Blood in the Tracks by Paul Metsa and Rick Shefchik
Blood on the Tracks (1975) is widely acknowledged among Bob Dylan’s greatest albums, his best, perhaps, since Blonde on Blonde (1966). Maybe the lone complaint is that the album’s sleeve failed to credit half of the musicians who played on it, and the city and state where half the album was recorded.
Dylan began work on Blood on the Tracks in New York but was dissatisfied with several of the tracks. With a looming deadline for the LP’s release, and the album jacket already at the printer, Dylan went home to Minnesota during the holidays in 1974. Guided by his younger brother, Twin Cities impresario David Zimmerman, Dylan entered Sound 80 studio and recorded “Idiot Wind,” “Tangled Up in Blue” and three other tracks with a cast of local musicians. That session, spread across several cold nights, is the subject of Blood in the Tracks.
The Twin Cities’ authors are hometown boosters, to be sure, but do good work filling out a little-known backstory behind one of the most enduring albums of the rock era. They describe the musicians Zimmerman recruited as Minneapolis’ Wrecking Crew, an analogy with Phil Spector’s famed cast of session players. Mandolinist Peter Ostrovshko, drummer Bill Berg, and bassist Billy Peterson were Sound 80’s house band (albeit most of their work was for commercials). Keyboardist Greg Inhofer, guitarists Chris Weber and Kevin Odegard had performed in bands and made recordings. All had stories to tell.
Of course, beyond Minnesota, the chief interest in those stories will come from obsessive Dylan fans who want to know more about the enigmatic songwriter and his working methods. Blood in the Tracks stresses Dylan’s search for spontaneity in the studio in the immediacy of the moment. Although overdubs were made at Sound 80, the production was grounded on a band of musicians playing live. The Minnesota crew were in a state of disbelief when called to play with Dylan but found him interested in their opinions. “There was this great presence in the room,” Odegard said. “He had a vibe. Let’s just say he had a tremendous aura.”
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Blood in the Tracks argues well against those who maintained that the original New York recordings of “Idiot Wind” (bootlegged for years) et. al. were better. With the release of More Blood, More Tracks (2018), a six-CD collection of everything Dylan recorded for Blood on the Tracks, it’s clear that it was all a matter of opinion. Perhaps the book’s greatest importance is to finally credit the Minneapolis musicians who finished what turned out to be one of rock’s greatest albums.
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