Bob Dylan, explored
‹ Late Renaissance
Cover of Modern Times

2006 · a landmark

Modern Times

Late Renaissance · 1997–2012

Listen to the album

Why it matters

It entered the Billboard 200 at number one, Dylan's first chart-topping album in America since Desire in 1976. Recorded with his road band and produced by Dylan as Jack Frost, it reworked old blues and ballad forms and won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.

Modern Times was recorded in New York early in 2006 with the band Dylan had been touring with, including Denny Freeman and Stu Kimball on guitars, Donnie Herron on steel guitar and violin, George Recile on drums and Tony Garnier on bass. Dylan again produced it as Jack Frost, and he spoke of wanting the record to capture how the band sounded live. The songs lean on older forms: Chicago-style blues shuffles, soft ballads built on prewar pop melodies, and long, slow numbers such as the closing "Ain't Talkin'". As on the record before it, he drew on older sources, and observers noticed lines echoing a Civil War-era poet, which renewed debate about borrowing. The album reached number one in America, his first in thirty years. It won a Grammy, and "Someday Baby" took another, for best solo rock vocal performance.

Track list · 10 songs

  1. 1Thunder on the Mountain
  2. 2Spirit on the Water
  3. 3Rollin’ and Tumblin’
  4. 4When the Deal Goes Down
  5. 5Someday Baby
  6. 6Workingman’s Blues #2
  7. 7Beyond the Horizon
  8. 8Nettie Moore
  9. 9The Levee’s Gonna Break
  10. 10Ain’t Talkin’

Where its songs lead

Rollin’ and Tumblin’ · Borrowed the tune ofRollin' and Tumblin'Muddy Waters · 1950Dylan's song takes the melody and riff of the old blues that Muddy Waters made famous.When the Deal Goes Down · Borrowed the tune ofWhere the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)Bing Crosby · 1931The song borrows the melody of Bing Crosby's theme song.Someday Baby · Borrowed the tune ofTrouble No MoreMuddy Waters · 1955The song follows the tune of Muddy Waters' Trouble No More and its older Sleepy John Estes source.Workingman’s Blues #2 · Same theme asWorkin' Man BluesMerle Haggard · 1969Dylan's title points back to Haggard's working-class anthem, and both songs honor the laborer.Workingman’s Blues #2 · Same theme asUnion Sundown1983Both lament the American worker losing out to a global economy.Workingman’s Blues #2 · Same theme asThat Lucky Old Sun2015Both are sung from the view of a worn-out laboring man.

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