Together Through Life

Together Through Life
Studio album by Bob Dylan
Publication (s)	April 28, 2009
Label (s)	Columbia Records
Genre (s)	Folk rock
Title (number)	10
running time	45m 33s
chronology The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs (2007) Together Through Life Christmas in the Heart (2009)

Together Through Life is Bob Dylan's 33rd studio album . It was released on April 28, 2009 by Columbia Records .

production

Dylan produced the recordings under the pseudonym Jack Frost, which he had already used for his two previous studio albums "Love and Theft" and Modern Times . The first rumors about the album published in Rolling Stone appeared surprisingly and without prior press release on March 16, 2009 - less than two months before the actual release date. It was also claimed that the album contained "struggling love songs" and had little in common with the previous album, Modern Times .

In a conversation with music journalist Bill Flanagan published on Bob Dylan's website, he suggested similarities between the new recordings and the sound of Chess Records and Sun Records , which Dylan attributed to the "way the instruments were played." He also noted that the music originally came from a request from French director Olivier Dahan . He asked him if he could deliver the title track for his new road movie My Own Love Song , which Dylan did with the song Life is Hard . The song then became the inspiration for a whole new album.

Dylan is accompanied on the album by his regular touring band. There were also David Hidalgo from Los Lobos and Mike Campbell from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers . In his interview with Flanagan, Dylan described Campbell's guitar playing as follows: “It suits me well. He's been playing with Tom for so long that he hears everything from a songwriter's perspective and can play almost every way. "

Songs

Dylan wrote many of the tracks together with the Grateful Dead text writer Robert Hunter , with whom he had already written two songs for the album Down in the Groove in 1988. In an interview with Rolling Stone , Dylan said:

“Hunter is an old buddy, we could possibly write hundreds of songs together if we thought it was important or if we saw the right reasons for it. He's got his way with words and I've got mine. We both write a different kind of song than what is considered songwriting today. "

The only other songwriter Dylan has worked with to such an extent is Jacques Levy , with whom much of the lyrics to Desire (1976) were written.

The piece Beyond Here Lies Nothin ' was for one day (Monday, March 30, 2009) available on Dylan's website as a free download. I Feel a Change Comin 'On was streamed April 6th on Times Online , as was the third part of his interview with Bill Flanagan. As with other albums before, Dylan has adapted lyrics from other songs on Together Through Life and built them into his own. For example, the phrase “If you ever go to Houston, you better walk right” comes from the folk song Midnight Special . Dylan played the harmonica while recording this Harry Belafonte song in 1962 .

Artwork

The cover photo by photographer Bruce Davidson comes from his Brooklyn Gang series about a group of young people and was taken in New York in 1959 . The back of the album is decorated with a picture by the Czech photographer Josef Koudelka . It is part of his Gypsies series and was shot in Romania in 1968. Both photographers are members of the Magnum photography agency .

Success and reception

The album made an instant number one debut in several countries, including the US and the UK , where it was Dylan's first number one hit since 1970 with New Morning .

The assessment was generally positive. In 2009 the album received 76 out of 100 points on Metacritic ("Generally favorable reviews"). On the occasion of the Flanagan interview, Dylan also gave an assessment of how fans would perceive the CD: “I know my fans will like it. I have no idea how it is with others (I know my fans will like it. Other than that, I have no idea) ”.

Rolling Stone magazine gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. Rolling Stone's David Fricke wrote, "Dylan has never sounded so devastated, angry, and powerful." The BBC described the album as "a masterful reading of 20th century American folk music, albeit interspersed with a few detrimental lyric music ." Twists ”and as a“ tribute to the urban Chicago blues ”. A reviewer for Mojo described it as "dark yet calming". Uncut and Blender both gave 5 out of 5 stars on the grounds that it was “incredibly good”.

