Encyclopedia
Together Through Life is the 33rd studio album
by Bob Dylan
, released on April 28, 2009, on Columbia Records. The album debuted at number one in several countries, including the U.S.
and the UK
. It is Dylan's first number one in Britain since New Morning
in 1970.
Dylan wrote all but one of the album's songs with Grateful Dead
lyricist Robert Hunter
with whom he had previously co-written two songs on his 1988
album Down in the Groove
. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone
magazine, Dylan said “Hunter is an old buddy, we could probably write a hundred songs together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there...He's got a way with words and I do too. We both write a different type of song than what passes today for songwriting.” The only other writer Dylan has ever collaborated with to such a degree is Jacques Levy
, with whom he wrote most of the songs on Desire (1976
).
Rumors of the album, reported in Rolling Stone
magazine, came as a surprise, with no official press release until March 16, 2009 — less than two months before the album's release date. Dylan produced the record under his pseudonym of Jack Frost
, which he used for his previous two studio albums, "Love and Theft" and Modern Times
. The album was rumored to contain "struggling love songs" and have little similarity to Modern Times.
In a conversation with music journalist Bill Flanagan, published on Bob Dylan's official website, Flanagan suggested a similarity of the new record to the sound of Chess Records
and Sun Records
, which Dylan acknowledged as an effect of "the way the instruments were played." He said that the genesis of the record was when French film director Olivier Dahan
asked him to supply a song for his new road movie
, My Own Love Song
, which became "Life is Hard" - indeed, 'according to Dylan, Dahan was keen to get a whole soundtrack's worth of songs from the man' - and "then the record sort of took its own direction."
Dylan is backed on the album by his regular touring band, plus David Hidalgo
of Los Lobos
and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
. Dylan commented on Campbell's guitar work in his interview with Flanagan: “He’s good with me. He’s been playing with Tom for so long that he hears everything from a songwriter’s point of view and he can play most any style.”
"Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
" was available as a free download for one day on Monday, March 30, 2009 via Dylan's official site.
"I Feel a Change Comin' On" was released for streaming on Monday, April 6 on The Times Online website, as well as the third installment of his interview with Bill Flanagan.
In the interview with Bill Flanagan, Dylan discusses the only known outtake to "Together Through Life", "Chicago After Dark". Apparently, this song was in the running to be on the album but was left off the final version, as Flanagan talks about the song as if it is on the album. The song is not circulating.
The album received two Grammy Award
nominations in Best Americana Album
category and "Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance" category for "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'".
The album also is significant as the only album by Dylan to top the US and UK charts consecutively.
": Dylan played harmonica on Harry Belafonte
's 1962 recording of the song. 'The one time he overtly used someone else's song as a springboard for his own - Billy Joe Shaver
's "Ain't No God in Mexico", a clear template for "I Feel a Change Comin' On" - he openly acknowledged the debt to historian Douglas Brinkley
'.
("Generally favorable reviews"). During the Flanagan interview, Dylan gave his own thoughts about how the record would be received: "I know my fans will like it. Other than that, I have no idea".
Rolling Stone
gave the album 4 stars out of 5. Describing the album as a "murky-sounding, often perplexing record" David Fricke
of Rolling Stone
writes, "Dylan, who turns 68 in May, has never sounded as ravaged, pissed off and lusty". BBC
noted that the album is "a masterful reading of 20th century American folk, albeit shot through with some mischievous lyrical twists" and compares it to "some Chicago urban blues tribute". According to Mojo
, "Together Through Life is an album that gets its hooks in early and refuses to let go". The reviewer described it as "dark yet comforting". Uncut
and Blender
both gave the album 5 stars out of 5, saying that it was "unbelievably good." iF Magazine.com says it "explores the bluesy side of his skills in a slight, but delightful set of ten originals."
and a DVD featuring an interview with Dylan's first manager Roy Silver (recorded for the Martin Scorsese documentary No Direction Home
, but unused).
There is also a two-LP deluxe vinyl version, containing the same songs as the CD. In the US, the CD will be included as part of the vinyl package.
When pre-ordered from iTunes
, consumers also got a bonus track of a studio rehearsal of "Lay Lady Lay
" recorded in 1969.
Disc two
Disc three
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, released on April 28, 2009, on Columbia Records. The album debuted at number one in several countries, including the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It is Dylan's first number one in Britain since New Morning
New Morning
New Morning is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 11th studio album, released by Columbia Records in October 1970.Coming only four months after the controversial Self Portrait, the more concise and immediate New Morning won a much warmer reception from fans and critics. Most welcome was the return of...
in 1970.
