Maps of Music

Together Through Life (2009)

Where the lyrics of Together Through Life take you, and where it was really made.

Released with little warning, the album was first reported by Rolling Stone only a month before its release, and it debuted at number 1 in several countries.

Key places

Recorded at Groove Masters (2009)

Recording site Groove Masters — The album was recorded at Jackson Browne's Groove Masters studio in Santa Monica, California. Dylan produced it under the pseudonym Jack Frost. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Together Through Life: 33rd studio album by Bob Dylan
• Released April 28, 2009 by Columbia Records
• Reached number 1 in several countries; the release was unexpected and surprised fans
• Produced by Dylan under the pseudonym Jack Frost
• Recorded at Jackson Browne's Groove Masters studio in Santa Monica, California

Background

• Origin: French film director Olivier Dahan asked Dylan for a song for his road movie My Own Love Song, which became "Life Is Hard"
• Dylan said the record then took its own direction
• Dylan wrote all but one song with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter
• Dylan and Hunter had previously co-written two songs on the 1988 album Down in the Groove
• News of the album first broke in a Rolling Stone article on March 4, 2009, the month before release
• Lead single "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" was offered as a free download on Dylan's website on March 30 and 31

Recording

• Dylan was backed by his regular touring band plus Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• David Hidalgo of Los Lobos also played on the album
• Hidalgo's accordion playing on many tracks led critics to describe a "south of the border" feel
• Other musicians credited include Tony Garnier, Donnie Herron, and George Receli
• Recording and mixing by David Bianco; mastering by Eddy Schreyer

Cover

• Cover photo: black-and-white image of a young couple in the back seat of a car, taken by Bruce Davidson in 1959
• The same photo had previously been used on the cover of Larry Brown's short story collection Big Bad Love
• Back cover group photo taken by Josef Koudelka in 1968
• Inner sleeve studio pictures taken by Danny Clinch
• Package design credited to Coco Shinomiya

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota; raised in Hibbing, Minnesota.
• Moved to New York City in January 1961 to pursue a music career.
• Signed to Columbia Records after playing harmonica on Carolyn Hester's album; debut album Bob Dylan released in 1962.

Members

• Solo artist; backed over the years by bands including the Hawks/the Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and his touring band led by bassist Tony Garnier.

Career

• Breakthrough with The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963); protest songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements.
• Went electric with Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966), provoking controversy among folk fans.
• Motorcycle accident in 1966 led to nearly eight years without touring; Basement Tapes recorded with the Band.
• Converted to Christianity in the late 1970s and released gospel albums; won Album of the Year Grammy for Time Out of Mind (1997).
• Has toured since 1988 on the Never Ending Tour; won an Academy Award and ten Grammy Awards; awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone gave the album 4 stars out of 5
• David Fricke of Rolling Stone described it as a "murky-sounding, often perplexing record"
• Fricke wrote that Dylan "has never sounded as ravaged, pissed off and lusty"
• BBC called it "a masterful reading of 20th century American folk" and compared it to "some Chicago urban blues tribute"
• Mojo wrote that the album "gets its hooks in early and refuses to let go" and described it as "dark yet comforting"
• Uncut and Blender both gave the album 5 stars out of 5
• Paste Magazine's Corey DuBrowa gave the album 8.10/10

Reappraisal

• Metacritic: score of 76/100, "Generally favorable reviews"
• Dylan himself said of the fans' reaction: "I know my fans will like it. Other than that, I have no idea"

Records

• Debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 125,000 copies in its first week
• Debuted at number 1 in several countries, including the US and the UK
• First chart-topping album for Dylan in Britain since New Morning in 1970
• Reached number 1 on the Top Internet Album, Top Digital Album, Tastemaker, Top Rock Album, and Most Comprehensive Album listings
• Sold more than 300,000 copies in the US by August 2009
• Two Grammy Award nominations in 2010: Best Americana Album, and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'"

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The cover photo was taken in 1959 and had already appeared on the cover of Larry Brown's short story collection Big Bad Love
• The album's sound drew comparisons to Chess Records and Sun Records, which Dylan acknowledged as an effect of "the way the instruments were played"
• Dylan's song "Midnight Special" borrows the phrase "If you ever go to Houston, you better walk right" from the folk song of the same name
• Dylan played harmonica on Harry Belafonte's 1962 recording of "Midnight Special"
• Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You" was the clear musical template for "My Wife's Hometown", and Dixon received a co-writing credit
• Critic Dan Engler wrote that the record gave the feeling that Doug Sahm's ghost was haunting the recording sessions

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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