Maps of Music

Oh Mercy (1989)

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

Hailed as Dylan's comeback, Oh Mercy reached only No. 30 in the United States but No. 6 in the UK and Norway.

Key places

Recording in New Orleans (1989)

Recording site Mobile studio, 1305 Soniat Street — The album was recorded in New Orleans at a mobile studio. The point is placed at city level, so the exact building is not pinned. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Cover mural spot in Hell's Kitchen (1989)

Album cover Record Plant Studios — Dylan found the cover mural on a Chinese restaurant wall in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan. The point is placed at city level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Oh Mercy: 26th studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan
• Released 12 September 1989 by Columbia Records
• Produced by Daniel Lanois
• Hailed by critics as a triumph after a string of poorly reviewed albums
• Reached No. 30 on the Billboard charts in the United States
• Reached No. 6 in Norway and the UK

Background

• Songs composed at Dylan's home in Malibu; recording done in New Orleans
• Dylan describes the process in the Oh Mercy chapter of his memoir Chronicles: Volume One
• Engineer Mark Howard said Dylan had earlier tried recording the songs with Ronnie Wood but was dissatisfied with the results
• In spring or summer 1988, U2 singer Bono put Dylan in touch with producer Daniel Lanois
• The two agreed to work together, but sessions did not begin until early 1989

Recording

• Dylan finished the basic tracks on 29 March 1989
• New vocals and other overdubs were added to almost all tracks the following month
• Lanois said the album was designed at night, and Dylan had a rule to record only at night
• Lanois described the album as two guys on a back porch

Cover

• Cover photo shows a mural Dylan came across on a wall of a Chinese restaurant in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen, at 9th Avenue and 53rd Street
• The artist, Trotsky, was located near the mural and permission was granted

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

• Critics hailed the album as a triumph for Dylan after a string of poorly reviewed albums
• Robert Christgau of The Village Voice praised Lanois's understated care and easy beat
• Rock critic Bill Wyman criticized the production as overdone but praised the songs
• Wyman picked out Most of the Time and Shooting Star as the nicest tracks
• Michael Azerrad in Rolling Stone felt it would be unfair to compare Oh Mercy to Dylan's Sixties recordings

Reappraisal

• After disappointing sales of Knocked Out Loaded and Down in the Groove, Oh Mercy was hailed as a comeback
• Ranked No. 15 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1989
• Ranked No. 44 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s (1989)
• Voted number 438 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums, 3rd Edition (2000)
• Q magazine placed it at No. 33 in its list of 40 Best Albums of the '80s (2006)

Records

• Reached No. 30 on the Billboard charts in the United States
• Reached No. 6 in Norway and the UK
• Did not enter Billboard's Top 20
• Remained a consistent seller, considered a modest commercial success
• Montague Street Journal gave roughly half of its 2009 debut issue to a roundtable on Oh Mercy for the 20th anniversary

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Lanois picked Series of Dreams as the opening track, but the final decision was Dylan's
• Series of Dreams later became the final track on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991
• Dignity, an outtake, was performed live on MTV Unplugged in 1994
• Born in Time and God Knows were set aside, then rewritten and re-recorded for the next album, Under the Red Sky
• Lou Reed chose Disease of Conceit as one of his favorite songs of 1989

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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