Bob Dylan’s acclaimed 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks, was released 50 years ago today (January 20, 1975). Arriving more than a dozen years after Dylan’s self-titled debut album, Blood on the Tracks showed that the legendary singer/songwriter was better than ever at crafting insightful, poetic, and heartfelt tunes.
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Dylan fans and critics alike consider Blood on the Tracks one of Bob’s finest albums. Much of the 10-track collection was believed to be inspired the breakup Dylan’s marriage to first wife Sara Lowndes.
[RELATED: 5 Bob Dylan Albums You Need To Listen to Before You Die]
Blood on the Tracks became Dylan’s second, and second consecutive, album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Bob’s 1974 collaboration with The Band, Planet Waves, also topped the chart.
Blood on the Tracks spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in March 1975. The album also featured a hit single, the classic “Tangled Up in Blue.” The song peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Blood on the Tracks is among Dylan’s most successful albums, having sold more than 2 million copies in the U.S. In the latest installment of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list, it ranked No. 9.
Dylan is no stranger to having other artists record his songs, and many have covered Blood on the Tracks tunes. In honor of the album’s 50th anniversary, here are cool renditions of four songs from the record by various famous musicians:
“Shelter from the Storm” – Rodney Crowell (Featuring Emmylou Harris) (2005)
“Shelter from the Storm” is an acoustic-driven tune sung from the perspective of a man reflecting on a former love who showed him kindness and offered him safe harbor at a time when he was beset by various troubles.
Lauded country singer/songwriter Rodney Crowell teamed up with country/folk legend Emmylou Harris on a twangy duet version of the song. The track was featured on Crowell’s 2005 studio album, The Outsider.
Crowell and Harris’ rendition of “Shelter from the Storm” features a slower tempo than the original. Rodney and Emmylou first harmonize and then trade turns singing the tune’s verses. Crowell also delivers a spoken-word interlude on one of the song’s later verses.
Incidentally, Harris’ vocals were featured prominently on Dylan’s 1976 album Desire, his follow-up to Blood on the Tracks.
“Tangled Up in Blue” – Charlie Daniels Band (2014)
“Tangled Up in Blue” is probably the best-known song from Blood on the Tracks, and the only tune released as a single from the album.
In 2014, The Charlie Daniels Band released an album of Dylan covers called Off the Grid: Doin’ It Dylan.
The group’s frontman, Charlie Daniels, who is best known for his fiddle talents, contributed bass and guitar to three Dylan albums—Nashville Skyline (1969), Self Portrait (1970), and New Morning (1970). The sessions Daniels recorded with Dylan in Nashville were some of the first gigs Charlie got after moving to Music City, and he credited Bob with helping him learn the ropes of the music business.
Daniels and his group’s revved-up country-rock version of “Tangled Up in Blue” is Off the Grid’s lead track. Charlie’s inspired fiddle playing is one of the highlights of the tune.
“You’re a Big Girl Now” – Chrissie Hynde (2020)
Between April and October 2020, Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde and her band’s lead guitarist, James Walbourne, recorded versions of nine Dylan songs and posted them on YouTube along with accompanying music videos. Hynde then gathered the recordings together and released them in May 2021 as an album titled, appropriately, Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan.
Hynde’s version showcases her emotive vibrato vocals and Walbourne’s deft and melodic acoustic solo riffs.
“Idiot Wind” – Lucinda Williams (2021)
“Idiot Wind” features Dylan singing snarling, insulting lyrics that appear to be partly aimed at a romantic partner and partly at himself.
Acclaimed alt-country singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams recorded a version of “Idiot Wind” for an installment of her Lu’s Jukebox series of covers collections, which she launched in 2020. The album, titled Bob’s Back Pages: A Night of Bob Dylan Songs, was the third volume in the series.
The Lu’s Jukebox performances were recorded and initially streamed live. The Bob’s Back Pages album was released in October 2021.
Williams’ cover of “Idiot Wind” is a faithful version of the song, and features Lucinda wringing emotion out of every word.
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