Bob Dylan, explored
‹ Gospel
Cover of Slow Train Coming

1979 · a landmark

Slow Train Coming

Gospel · 1979–1981

Listen to the album

Why it matters

His first album after becoming a born-again Christian, it set evangelical lyrics to a polished R&B sound cut at Muscle Shoals with producers Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett. Mark Knopfler's guitar and a Grammy-winning single made it a commercial success even as it divided longtime fans.

Late in 1978 Dylan became a born-again Christian, and the songs he wrote in the following months were about faith, sin and judgment. To record them he turned to Jerry Wexler, the veteran producer of Aretha Franklin, who brought him to Muscle Shoals in Alabama in the spring of 1979 with Barry Beckett as co-producer. The band included Mark Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers of Dire Straits, along with the Muscle Shoals horns and backing singers. The result is the most polished-sounding record he had made: tight grooves, clean guitar and a confident, often fierce vocal. Released that August, it sold well, and "Gotta Serve Somebody" brought Dylan his first Grammy for a solo vocal performance. Critics and fans were split, some admiring the music and others put off by its preaching, but it opened his most controversial chapter in earnest.

Track list · 9 songs

  1. 1Gotta Serve Somebody
  2. 2Precious Angel
  3. 3I Believe in You
  4. 4Slow Train
  5. 5Gonna Change My Way of Thinking
  6. 6Do Right to Me Baby (Do Unto Others)
  7. 7When You Gonna Wake Up
  8. 8Man Gave Names to All the Animals
  9. 9When He Returns

Where its songs lead

Gotta Serve Somebody · Answered byServe YourselfJohn Lennon · 1980John Lennon wrote Serve Yourself as a sardonic rejoinder to Gotta Serve Somebody.Precious Angel · Same theme asCovenant Woman1980Both are love songs to a believing woman that double as thanks for her part in his conversion.Slow Train · Same theme asAll Along the Watchtower1967Both draw on biblical prophecy, years before and during his gospel period.Slow Train · Same theme asPolitical World1989Both survey a society corrupted by money and power.Man Gave Names to All the Animals · Same theme asUnder the Red Sky1990Both are fable-like songs written in the manner of children's songs.When He Returns · Same theme asDeath Is Not the End1988Both offer religious consolation, one in the gospel years and one soon after.

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