A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of Blood on the Tracks

by Andy Gill and Kevin Odegard

Book Overview

"So fascinatingly behind-the-scenes that it will make you listen to the album as if you've never heard it before."--Esquire

In 1974 Bob Dylan wrote, recorded, reconsidered, and then re-recorded the best-selling studio album of his career. Blood on the Tracks was composed as Dylan's twelve-year marriage began to unravel, and songs like "Tangled Up in Blue" and "Shelter from the Storm" have become templates for multidimensional,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306814137
• ISBN13: 9780306814136
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A Most Rare Book from Masterful Musicians All 'Round

First, I must apologize for not quite "getting it" (this book) at the outset. It is a most rare book not only because it is about Bob Dylan's creation of arguably his best album ever; but the authors have written from the masterful point of view of "the musicians" who worked with Dylan all 'round. One not only learns about how "records" back then were engineered and produced but the most fascinating material like why Bob Dylan never used a capo on guitar; why Graham Nash and Steven Stills thought these miraculous songs in the raw were not up to their expectations; why the musicians had difficulty keeping up with Dylan and ultimately gained a deeply profound respect for not only his songwriting ability but extremely complicated musical gifts on a variety of instruments. You will be thrilled to read this especially if you have ever attempted to seriously play solo, or as part of a band and "the gig" let alone - anyone aspiring to do so...now. A great book.

True Blue Blood on The Tracks

Applause! Applause! to Andy Gil for 'A Simple Twist of Fate.' Gil stays true to its title and fastidiously stays focused on one, isolated aspect of Dylan's work, "Blood On the Tracks." Heralded as one of the break-up albums of all time and Dylan's best work, the album has many ghosts and layers leading up to its development which Gil finely addresses; the divorce, the double re-recording sessions, credits to the artists who contributed to the final cut and a brief, rare insight of Dylan's relationship with his brother, David, now both adults. The actual layout of this book is superb, beginning by providing a prelude to the theme of the album,which by now is common knowledge, in a quick, bullet point type 'factual manner' avoiding the pitfall of extensive gossip and speculation...'just the facts, ma'am.' The book is divided by a brief interlude of historical events taking place in the world at large at the time of this recording, proceeding to the main course which is the actual recording sessions of the album, from the decision to re-record, the selection of the various musicians and details such as finding a specific guitar, which relfects Dylan's commitment to his craft. The information comes directly from those involved in the project. Gil does not fill the book with his own review of the material and music and remains an observer to the tasks at hand. Little is documented of Dylan's relationship with his younger brother, David, beyond snippets of their childhood years. David's crucial and extensive involvement in producing the second recording session-the final cut-provides a revealing insight about their relationship without circumspect and, again, Gil abstains from extensive gossip and provides this information as a slight sidebar using only information and quotations from first hand sources. The book stays true and fast to its title and subject and in doing so gives readers a real invitation to the experience of recording with Dylan and Dylan's process.

BLOOD ON THE TRACKS FACTS

It's a good time to be a BOTT fan. I recently found Mary Lee's Corvette's version of BOTT on CD as well as a bootleg CD of some of the New York sessions songs (which incorrectly listed the studio dates as September 12th, 16th, and 23rd instead of the 16th, 17th, 19th, and 24th and sounded more like demos then anything else). Anyway, imagine my delight at finding this book sitting on the shelf at a local bookstore while browsing in the music section. At first glance at the title, "A Simple Twist Of Fate", I thought that this was just another Dylan biography. Luckily, the subtitle, "Bob Dylan And The Making Of Blood On The Tracks", was also printed on the spine. When I snatched the single copy off the shelf, you'd have thought I'd found the Holy Grail. Not far off the mark for me considering that apart from my March 13, 1975 issue of Rolling Stone (Volume 182), I hadn't read more then a sentence or 2 about BOTT anywhere else. It's about time that some light was shed on the making of this seminal recording. Very informative, long overdue, and a must have for any true BOTT fan. Come read the Blood On The Tracks facts.

A far deeper inspection of Dylan's relationships

Simple Twist Of Fate isn't just another biography of facts about rock musician Bob Dylan: it's a narrowed focus on the making of his Blood on the Tracks album, a break-up album written as his 12-year marriage unraveled, and it comes packed with insights based on first-hand interviews with musicians and producers, Dylan's friends and associates and relatives, and industry professionals. In using the album as a starting point, Andy Gil's examination provides a far deeper inspection of Dylan's relationships and life than the general biographical sketch could offer.

Essential for fans of this album.

For those who don't know, Blood on the Tracks was recorded in NYC in late 1974. Dylan then re-recorded 5 of the tracks with local Minnesota musicians and released the album in 1975. It went on to be one of his most successful albums ever. It's a great treat to have one book focus on one classic album. This book goes into every possible detail of the recording of these 10 songs, from who they were written about, how and where they were recorded, to how the musicians were chosen. There is a lot of detail into the actual recording from the musicians who played on both the NY versions and the Minnesota versions which is pretty interesting b/c some of them did not like Dylan's recording process while some of them thrived in the improvisational nature of it. The most interesting piece is hearing how the Minnesota musicians feel 25+ years later about not being credited in the liner notes--some are upset, some are surprised, and some just don't care. This is a terrific book and I can only hope that similar books will be written, focusing specifically on Blonde on Blonde or Bringing it all back home.