Maps of Music

Infidels (1983)

Where the lyrics of Infidels take you, and where it was really made.

Dylan first wanted to produce Infidels himself, but before hiring Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler he approached David Bowie, Frank Zappa and Elvis Costello.

Key places

Where Infidels was recorded (1983)

Recording site Power Station Studio — Infidels was recorded at Power Station in New York City. The point is set at the studio building's coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Infidels: 22nd studio album by Bob Dylan
• Released 27 October 1983 by Columbia Records
• Produced by Mark Knopfler and Dylan
• Seen as Dylan's return to secular music after his conversion to Christianity
• Focuses on personal themes of love and loss, plus commentary on the environment and geopolitics

Background

• Follows three evangelical records and a return to a less religious lifestyle
• Dylan had stopped preaching a specific religion with this album
• Songs still carry biblical references and religious imagery
• Opening track Jokerman is read by critics as a sly political protest

Recording

• Dylan initially wanted to produce the album himself, but felt technology had passed him by
• He approached David Bowie, Frank Zappa and Elvis Costello before hiring Knopfler
• Knopfler had played guitar on Dylan's Slow Train Coming
• Knopfler's guitar was paired with Mick Taylor, a former Rolling Stones lead guitarist
• Taylor's slide guitar playing benefited the April sessions
• Alan Clark on keyboards; engineer Neil Dorfsman
• Dylan suggested Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar as the rhythm section
• Recorded and mixed entirely on digital recording equipment
• Blind Willie McTell and Foot of Pride were dropped; Union Sundown was written and added during remixing and overdubbing

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 (Christopher Connelly): considered Infidels to be Dylan's best poetic and melodic work since Blood on the Tracks.
• Critical reaction was the strongest for Dylan in years, almost universally hailed for its songwriting and performances.
• Critics were unanimous in praising the overall sound.
• Robert Christgau of Rolling Stone and The Village Voice called Dylan a 'hateful crackpot' in his review.
• Graham Lock of New Musical Express still referred to Dylan as 'culturally a spent force'.

Reappraisal

• Infidels was better received than its predecessor, Shot of Love.
• Years later, after outtakes circulated, critics such as Rob Bowman and Clinton Heylin saw it as a missed opportunity at a potential masterpiece.

Records

• Reached No. 20 in the US and went gold.
• Reached No. 9 in the UK.
• Highest chart position worldwide was No. 1 in Norway.
• Placed tenth on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1983.
• Generated modest sales without a tour in 1983, selling consistently through the Christmas shopping season.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Blind Willie McTell was cut just before mastering and was not officially released until it appeared on The Bootleg Series Volume III eight years later.
• CBS made a music video for Sweetheart Like You, Dylan's first in the MTV era; Carla Olson mimed Mick Taylor's guitar solo in it.
• The Olson appearance led to her recording a live album with Taylor and numerous studio sessions with him.
• Dylan appeared on Late Night with David Letterman on 22 March 1984 and was asked by Letterman to come back and play every Thursday.
• The inner sleeve photo shows Dylan touching the ground outside Jerusalem, with the Al-Aqsa mosque visible in the background.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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