Real Live | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | November 29, 1984 | |||
Recorded | July 5–8, 1984 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 50:15 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Glyn Johns | |||
Bob Dylan chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
Robert Christgau | B [3] |
Record Mirror | [4] |
Rolling Stone | [5] |
Real Live is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on November 29, 1984, by Columbia Records. Recorded during the artist's 1984 European Tour, most of the album was recorded at Wembley Stadium on 7 July, but "License to Kill" and "Tombstone Blues" come from St James' Park, Newcastle on 5 July, and "I and I" and "Girl from the North Country" were recorded at Slane Castle, Ireland on 8 July. [6]
Produced by Glyn Johns, it features Mick Taylor (formerly of the Rolling Stones) on lead guitar, Ian McLagan (formerly of the Faces) on keyboards, and a guest appearance from Carlos Santana. [7] The performances on Real Live were recorded in support of his successful Infidels album.
While Infidels was hailed as a "return to musical form" (as described by Kurt Loder in Rolling Stone magazine), critical reception for Real Live was generally mixed. Released in December to capitalize on the Christmas shopping season, Real Live still sold in disappointing numbers, reaching a then-career low of No. 115 in the U.S. and No. 54 in the UK.
In his review for Rolling Stone , Kurt Loder, rating the album 3/5, wrote, "Although cynics may find that Dylan's trademark wheeze is verging on self-parody by this point, his singing is truly spirited throughout. The band he assembled for the tour generally serves him well, if without inspiration...some fans may get a giggle out of the rhythm riff – lifted from Ray Charles' 'I Believe to My Soul' – that graces 'Ballad of a Thin Man'. But 'Highway 61 Revisited' is well done as a rocker and 'Tombstone Blues' with Carlos Santana rolls along with great energy." [8]
In Bob Dylan: The Complete Album Guide, Rolling Stone panned Real Live but recognized the album's heavily revised version of "Tangled Up in Blue" as a "Forgotten Classic". [9] The feature quoted Dylan as stating: "On Real Live, ['Tangled Up in Blue']'s more like it should have been. The imagery is better". [9]
NJ Arts's Jay Lustig cited "I and I" as the standout track from the album and praised Mick Taylor's "stellar guitar work" on it. [10]
All tracks are written by Bob Dylan
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Highway 61 Revisited" | 5:07 |
2. | "Maggie's Farm" | 4:54 |
3. | "I and I" | 6:00 |
4. | "License to Kill" | 3:26 |
5. | "It Ain't Me, Babe" | 5:17 |
Total length: | 24:44 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Tangled Up in Blue" | 6:54 |
2. | "Masters of War" | 6:35 |
3. | "Ballad of a Thin Man" | 4:17 |
4. | "Girl from the North Country" | 4:25 |
5. | "Tombstone Blues" | 4:32 |
Total length: | 26:43 |
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Dylan continued the musical approach of his previous album Bringing It All Back Home (1965), using rock musicians as his backing band on every track of the album in a further departure from his primarily acoustic folk sound, except for the closing track, the 11-minute ballad "Desolation Row". Critics have focused on the innovative way Dylan combined driving, blues-based music with the subtlety of poetry to create songs that captured the political and cultural climate of contemporary America. Author Michael Gray argued that, in an important sense, the 1960s "started" with this album.
Bringing It All Back Home is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in April 1965 by Columbia Records. In a major transition from his earlier sound, it was Dylan's first album to incorporate electric instrumentation, which caused controversy and divided many in the contemporary folk scene.
Michael Kevin Taylor is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on Let It Bleed (1969), Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (1970), Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) It's Only Rock 'n Roll (1974), and Tattoo You (1981).
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Ian Patrick McLagan was an English keyboardist, best known as a member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces. He also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and led his own band from the late 1970s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
"Tombstone Blues" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, which was released as the second track on his sixth studio album Highway 61 Revisited (1965). The song was written by Dylan, and produced by Bob Johnston. Critical interpretations of the song have suggested that the song references the Vietnam War and US President Lyndon Baines Johnson.
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