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Together Through Life

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Untitled

Together Through Life is the 33rd studio album by Bob Dylan, released on April 28, 2009, on Columbia Records. The album debuted #1 in various countries, including the US and the UK and is Dylan's first #1 in Britain since New Morning in 1970.[1][2]

Dylan wrote many of the album's songs with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. 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.” Dylan has never had such a significant songwriting collaboration in his career, though Desire (1976), on which he wrote the vast majority of songs with Jacques Levy, comes close.

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. [3] 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.[3]

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" and "then the record sort of took its own direction." [4]

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.[4]. 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.” [5]

"Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" was available as a free download for one day on Monday, March 30, 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.[6]

Sources and quotations

As most Dylan albums before Together Through Life,[citation needed] Dylan has adapted lyrics from other songs and incorporated them into his own lyrics. The phrase "If you ever go to Houston, you better walk right" is taken from the folk song "Midnight Special". Dylan plays harmonica on Harry Belefonte's 1962 recording of the song.

Reception

Reception has been favorable. The record maintains a score of 79/100 at critic aggregator MetaCritic ("Generally favorable reviews").[7] During the Flanagan interview, Dylan's 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".[4]

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".[8] 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".[9] 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."

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 Hour 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.

Track listing

Disc one
All songs by Bob Dylan with Robert Hunter, except where noted.
  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

When pre-ordered from iTunes, consumers also got a bonus track of a studio rehearsal of "Lay Lady Lay" recorded in 1969.[10]

Disc two
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 Mulligan
  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. "Neighbours" (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
Disc three
  1. Roy Silver – The Lost Interview (DVD)

Personnel

Charts

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 125,000 copies in its first week of release.[11]

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[12] 1
Belgian Albums Chart[13] 7
Dutch Albums Chart[14] 1
Finnish Albums Chart[15] 2
French Albums Chart 1
Irish Albums Chart[16] 2
Japan Oricon Western Albums Chart[17] 1
New Zealand Albums Chart[18] 1
Swedish Albums Chart[19] 1
Swiss Albums Chart[20] 1
UK Albums Chart[21] 1
U.S. Billboard 200[22][23] 1

Notes

  1. ^ "Bob Dylan Beats the Enemy to Number One". NME.com. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  2. ^ Lindsay, Andrew (2009-05-04). "Bob Dylan's first UK #1 in 39 years". Stereokill.net. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  3. ^ a b "Bob Dylan's New Album: Together Through Life". rollingstone.com. 2009-03-16. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  4. ^ a b c Flanagan, Bill (2009-03-16). "Bob Dylan talks about the new album with Bill Flanagan". bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
  5. ^ Beyond Here Lies Nothin' Songfacts
  6. ^ Flanagan, Bill. "Bob Dylan on Barack Obama, Ulysses Grant and American Civil War ghosts""Times Online", 2009-04-06. Retrieved on 2009-04-08
  7. ^ "Together Through Life by Bob Dylan". metacritic.com. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  8. ^ Fricke, David (2009-04-13). "Bob Dylan: Together Through Life". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  9. ^ Eccleston, Danny (2009-04-17). "New Dylan Album: The First-In-Depth Review". mojo-4-music.com. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  10. ^ Bob Dylan's officially released rarities and obscurities http://www.searchingforagem.com/
  11. ^ Caulfield, Keith (2009-05-06). "Bob Dylan Bows Atop Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ [2]
  14. ^ [3]
  15. ^ Suomen virallinen lista
  16. ^ [4]
  17. ^ [5]
  18. ^ [6]
  19. ^ [7]
  20. ^ [8]
  21. ^ [9]
  22. ^ Caulfield, Keith (2009-05-06). "Bob Dylan Lands Fifth No. 1 Album". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
  23. ^ Caulfield, Keith (2009-05-06). "Bob Dylan Bows Atop Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-05-06.


Preceded by UK Albums Chart number-one album
May 3, 2009 - 		Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by U.S. Billboard 200 number-one album
May 16, 2009 - 		Succeeded by
incumbent
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