Dylan wrote all but one of the album's songs with Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
lyricist Robert Hunter
Robert Hunter (lyricist)
Robert C. Hunter is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his association with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.-Biography:He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo, California...
with whom he had previously co-written two songs on his 1988
1988 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....
album Down in the Groove
Down in the Groove
Down in the Groove is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 25th studio album, released by Columbia Records in May 1988.A highly collaborative effort, it was Dylan's second consecutive album to receive almost unanimous negative reviews...
. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine, Dylan said “Hunter is an old buddy, we could probably write a hundred songs together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there...He's got a way with words and I do too. We both write a different type of song than what passes today for songwriting.” The only other writer Dylan has ever collaborated with to such a degree is Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy
Jacques Levy was an American songwriter, theatre director, and clinical psychologist.Levy was born in New York City in 1935, and attended its City College. He received a doctorate in psychology from Michigan State University. Levy was a trained psychoanalyst, certified by the Menninger Institute...
, with whom he wrote most of the songs on Desire (1976
1976 in music
-January–February:*January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle....
).
Rumors of the album, reported in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine, came as a surprise, with no official press release until March 16, 2009 — less than two months before the album's release date. Dylan produced the record under his pseudonym of Jack Frost
Jack Frost
Jack Frost is a sprite-like character with roots in Viking lore. There, he is known as Jokul Frosti . In Britain and United States, Jack is a variant of Old Man Winter and is held responsible for frosty weather, for nipping the nose and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and...
, which he used for his previous two studio albums, "Love and Theft" and Modern Times
Modern Times (Bob Dylan album)
Modern Times is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's 32nd studio album, released by Columbia Records in August 2006. The album was Dylan's third straight to be met with nearly universal praise from fans and critics...
. The album was rumored to contain "struggling love songs" and have little similarity to Modern Times.
In a conversation with music journalist Bill Flanagan, published on Bob Dylan's official website, Flanagan suggested a similarity of the new record to the sound of Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
and Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
, which Dylan acknowledged as an effect of "the way the instruments were played." He said that the genesis of the record was when French film director Olivier Dahan
Olivier Dahan
Olivier Dahan is a French film director and screenwriter. His third directed film, La Vie En Rose, was the first French cinema film ever to win two Academy Awards, including its first acting Oscar in the French language.-Biography:...
asked him to supply a song for his new road movie
Road movie
A road movie is a film genre in which the main character or characters leave home to travel from place to place. They usually leave home to escape their current lives.-History:...
, My Own Love Song
My Own Love Song
My Own Love Song is a 2010 road movie directed and written by Olivier Dahan and starring Renée Zellweger, Forest Whitaker, Madeline Zima and Nick Nolte...
, which became "Life is Hard" - indeed, 'according to Dylan, Dahan was keen to get a whole soundtrack's worth of songs from the man' - and "then the record sort of took its own direction."
Dylan is backed on the album by his regular touring band, plus David Hidalgo
David Hidalgo
David Hidalgo is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. He is also a member of the supergroup Los Super Seven and of the Latin Playboys, a side project band made up of some of the members of Los Lobos...
of Los Lobos
Los Lobos
Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
. Dylan commented on Campbell's guitar work in his interview with Flanagan: “He’s good with me. He’s been playing with Tom for so long that he hears everything from a songwriter’s point of view and he can play most any style.”
"Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
"Beyond Here Lies Nothin" is the opening track of Bob Dylan's 2009 studio album, Together Through Life. The title is a quote from the Ancient Roman poet Ovid...
" was available as a free download for one day on Monday, March 30, 2009 via Dylan's official site.
"I Feel a Change Comin' On" was released for streaming on Monday, April 6 on The Times Online website, as well as the third installment of his interview with Bill Flanagan.
In the interview with Bill Flanagan, Dylan discusses the only known outtake to "Together Through Life", "Chicago After Dark". Apparently, this song was in the running to be on the album but was left off the final version, as Flanagan talks about the song as if it is on the album. The song is not circulating.
The album received two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations in Best Americana Album
Grammy Award for Best Americana Album
The Grammy Award for Best Americana Album is an honor presented to recording artists for quality albums in the Americana music genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
category and "Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance" category for "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'".