Versions

The album is available as a version with one CD and as a deluxe edition with 3 CDs. The deluxe version contains both the actual album and the "Friends and Neighbors" episode from Dylan's radio show "Theme Time Radio Hour" and a DVD showing an interview with his first manager Roy Silver (the interview was made for Martin Scorsese's film No Direction Home - Bob Dylan recorded but ultimately not used).

Track list

1. "Beyond Here Lies Nothin '" - 3:51
2. "Life Is Hard" - 3:39
3. "My Wife's Home Town" ( Willie Dixon / Dylan / Hunter) - 4:15
4. "If You Ever Go to Houston" - 5:49
5. "Forgetful Heart" - 3:42
6. "Jolene" - 3:51
7. "This Dream of You" (Dylan) - 5:54
8. "Shake Shake Mama" - 3:37
9. "I Feel a Change Comin 'On" - 5:25
10. "It's All Good" - 5:28

CD 2

Theme Time Radio Hour: Friends & Neighbors

1. "Howdy Neighbor" (J. Morris) - Porter Wagoner & The Wagonmasters
2. "Don't Take Everybody to Be Your Friend" (M.Gabler / R. Tharpe) - Sister Rosetta Tharpe
3. " Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend " (L. Robin / J. Styne) - T-Bone Burnett
4. "La Valse de Amitie" (O. Guidry) - Doc Guidry
5. "Make Friends" (E. Mcgraw) - Moon Mullican
6. "My Next Door Neighbor" (J. McCain) - Jerry McCain
7. "Let's Invite Them Over" (O. Wheeler) - George Jones & Melba Montgomery
8. "My Friends" (C. Burnett / S. Ling) - Howlin 'Wolf
9. "Last Night" (W. Jones) - Little Walter
10. " You've Got a Friend " (C. King) - Carole King
11. "Bad Neighborhood" (Caronna / M. Rebennack) - Ronnie & The Delinquents
12. "Neighbors" (M. Jagger / K. Richards) - The Rolling Stones
13. "Too Many Parties and Too Many Pals" (B. Rose / M. Dixon / R. Henderson) - Hank Williams
14. "Why Can't We Be Friends" (S. Allen / H. Brown / M. Dickerson / J. Goldstein / L. Jordan / C. Miller / H. Scott / L. Oskar) - War

CD 3

1. Roy Silver - The Lost Interview (DVD)

occupation

• Bob Dylan  - guitar , keyboard , vocals
• Mike Campbell  - guitar, mandolin
• David Hidalgo  - accordion , guitar
• Donnie Herron - steel guitar , banjo , mandolin, trumpet
• Tony Garnier - bass guitar
• George Recile - drums

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bob Dylan's New Album: Together Through Life . rollingstone.com. March 16, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Flanagan, Bill: Bob Dylan talks about the new album with Bill Flanagan . bobdylan.com. October 11, 2009. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
3. ↑ Beyond Here Read Nothin 'Songfacts
4. ^ "Bob Dylan Talks About Working With Robert Hunter on" Together Through Life "" . Rolling Stone. April 28, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
5. ↑ Bill Flanagan: Bob Dylan on Barack Obama, Ulysses Grant and American Civil War ghosts Times Online , April 6, 2009. Retrieved April 8, 2009
6. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/de/Bob-Dylan-Together-Through-Life/release/1742709 Info discogs
7. ^ Caulfield, Keith: Bob Dylan Bow's Atop Billboard 200 . Billboard. May 6, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
8. ^ Bob Dylan Beats the Enemy to Number One . NME.com. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
9. ^ Lindsay, Andrew: Bob Dylan's first UK # 1 in 39 years . Stereokill.net. May 4, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
10. ^ Together Through Life by Bob Dylan . metacritic.com. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
11. ↑ Fricke, David: Bob Dylan: Together Through Life . rollingstone.com. April 13, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
12. ↑ Eccleston, Danny: New Dylan Album: The First-In-Depth Review . mojo-4-music.com. April 17, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2009.