Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks”: Still his best at fifty years
"When I'm listening to Blood On The Tracks, that's about my parents."~Jakob Dylan
Monday was a big day. There was an inauguration. There was the college football championship game. And unnoticed was the fiftieth anniversary of Bob Dylan’s legendary album “Blood on the Tracks.”
In the last few years, many albums from my youth through my twenties have hit the half-century mark. I love it when this happens because it allows me to give the record a re-listen to see if it’s as good as I thought back in the now olden days. Many times it does while other times I feel disappointed. I was excited to give “Blood” another spin because it’s always been my favorite Dylan album.
I admit I’m not the biggest fan of Bob Dylan. While I recognize his songwriting talent, I like his songs better when sung by someone else—especially by The Byrds and The Band.
“Blood on the Tracks” is the exception. It was written and recorded while Dylan was dealing with his angst and bitterness over the divorce from his wife, Sara. The album is so personal that I can’t imagine anyone else singing these tunes could improve it. They certainly couldn’t give it more soul.
It begins with “Tangled Up In Blue.” It’s still a great way to open an album. Those lyrics about “keep on keeping on” have been playing in my head forever. As we “keep on” moving ahead on the album, we come to “Idiot Wind.” If there’s a meaner, nastier break-up song ever made, I’ve never found it. Nothing Taylor Swift has ever written about an ex comes close to “You’re an idiot, babe. It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.” I told you it was mean and nasty—and yet, I can listen to this song over and over again—and have.
If you have a vinyl copy of the album, flip it over and you’ll hear “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts”, “If You See Her Say Hello” and “Shelter From the Storm.” They were great fifty years ago and are still great now.
When “Blood on the Tracks” was in my regular listening rotation in the mid-1970s, it was one of those albums that you put on your turntable and listened all the way through without skipping any tracks. After two complete listens today, I still feel the same way. It was a classic album in 1975. Fifty years later it’s still a classic.