Together Through Life

by Bob Dylan

Overview

By all accounts, Together Through Life arrived quickly, cut swiftly by Bob Dylan and his touring band in the fall of 2008, surprising the label upon its delivery a couple months later, then rushed into stores in April 2009, just half a year after the release of the monumental archive project Tell Tale Signs. Given the speed of its creation, it fits that the album has a spontaneous, kinetic kick, feeling so alive that it's a little messy, teeming with contradictions, crossed signals, and frayed ends. That liveliness turns Together Through Life into a much lighter affair than its weighty predecessor, Modern Times, which was tinged with doom and had thematic unity, two things missing from this comparatively breezy affair. If Together Through Life is about any one thing, it is -- as its title and cover photo elliptically suggest -- the enduring power of romance, how it provides sustenance and how its absence can make life hard. But all this suggests that Dylan has turned in a meditation on the meaning of life and love here, when its core charm is its very modesty. It's an old-fashioned ten tracks, clocking in at 45 minutes, a simple set of songs co-written with Robert Hunter -- Jerry Garcia's lyricist and previous Dylan collaborator, co-writing the irresistibly jaunty "Silvio" in 1988 -- and delivered without adornment, its clean yet earthy production slyly emphasizing the musical variety here. Sonically, this is right in line with Dylan's 2000s albums, the sound of a well-lubricated traveling band easing into the same chords it plays every night, but this isn't strictly roadhouse rock & roll: Dylan remains fixated on pre-rock & roll American music, emphasizing the blues but eager to croon love-struck ballads. In this context, David Hidalgo's accordion -- which appears so often it soon ceases to be noteworthy -- can suggest a romantic stroll down Parisian streets or a steamy sojourn with Doug Sahm in a Tex-Mex border town, but everything here is recognizably, thoroughly Dylan's mythic picturesque America that stretches from the hazy past to the barbed present. While the music is proudly, almost defiantly, rooted in the past, with Dylan borrowing Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You" wholesale for the riotous "My Wife's Home Town," there's no avoidance of the present here, with Bob even going so far as to turn the omnipresent catch phrase "It's All Good" into a mordantly funny rocker. Dylan's not just aware of the modern-day vernacular, he's wound up with an album that fits the spirit of 2009: it's troubled but hopeful, firmly in favor of love and romance, but if that fails there are always romantic dreams and sardonic jokes to get you through life. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	04/28/2009
Label:	Columbia
UPC:	0886974389323

Tracks

1. Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
2. Life Is Hard
3. My Wife's Home Town
4. If You Ever Go to Houston
5. Forgetful Heart
6. Jolene
7. This Dream of You
8. Shake Shake Mama
9. I Feel a Change Comin' On
10. It's All Good

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Bob Dylan   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards
War   Primary Artist
Doc Guidry   Primary Artist
Hank Williams   Primary Artist
Sister Rosetta Tharpe   Primary Artist
Howlin' Wolf   Primary Artist
Jerry "Boogie" McCain   Primary Artist
George Jones   Primary Artist
T-Bone Burnett   Primary Artist
Moon Mullican   Primary Artist
Little Walter   Primary Artist
Ronnie & the Delinquents   Primary Artist
Melba Montgomery   Primary Artist
Porter Wagoner & the Wagonmasters   Primary Artist
George Recile   Drums
Mike Campbell   Guitar,Mandolin
Donny Herron   Banjo,Trumpet,Mandolin,Guitar (Steel)
Tony Garnier   Bass (Upright),Bass
David Hidalgo   Accordion,Guitar

Technical Credits

Rich Tosi   Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer,Audio Engineer
Willie Dixon   Composer
Bill Lane   Audio Engineer,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Bob Dylan   Composer,Lyricist
Danny Clinch   Photography
Rafael Serrano   Audio Engineer,Digital Editing
David Bianco   Mixing,Engineer,Audio Engineer
Robert Hunter   Lyricist,Composer
David Spreng   Digital Editing,Audio Engineer
Eddy Schreyer   Mastering
Josef Koudelka   Photography
Jack Frost   Producer
Coco Shinomiya   Package Design
Bruce Davidson   Cover Photo