The album also is significant as the only album by Dylan to top the US and UK charts consecutively.
Sources and quotations
As with some of Dylan's albums before Together Through Life, Dylan has adapted lyrics from other songs and incorporated them into his own lyrics - if with perhaps a 'slightly diminished use of the light-fingered lift', compared with 'Dylan's lyrical approach from recent albums'. The phrase "If you ever go to Houston, you better walk right" is taken from the folk song "Midnight SpecialMidnight Special (song)
"Midnight Special" is a traditional folk song thought to have originated among prisoners in the American South. The title comes from the refrain which refers to the Midnight Special and its "ever-loving light" ....
": Dylan played harmonica on Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
's 1962 recording of the song. 'The one time he overtly used someone else's song as a springboard for his own - Billy Joe Shaver
Billy Joe Shaver
Billy Joe Shaver is a Texas country music singer and songwriter. Shaver's 1973 album Old Five and Dimers Like Me is a classic in the outlaw country genre.-Biography:...
's "Ain't No God in Mexico", a clear template for "I Feel a Change Comin' On" - he openly acknowledged the debt to historian Douglas Brinkley
Douglas Brinkley
Douglas Brinkley is an American author, professor of history at Rice University and a fellow at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy. Brinkley is the history commentator for CBS News and a contributing editor to the magazine Vanity Fair...
'.
Reception
Reception has been favorable. The record maintains a score of 76/100 at critic aggregator MetaCriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
("Generally favorable reviews"). During the Flanagan interview, Dylan gave his own thoughts about how the record would be received: "I know my fans will like it. Other than that, I have no idea".
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave the album 4 stars out of 5. Describing the album as a "murky-sounding, often perplexing record" David Fricke
David Fricke
David Fricke is a senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, where he writes predominantly on rock music. In the 1990s, he was managing editor before stepping down.-Background:David Fricke is a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
writes, "Dylan, who turns 68 in May, has never sounded as ravaged, pissed off and lusty". BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
noted that the album is "a masterful reading of 20th century American folk, albeit shot through with some mischievous lyrical twists" and compares it to "some Chicago urban blues tribute". According to Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
, "Together Through Life is an album that gets its hooks in early and refuses to let go". The reviewer described it as "dark yet comforting". Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
and Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
both gave the album 5 stars out of 5, saying that it was "unbelievably good." iF Magazine.com says it "explores the bluesy side of his skills in a slight, but delightful set of ten originals."
Versions
The album is available as a one-CD version containing only the new material that Dylan recorded, or as a 3-disc deluxe version including the album itself, the "Friends & Neighbors" episode of Theme Time Radio HourTheme Time Radio Hour
Theme Time Radio Hour was a weekly, one-hour satellite radio show hosted by Bob Dylan originally airing from May 2006 to April 2009...
and a DVD featuring an interview with Dylan's first manager Roy Silver (recorded for the Martin Scorsese documentary No Direction Home
No Direction Home
No Direction Home is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th century American popular music and culture. The film does not cover Dylan's entire career; it concentrates on the period between Dylan's arrival in New York in January 1961 and his...
, but unused).
There is also a two-LP deluxe vinyl version, containing the same songs as the CD. In the US, the CD will be included as part of the vinyl package.
Track listing
Disc one- All music composed by Bob Dylan; all lyrics written by Robert HunterRobert Hunter (lyricist)Robert C. Hunter is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his association with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.-Biography:He was born Robert Burns in San Luis Obispo, California...
and Bob Dylan, except where noted.- "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'Beyond Here Lies Nothin'"Beyond Here Lies Nothin" is the opening track of Bob Dylan's 2009 studio album, Together Through Life. The title is a quote from the Ancient Roman poet Ovid...
" – 3:51 - "Life Is Hard" – 3:39
- "My Wife's Home Town" (Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
/Dylan/Hunter) – 4:15 - "If You Ever Go to Houston" – 5:49
- "Forgetful Heart" – 3:42
- "Jolene" – 3:51
- "This Dream of You" (Dylan) – 5:54
- "Shake Shake Mama" – 3:37
- "I Feel a Change Comin' On" – 5:25
- "It's All Good" – 5:28
- "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
When pre-ordered from iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, consumers also got a bonus track of a studio rehearsal of "Lay Lady Lay
Lay Lady Lay
"Lay Lady Lay" is a song written by Bob Dylan and originally released in 1969 on his Nashville Skyline album. Like many of the tracks on the album, Dylan sings the song in a low croon, rather than in the high nasal singing style associated with his earlier recordings...
