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Why it matters
Recorded with the Band in Los Angeles, it was his first album for Asylum and his first to reach number one in the US.
Dylan had not made a full album of new songs in more than three years when he went into a Los Angeles studio in November 1973 with the Band, his old companions from 1966 and the basement sessions. The record was made fast, in a few days, with engineer Rob Fraboni, and the Band's playing is loose, rootsy and warm, built on Garth Hudson's organ and Robbie Robertson's guitar. The songs are mostly about home, love and devotion, with a few darker ones running underneath, and "Forever Young" appears in two contrasting versions, slow and fast. Dylan drew the cover art himself. Released in January 1974 on Asylum, it coincided with his first major tour in eight years, with the Band, which drew enormous demand for tickets. Critics were respectful rather than overwhelmed, and the album has tended to be overshadowed by the one that followed.
Track list · 11 songs
A man who has reached the end of something resolves to walk away and leave it all behind.
loss · freedom · time
Its page ›A man pays tribute to a strong, earthy woman who inspires him and pulls him back into the world.
love · freedom
Its page ›A woman stirs up memories of his youth and a feeling he cannot name, and he pledges himself to her.
love · time
Its page ›A man looks back with bitterness and self-disgust on a consuming attachment he is finally ready to leave.
loss · love · freedom
Its page ›A man is so smitten with a woman that he can think of nothing else and calls her an angel.
love
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Where its songs lead
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