Bob Dylan – Slow Train Coming

Satna Maria pressing has excellent sonics without any vinyl flaws or background noise. Sound quality is 5/5 even if song quality is debatable.

I have grown up listening to Bob Dylan now as an older man to capture my youth I am out to purchase as much Dylan vinyl as I can. This is a fantastic album for its time.

This is the music period when his holy Bobness became really weird. Serving the Lord, or any religious ideology, after he shook up the mainstream in the 60ies with his lyrics is just strange. It makes me wonder. A song like "serving somebody" stands completely diametrical to a song like Lennons "God". And both caracters have been enourms influencal in participating in the counterculture, but obiously gained a very different perspective. Most of his later albums, made it really hard to listen the earlier Dylan, it really blurs the listening experience as a whole.

Bob Dylan says goodbye to the 70s with a superb record. Please note Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) plays guitar here. And you CAN tell! This is an essential record in Dylan's now SEVEN decade career! Dylan did not record a decent record (I am not considering the Traveling Wilburys) until 1989 (Oh Mercy, another masterpiece thanks -in part- to Daniel Lanois).
I was lucky to get a first press in excellent condition, and the sound is also outstanding.

Why couldn’t Dylan have simply disappeared, why’d he feel the need to become the shill for his messiah? Deciding to explore Christianity within the context of his Jewish faith, and then deciding that he needed to unload those thoughts on the world in a manner of preaching, because he certainly wasn’t talking to the converted, simply had me wondering where the truth lay, if any, in the masterful collection of Bob Dylan. It had me wondering where he stood at all, it had me wondering if his life were a mere illusion, where nothing was real. Dylan was a very confused man at this point in time.

Bob didn’t just lay down an album of religiously inspired songs, he totally immersed himself in the world of christian (small c) recordings, hiring Jerry Wexler, the man responsible for the R&B sound of Aretha Franklin and Wilson Picket, then secured time at the infamous Muscle Shoals Studios, where with the assistance of Wexler and his history with gospel influenced artists seemed a perfect fit of Mr. Dylan. Though Wexler wasn’t the only likeminded person he hired, he also chose Mark Knopfler and Pick Withers, both from Dire Straits, both straight as an arrow with their christian overtones.

Now, in defense of Jerry Wexler and Mark Knopfler, Dylan told no one of his intentions to bring the world of his god to the world, to enlighten lost souls, where Knopfler surprisingly said, “… all these songs are about god.” Nevertheless, with everyone onboard, the record began to take shape.

There are those who claim that fans didn’t mind all of this god business, and yes, Dylan was now in the ‘god business’, because the album peaked at number three on the charts, going on to become certified as platinum. Though what’s missing from that subversive statement is that while Dylan fans dismissed the record, it had huge success in the christian community where Dylan now found himself in the welcoming arms of the very same people who only a few years before had seen him as the singular reason behind the downfall of western youth culture. Consider that when his-Bobness released Saved in 1980 and then Shot of Love in 1981, both records coursed the same faith based river, yet without the tight production and solid song base, he was totally ignored by everyone … where it seems god wasn’t on his side, relegating him to more than a lost decade.

True, many of the songs were composed of insinuating rhythms that moved them forward with open-ended connotations that could easily be embraced by anyone, yet the reality of the situation was that Dylan for the first time was pointing his finger outwardly and telling people what they should do and how the should live their lives … where it seemed to me that perhaps Dylan’s prophetic words were correct, “You can’t trust anyone over 30.”

In all fairness, up to this point Bob’s drug use was legendary, his tour schedule has always been relentless, his endless string of marriages and children were weighty, all of this led the man to physically and emotionally collapse in a Tucson hotel room where he claims that Jesus manifested himself unto Bob, laid his hands on Bob, and showed him the path he should be taking. Now, this statement by Mr. Dylan doesn’t sound like he was exploring christianity, it feels more like he was in the midst of an amphetamine psychosis that simply broke the man, making him open and vulnerable to persuading thoughts. And in all fairness to those who once loved him, the newfound faith of the previously secular, countercultural icon did not sit well with many fans. Many saw Dylan’s albums during this period as preachy, pretentious and self-righteous.

Nevertheless, Dylan brought forth the voice that carried him though his protest period, leaving little doubt that he sincerely believed what he was singing. The centerpiece of the album is the title track “Slow Train,” a rage filled sermon which could have even easily fit on his last secular Street-Legal. The song and the album are coloured with rich and abundant gospel backup singing, dramatic horn arrangements and a chugging train rhythm, Dylan’s vocals are filled with righteous rage and brutal angst, complete with distinct life lessons only Dylan could dish out. “They say lose your inhibitions … Follow your own ambitions … They talk about a life of brotherly love show me someone who knows how to live it,” which could have easily been a line secured from a song by Bruce Springsteen.

Dylan’s role in the creation and evolution of both folk and rock is undeniable, as was his influence on the social construct of society, he has always been a man outside of himself and of the world. Yet this album leaves nearly nothing to , nothing that lingers in one’s head, even the single-minded christians have forgotten about this mistake, where even with the driving compositions and sense of urgency, I felt as if Dylan were disappearing into the wall in front of me, where I simply washed my hands of all he was or ever would be, turning my attentions to the likes of Steely Dan.

Review by Jenell Kesler

my is the same except matrix codes:
side A: PAL-36120-1K BHJ
side B: PBL-36120- 2E BH2

This was always one of my favorite Dylan albums. I think it's sorely-underrated.

For those who have never heard it, give a listen to Booker T. & The MG's live version of "Gotta' Serve Somebody" off of their "Time Is Tight" 3cd box set (They open disc 3 with two live Dylan tracks). Best version of that song I've ever heard, seriously. Great sound as well. The box set is worth it just for that, but there are also all those great old Booker T. tracks like "Hip-Hug Her", "Green Onions", etc., and those guys had A LOT of classic songs that later wound up in movies or sampled on rap songs. Anyway, I wanted to mention the Dylan connection because any big Dylan fan who HASN'T heard their version of "Gotta' Serve Somebody" is seriously-missing out.

My copy is the same except for Runout codes:
Side A: PAL-36120-1D
Side B: PAL-36120-2D, BH (stamped)