" recorded in 1969.
Disc two
- Theme Time Radio HourTheme Time Radio HourTheme Time Radio Hour was a weekly, one-hour satellite radio show hosted by Bob Dylan originally airing from May 2006 to April 2009...
: Friends & Neighbors- "Howdy Neighbor" (J. Morris) – Porter Wagoner & The Wagonmasters
- "Don't Take Everybody to Be Your Friend" (M.Gabler/R. Tharpe) – Sister Rosetta TharpeSister Rosetta TharpeSister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
- "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" (L. Robin/J. Styne) – T-Bone BurnettT-Bone BurnettJoseph Henry Burnett , widely known as T-Bone Burnett, is an American musician, songwriter, and soundtrack and record producer.He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band on the Rolling Thunder Revue...
- "La Valse de Amitie" (O. Guidry) – Doc Guidry
- "Make Friends" (E. Mcgraw) – Moon MullicanMoon MullicanAubrey Wilson Mullican , known as Moon Mullican, was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and pianist. However, he also sang and played jazz, rock 'n' roll and the blues...
- "My Next Door Neighbor" (J. McCain) – Jerry McCainJerry McCainJerry McCain, often billed as Jerry "Boogie" McCain , is an American electric blues musician, best known as a harmonica player. One of five children of a poor family, many of his siblings became involved in music as well, most notably his brother, Walter, who played drums on some early recordings...
- "Let's Invite Them Over" (O. Wheeler) – George JonesGeorge JonesGeorge Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
& Melba MontgomeryMelba MontgomeryMelba Montgomery is an American country music singer. She is best known for duet hit recordings in the 1960s with country music singer George Jones.... - "My Friends" (C. Burnett/S. Ling) – Howlin' WolfHowlin' WolfChester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
- "Last Night" (W. Jones) – Little WalterLittle WalterLittle Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...
- "You've Got a FriendYou've Got a Friend"You've Got a Friend" is a song from 1971, originally written and performed by Carole King. It was included in her album Tapestry of 1971, but was made famous by James Taylor's cover version the same year...
" (C. King) – Carole KingCarole KingCarole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S... - "Bad Neighborhood" (Caronna/M. Rebennack) – Ronnie & The Delinquents
- "NeighboursNeighbours (song)For the The Academy Is... song, see Neighbors ."Neighbours" is a song by The Rolling Stones featured on their 1981 album Tattoo You....
" (M. Jagger/K. Richards) – The Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up... - "Too Many Parties and Too Many Pals" (B. Rose/M. Dixon/R. Henderson) – Hank Williams
- "Why Can't We Be Friends" (S. Allen/H. Brown/M. Dickerson/J. Goldstein/L. Jordan /C. Miller/H. Scott/L. Oskar) – WarWar (band)War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...
Disc three
- Roy Silver – The Lost Interview (DVD)
Band
- Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Mike Campbell – guitar, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
- David HidalgoDavid HidalgoDavid Hidalgo is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Los Lobos. He is also a member of the supergroup Los Super Seven and of the Latin Playboys, a side project band made up of some of the members of Los Lobos...
– accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, guitar - Donnie Herron – steel guitarSteel guitarSteel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...
, banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, mandolin, trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Tony GarnierTony Garnier (musician)Tony Garnier is an American bassist , best known as an accompanist to Bob Dylan, with whom he has played since 1989...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - George Recile – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Recording personnel
- Jack FrostBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
(Bob Dylan) – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - David Bianco – recording, mixing
- David Spreng – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Rafael Serrano – engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Bill Lane – assistant engineer
- Rich Tosti – assistant engineer
- Eddy Schreyer - Mastering
Charts
The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 125,000 copies in its first week of release. It then reached number one on Top Internet Album, Top Digital Album, Tastemaker, Top Rock Album, and Most Comprehensive Album. In the US the album has sold more than 302,000 copies to date.| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Argentina Albums Chart | 1 |
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
5 |
| Austria Albums Chart | 1 |
| Belgian Albums Chart | 2 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Denmark Albums Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 3 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 6 |
| French Albums Chart | 9 |
| Germany Albums Chart | 2 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
2 |
| Italy Albums Chart | 6 |
| Japan Oricon Western Albums Chart | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 3 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 4 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 2 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |