This Controversial Bob Dylan Record From 1990 Proved That the Bard Was at His Best Alone

Even when it was at some of its lowest ebbs, Bob Dylan’s recording career was never less than fascinating. His missteps often held more ambition and curiosity than the triumphs of other artists.

Make no mistake, Under The Red Sky, released in 1990, qualifies as one of those missteps. Even Dylan himself admitted this down the road. But at least it was an all-star spectacular misstep, featuring the finest lineup of sidemen ever assembled on one of Dylan’s LPs.

‘Red’ Dawn

The 80s were bumpy for Bob Dylan, no doubt about it. But as he started to leave the decade behind, he also began to once again find his commercial footing. An impromptu get-together with some old musician friends started the ball rolling for him.

We’re talking, of course, about The Traveling Wilburys, the supergroup whose 1988 debut album was a runaway success. Building off that, Dylan put together his finest solo album of the decade a year later. Working with producer Daniel Lanois, he delivered Oh Mercy, which restored some of the critical luster that had dimmed earlier in the decade.

Heading into his first album of the new decade, it seemed like Dylan was poised for a creative surge. But he got caught up trying to do a bit too much. As a result, even a jam-packed lineup of rock luminaries couldn’t quite enliven Under The Red Sky.

A Crowded ‘Sky’

Let’s get the roster out of the way right off the bat: Bruce Hornsby, David Crosby, George Harrison, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Slash, Al Kooper, and Elton John. They all chipped in and played on various songs throughout Under The Red Sky. But the problem wasn’t the players.

While putting Under The Red Sky together, Bob Dylan was also trying to complete the second Traveling Wilburys’ album. The pileup of projects left him a little bit devoid of inspiration, as he explained to Rolling Stone in 2006:

“Back then I wasn’t bringing anything at all into the studio; I was completely disillusioned. I’d let someone else take control of it all and just come up with lyrics to the melody of the song. He’d (producer Don Was) say, ‘What do you want to cut?’ Well, I wouldn’t have anything to cut, but I’d be so beat down from being up with The Wilburys that I’d just come up with some track, and everybody would fall in behind that track, oh, my God.”

The Aftermath

In later years, Don Was, who was also red-hot at the time coming off his success with Bonnie Raitt, took some of the blame for the struggles of Under The Red Sky. He lamented that he tried to get Bob Dylan to embrace his mid-60s era styles instead of allowing the artist to try and do something new.

On top of that, Dylan tried for a simplified lyric-writing style that didn’t always connect. There were some nice moments on the record, including the lovely “Born In Time” and the mischievous “Handy Dandy”. But they were few and far between.

Dylan entered into a period of retrenchment following Under The Red Sky. He helped rejuvenate his artistic juices with a pair of albums consisting of nothing but folk and blues covers. When he did return to original material in 1997 with Time Out Of Mind, he once again staked his claim as music’s preeminent singer-songwriter.

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